Evening Under the Sphere 2023: Thank You from the AFMCP Team!

Evening Under the Sphere 2023 was a HUGE success.

Thanks to the community members and sponsors who braved the rainy weather to come celebrate the park with us.

A particularly BIG thanks to the indomitable Queens Night Market crew who shepherded a seamless set-up and tear-down through the rainstorm: 

• Hong Kong Street Food 

• DiLena's Dolcini 

• Chop Chop Tea 

• Sholay Indian BBQ

• Tacos El Guero

• Bstro 

• Nixtamal 

• Treat Yourself Jerk Chicken

• Mao’s Bao 

• Caribbean Street Eats 

• Cambodianow 

• Brazilicious

• Emeye 

These vendors are an essential part of what makes Evening Under the Sphere so special (and so delicious)! 

Through the incredible support of all of you, we were able to raise over $150,000 for the Alliance!

We also want to again congratulate all our Freedom of the Human Spirit Award Winners: 

• LaGuardia Gateway Partners, represented by CEO Suzette Noble 

• The Association for a Better New York, represented by CEO Melva Miller

• Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, represented by her family and friends

As well as, our inaugural recipient of the Claire Shulman Award for Public Service: the NYS Pavilion Paint Project. This all-volunteer team was recognized for their efforts to restore Philip Johnson’s iconic World’s Fair Pavilion to its former glory.

Evening Under the Sphere continues to be a shining example of what a welcoming, supportive, and diverse community we have here in Queens.

And finally, a deep, gracious thank you to the sponsors of this year’s event. Our sponsors are the reason we are able to keep ticket prices affordable and EUS a community-focused event. Outside of EUS, these sponsorships help fund an entire year of essential programming and maintenance operations in the park. Here is the full list of sponsors who have supported FMCP this year: 

Oak Sponsor

• Mets Owner Steve Cohen 

Cherry Sponsors

• LaGuardia Gateway Partners

• New York Community Bank

• Gov Ball 

• Delta 

Willow Sponsors

• USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

• WHSmith 

• Maspeth Federal Savings

• Shamrock Acoustics

• ResortsWorld 

• Illumine Service Foundation 

Sweetgum Sponsors 

• NYC Health and Hospitals Elmhurst

• New York Presbyterian 

• North Island Jewish Forest Hills Northwell Health 

• O’Melveny 

• Sri Chinmoy Marathon team 

• Port Authority NY NJ 

Maple Sponsors

• Villa Restaurant Group

• JCM 

• Capalino 

• HSMHost 

• Pitta LLP 

• Bradford Airport Logistics 

• Flushing Meadows Corona Park Conservancy 

• Haddad Associates PLLC 

Check out the slideshow of pictures from the event, captured by Steph Venegas of Natives: 

See you next year!

Evening Under the Sphere 2023 QNMKT Vendors Announced!

The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park announced that it has partnered again with the Queens Night Market to bring its community’s favorite eateries to its annual benefit, Evening Under the Sphere. This year’s Evening Under the Sphere will be held under the Unisphere Thursday, September 28, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.--tickets are on sale now.

John Wang, founder of Queens Night Market and Alliance board member said, "I've helped produce, pro bono, every iteration of the Evening Under the Sphere fundraiser -- even when it moved inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for inclement weather! It's been a privilege to be involved because the fundraiser's ethos exactly matches that of the Queens Night Market. Unlike most charity fundraisers, it aspires to be a casual, affordable, and accessible party that celebrates the magnificence, as well as the nitty-gritty, of Flushing Meadows Corona Park and celebrates this beautiful mosaic of a borough that the park calls home."  

Check out the full list of vendors who will be serving up delicious eats at this year’s Evening Under the Sphere:

• Hong Kong Street Food - Hong Kongese Soy Sauce Noodles 

• DiLena's Dolcini - Cannoli & Cookies

• Chop Chop Tea - Hakka Meatballs

• Sholay - Indian BBQ

• Tacos El Guero - Tacos

• Bstro - Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

• Nixtamal - Mexican Mole Enchiladas & Elotes

• Treat Yourself Jerk Chicken - Jamaican Jerk Chicken

• Mao's Bao - Dumplings

• Caribbean Street Eats - Trinidadian Bake & Shrimp

• Brazilicious - Brazilian Steak Sandwich and Coxinha

• Cambodianow - Cambodian Skewers and Fish Amok

Don’t miss out on this exciting event — full of food and fun in our borough’s largest park. Get your tickets today and come celebrate Queens with us as summer draws to a close.

Look at our gallery of delicious pictures from Evening Under the Sphere 2022 to get excited:

Art in the Parks: 2023 Grantees

The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park announced its 2023 Art in the Parks grantees this week. The long-running program has given meaningful grants to up-and-coming artists in NYC so that they can contribute to the eclectic sculptural collections of FMCP.

The winning proposals for this year’s grants are Light Portal from Julia Sinelnikova and Hey Neighbor NYC from Jasmin Chiang and Kisha Bari. Thanks to generous support from the Alliance for FMCP, grants were doubled for this year’s artists, up to $10,000 per grant.

Sinelnikova had this to say about their installation: The park lacks a true contemporary art homage to the legendary Tent of Tomorrow, which will nw itself be lit at night for the city's new program. The Tent of Tomorrow was designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964 World's Fair, however it is modeled off its Russian predecessors, namelyo the Shukhov Rotunda for the All-Russia Exhibition of 1896. “Light Portal'' incorporates several elements of the original physical structure in a new design, with the many colors of the light disc above audiences to represent the diversity of languages and cultures in Queens. As a first-generation immigrant and nonbinary artist, I feel that it is important to bring the energy of a local femme, POC and immigrant fabrication crew to this homage, which interprets a complicated architectural legacy. During our current period of closed borders around the world due to politics, it is important to remember periods of greater international exchange of ideas, and collaboration. “Light Portal” envisions hope, progress, and growth, creating a meditative and playful space. The work will cast a kaleidoscope of healing colors onto viewers and the ground below during the sunlight, while also possibly incorporating solar-powered LED lights at night. The sculpture will measure at least ten feet square, comprised of steel and recycled acrylic.

Bari and Chiang offered this description of the upcoming sculpture: New York City is a rich patchwork of communities formed by ethnicity, culture, race, and shared experience – from networks of new immigrants to multi-generational communities. Although New Yorkers share a common physical space, proximity alone is not enough to create genuine connection, understanding and tolerance for each other. The work of connection and trust between communities requires continuous and deliberate work. Hey Neighbor NYC does this work by connecting cultural communities across the five boroughs through photography, storytelling, and public art.

Both installations will open to the public in Autumn 2023. They will remain on view for approximately twelve months. Check out the gallery below for previous artworks in FMCP. Full list of past artworks around the city and their descriptions are available at NYC Parks.

Sherwin Banfield "Going Back to the Meadows"

Ai Weiwei "Circle Fence: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors"

Holleran Rowe "We Find Each Other"

Zaq Landsberg "Islands of the Unisphere"

Karl Orozco "Hospico Capanas"

Laura Lappi "HOPE"

Jeanine Han and Dan Riley "Another Way It Could Go"

Haksul Lee "The Giving Tree"

Judith Modrak "Endangered Fossils"

Wicked Volunteers at FMCP

In July, the cast and crew of Broadway’s Wicked came to Flushing Bay for a full day of stewardship along the FMCP waterfront. The visitors from Broadway were joined by a huge turnout of volunteers from around the five boroughs.

The FMCP stewardship team welcome many new and old faces to the Flushing Bay Promenade, where they dug in with rakes and shovels provided by the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park to remove litter and debris washed up by the tides on our park’s shoreline. The event was planned and supported by We <3 NYC who brought these groups together to unite behind the cause of a cleaner, greener NYC.

Follow us on social media @AllianceforFMCP or sign up for our volunteer mailing list to be the first to know about upcoming opportunities in the park!

Check out some more pics from this very successful day in Queens below: