by Geoff Cobb 
There will be holiday lights on Manhattan Avenue this holiday season because about seventy-five local businesses dug deep into their pockets. Just after Thanksgiving the firm Illuminations by Arnold will begin hanging the holiday lights along the avenue thanks to a group of local merchants who took the task on themselves. There was an outpouring of support for lighting the avenue, which we saw a lot of in response to a previous Greenpointers story.
The businesses…
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You failed to list a big benefactor Sonny Mukhopadhyay, I believe his generosity ($20,000.00) made this happen. I think he deserves a nod for this as well.
Hey Donna! We definitely did not forget Sonny. “Sonny Mukhopadhay of 207 Bedford Avenue deserves a special thank you for contributing $20,000.00 to the project. ” is written in the paragraph we highlighted just of the many businesses that contributed. We are grateful to every single one of them. =)
My 23 year old daughter moved to Greenpoint in 2012 from Boston and sent me a photo tonight of Manhattan Ave. She has such joy that it feels like the holidays are being celebrated by her neighborhood. Thank you!! I told her that this is what makes a community out of a large city. Thank you all you wonderful donors. For every member of this community, there is something you can contribute- even just a gesture of kindness. Your neighbors, my daughter, notice … and it makes a BIG difference.
As a native New Yorker that was displaced from her Washington Heights home & made Greenpoint her second home in the last three years, this story was very moving for me and gives me hope as I watch my city die and get taken away from me, my family, my loved ones and my neighborhoods due to gentrification. The lights on Manhattan avenue really warmed my heart and I appreciate you covering this story. I hope that the newer businesses and all the chains can lend some of their overflowing dollars to the neighborhood they colonized.