The Visit Canarsie “Open Streets” season for 2026 kicked off on August 1st, with “Mas in Canarsie,” a spectacular display of masqueraders and other cultural performers outside of TriniJam BK Roti Bar & Grill, 9501 Flatlands Avenue. During the monthlong “Open Streets” festivities that occurred on weekends, the block of East 95th Street, from Flatlands Avenue to Conklin Avenue, was closed to vehicular traffic to accommodate the activities.
The Visit Canarsie festivities featured many fun as well as educational activities geared toward both adults and children. On one weekend, there were hands-on emergency, lifesaving training on CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), AED (automatic external defibrillator) and the use of Narcan in opioid overdose, which was provided by members of the Flatlands Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The training was co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Jaime Williams.
Young minds with an affinity for S.T.E.M. were also given the opportunity to expand their imagination and create. Some young girls assembled battery-operated, solar-powered helicopters and got excited when it whirred and the propellers spun after it was placed in the sun. The young men who focused on building trucks and other devices were similarly thrilled.
Another area that captured the imagination of many of the young men was learning how to safely operate a drone. Their training was conducted under the supervision of Visit Canarsie Founder Calvin Sennon, who is also a FAA-licensed drone instructor. During those sessions, children took snapshots of some of the salient areas of Canarsie, such as the “L” Train Station, Holy Family Church, Canarsie Educational Campus and playing field, and created postcards to be distributed globally as part of the “From Canarsie to The World” initiative.
Some youths received culinary education working alongside Sennon and his wife LaToya at TriniJam. The lessons ranged from learning to churn ice cream from scratch to preparing fancy meals while others undertook the art of beekeeping and urban gardening.
Visit Canarsie, which Sennon said was established to preserve the economic vitality of Canarsie, also offers a $1,000 scholarship to deserving young individuals who live in Canarsie, volunteer at a Visit Canarsie site and also demonstrate academic excellence. In this way, they not only acquire independence but transferrable skills that could be used throughout their lifetime.
“Those are the ways we impact them directly. Those are the ways we give them lifelong skills,” Sennon told the Canarsie Courier. “Through our work-training programs, we push out entrepreneurs and leaders. We don’t build dependency,” he stressed.
Sennon described the event, which concluded on August 30th, as “a season of family fun, culture, education, environmental stewardship and community pride.”
