{"id":63710,"date":"2025-12-08T00:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63710\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T00:17:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:17:09","slug":"jcc-holiday-gift-fair-returns-to-staten-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63710\/","title":{"rendered":"JCC Holiday Gift Fair returns to Staten Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 On Sunday, the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island hosted its annual Holiday Gift Fair, bringing a host of vendors and prospective shoppers to the community center in Sea View.<\/p>\n

For almost six hours, more than four dozen vendors packed the Bernikow JCC, selling everything from handmade jewelry and ornaments to tchotchkes, treats and sports memorabilia.<\/p>\n

\"nwsA customer purchases a handmade craft from Donna Forte of Watercolors by Donna Forte at the Bernikow JCC\u2019s Holiday Gift Fair.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n

According to Alina Shteynberg, the cultural arts program manager at the Bernikow JCC, the event had a long history at the community center, running for many consecutive years before pausing for the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Since starting back up, the holiday fair has successfully drawn in a consistent crowd of vendors, especially during a crowded holiday season.<\/p>\n

\"nwsMezuzahs, dreidels, and other religious items being sold by Hedy\u2019s Gifts.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past three years we\u2019ve always had over 40 vendors and there\u2019s just something for everyone \u2014 jewelry, knitting, home decor,\u201d Shteynberg said. <\/p>\n

This year also featured a live musical accompaniment, a first for the holiday fair. The organization invited the Staten Island Jazz Band, a local jazz band made up entirely of high school students, to play at the beginning of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to see the different things that people are doing, everyone\u2019s so creative. And I also like talking with the people from the community,\u201d said Stacey Cohen.<\/p>\n

\"nwsValerie Spector Rose sits in front of a table of wreaths, frames and holiday goods at the Bernikow JCC\u2019s Holiday Gift Fair.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a few people I saw that I haven\u2019t seen in years and they came walking in here and it was nice to reunite,\u201d Cohen continued. \u201cAnd they had a band earlier today and they were really wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

One detail that Shteynberg pointed out was that over two-thirds of the vendors in attendance on Sunday had tabled at the JCC holiday fair before, something which those in attendance credit to both the commerce and community of the event. <\/p>\n

\"nwsVernia Lauria of Richmond sells handmade jewlery at the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center’s Holiday Gift Fair.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year I\u2019m near different people and it\u2019s nice that I get to meet someone new,\u201d said Barbara Niederhoffer of St. George. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my third year at the JCC and I really like this venue, I always do well and people appreciate the handmade items,\u201d she continued, adding that the event offered a much appreciated social aspect, allowing her to bond with others over knitting.<\/p>\n

\"nwsA hand knit sweater is offered for sale by Barbara Niederhoffer of St. George.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n

For some on Sunday, the fair offered a chance to reach new groups of people outside their normal reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first time at the JCC and I\u2019m very happy with it,\u201d said Karen Bobinski of Graniteville. \u201cI haven\u2019t been here before and I usually stay on the North Shore. Plus we\u2019re usually with all of the same vendors, seeing the same customers. I haven\u2019t seen any of my regular customers here today, it\u2019s a very nice change for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the event wound down and tables were packed up, vendors were seen saying farewell to their neighbors. Holiday wishes were exchanged, and some expressed hope to see each other at the next fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a nice group that comes here each time, and it\u2019s increased in size over the last three years,\u201d said Donna Forte. \u201cWe get a good amount of foot traffic and it\u2019s close to our home,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 On Sunday, the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island hosted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-63710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}