Carytown New Year’s Eve event will not continue

The New Year’s Eve celebration that has attracted thousands of revelers to Carytown won’t be back for a fourth year.

The Carytown Merchants Association isn’t planning the celebration because of the high costs of security and other expenses, said Thom Suddeth, president of the merchants group.

“It’s a done deal,“ he said today. “We just can’t financially handle that burden.“

Last year, about 25,000 revelers were asked to donate $2 per person to help offset event costs. About half the revelers managed not to pay.

The merchants association lost about $24,000, Suddeth said. That came on top of losses of $20,000 in 2007 and $10,000 in 2006.

“We don’t have that much income,“ Suddeth said, noting that without the $2 donation, losses would have reached $50,000 last year. “If we did it this year, we would pretty much be bankrupt.“

The decision followed meetings with city officials who indicated that the city would not back off costs billed to the association for increased police presence; those costs went from $15,000 in 2007 to more than $29,000 last year. The association also spent $17,000 for its own security personnel and an additional $12,000 for city-required barricades.

Suddeth said he fully understands the need for security. “It’s the police department that looks bad if something breaks out and they are not ready to control it,“ Suddeth said. “That’s a huge burden.“

Demetrios Tsiptsis, owner of the New York Deli and the originator of the Cary Street New Year’s Eve celebration idea, said the city bureaucracy is far more at fault for the cancellation than the economy. He said he’s disturbed by the costly controls ordered by police that seem to have been applied to a privately sponsored event rather than a public celebration.

“I personally think the city has had it in for [the celebration],“ he said, adding that the event had become an irreplaceable part of New Year’s Eve for many residents.

“I’m telling people that we are probably going to see thousands of people coming to Cary Street New Year’s Eve no matter what because the event is part of what people do; it’s part of the community.

E. Martin Jewell, the 5th District City Council representative, described the fees and costs imposed by the city as “gargantuan.“ “It’s heady stuff,“ he said, suggesting that “the minute you add the dimension of alcohol, everything seems to double.“

The Carytown event “is going to be sorely missed, and I’m certainly willing to do anything I can to facilitate anything I can, but at the same time these are tough times.“

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or . Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or .