Historic Eagle Street Closing for First Friday Block Party

12:40PM / Tuesday, August 02, 2022Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — This August's First Friday is a block party on Eagle Street from 4 to 9 p.m.

The Friday's event will feature music, street games, activities and gallery openings. Mayor Jennifer Macksey will host a downtown gathering and Desperados Mexican Restaurant on Eagle Street will offer beer and wine for sale.

The monthly downtown event was established last year with local gallery owner and Public Arts Commission Chair Anna Farrington taking the lead in collaboration with downtown businesses.

Farrington, in a press release, said there will be more Eagle Street business collaborations "with the intention of providing positive, uplifting experiences free for all city residents, and providing opportunities for local businesses to thrive."

Eagle Street will be closed to car traffic on the First Friday evenings Aug. 5, Sept. 2, and Oct. 7. The historic street was also closed last fall for a street market.

"We closed Eagle Street to car traffic during First Friday last October for the Eagle Street Night Market, and it went beautifully! We had a lot of participation from local businesses, artists, and residents," said Harrington, owner of Installation Space Gallery at 49 Eagle. "I'm thrilled to work with the city again to close Eagle Street for First Fridays this season to bring more fun activities to the street."

Activities and entertainment include live music in the Eagle Street pocket park sponsored by Eagle Street Music, a photo booth curated by Polka Dot Portraits, local photographer Tiffany Fleishman Weissbrodt, street games and activities donated by a number of local organizers and institutions including Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Intramural Department, and Desperado’s Mexican Restaurant will offer a beer and wine bar.

Andrew Fitch, another organizer and owner of Eagle & Main, the buildings at the corner of Eagle and Main streets, said, 'I see so much opportunity in downtown North Adams for collaboration and development. I have a vision for a bright and bustling city downtown we can all be proud of and participate in. First Friday street closures are a great step towards realizing that vision. It's an honor to work on this initiative with Anna."

The project is supported by the city of North Adams and the North Adams Chamber of Commerce. First Friday also welcomes the opening of new businesses to the neighborhood including Hearts Pace Tea and Healing Arts Lounge and Future Labs Gallery.

Tags: block party,

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NBSU Gives Clarksburg Year's Budget Relief

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:46AM / Monday, February 23, 2026

FLORIDA, Mass. — The North Berkshire School Union voted to give member town Clarksburg a financial breather — at least for fiscal 2027.

Town and school officials had proposed changes last month as the town's assessment for the union administration climbed to 54 percent.

The "super" School Committee, after more than an hour of debate, voted 7-2 to raise the other four member towns' assessments by 2 percent, thus giving Clarksburg an 8 percent reduction.

Clarksburg officials had initially brought forward a proposal to set a base percentage for all the towns at 10 percent, with 5 percent for tiny Monroe, and then do the balance based on the current enrollment apportionment.

This was rejected by consensus and other proposals were hashed out at a recent subcommittee meeting. The 2 percent change was brought forward to Thursday's joint committee meeting, which is comprised of all the members of the town school committees.

"I do think it's important to come up with some sort of compromise, but I also believe that there's a lot of data that we need to start looking into throughout this one-year agreement that's going to help with a lot of these questions," said Savoy's Arleigh Cooper.

"I know that there's hesitation. We all looked at numbers at 10 percent at 5 percent I think there was maybe a 7.5 percent or maybe that was just my numbers on my own that I was calculating and even giving a small 2.5 percent for just a one year, I think shows Clarksburg, hey, we are willing to help you out. However, there's so much data that needs to be collected, and it's just too short of a window to do a large number."

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