The Boston Little Saigon Night Market will join several other festivals on Dorchester Avenue this summer with a July evening devoted to young people in the community – along with the usual Vietnamese and Asian cuisine sold on the street in Fields Corner.

Annie Le, director of Boston Little Saigon, told the Fields Corner Civic Association (FCCA) on April 2 that the third installment of the Night Market would take place on July 13 from 4-9 p.m. – one in a series of road closure events in Fields Corner this summer that will include Open Streets in May and the Dorchester Day Parade in June.

“This year, our focus is going to be on the families in the neighborhood,” said Le, who noted they are working closely with teens to bring in things youth would like to see at the Market.

“The park gave us more vendors and more space,” said Le, referring to last year’s expansion into Town Field. “People liked being in the park. The food service is on the street and the park was where kid activities and entertainment were – and that was well liked.”

Planning will start April 13 with a meeting in the Boston Little Saigon headquarters at Fields Corner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Le said now is the time to share ideas, concerns, and requests.

The Market won’t change drastically, she said, and will still occupy Dorchester Avenue from Adams Street to Park Street, and then into Town Field for the entertainment stage and community booths. However, Le and a few residents at the meeting said they would like to see Park Street closed off and Dorchester Avenue closed off a little further south so crossing from the street festival to the park isn’t so dangerous.

Last year, several festival-goers waded out into traffic unknowingly to get to the park where entertainment was focused. Le said it was a matter of “convincing them,” meaning the MBTA and the city, to allow the festival to expand, but Boston Little Saigon has already been pushing for that change to increase safety.

Hiep Chu and FCCA President Shamia Hicks added that the food vendors were often swamped with business, meaning long wait times for things as simple as meat skewers.

Le said they are open to ideas for that problem, and are already thinking about it. One thing they’ve looked into is having pre-orders for family picnic food baskets that could be picked up with a ticket so as to shorten lines and allow vendors to work ahead. Meanwhile, she said students noted the food was too expensive, and that $8 skewers were outside their budgets. Le said they are considering a student discount to use with vendors at the Market.

Some neighbors on Faulkner Street had concerns about being able to get in and out of their side street during the Market, and organizers are working with the city and Boston Police to try to figure out a solution.

Meanwhile, several neighbors at the meeting wished to thank Boston Little Saigon for bringing an incredible festival to their neighborhood.

“I just want to express gratitude because this is an amazing event for Fields Corner,” said Vivian Girard, a sentiment echoed by FCCA member Tran Le.

FIELDS CORNER NOTEBOOK
•The Mayoral Liaison for Mid-Dorchester, which includes Fields Corner, has been vacant for several months since former liaison Ashley Gomes left. However, Anthony Nguyen – a Fields Corner resident and native – announced at the meeting that he would be taking over the job and had already started. Beginning his work at his home civic, FCCA, he said he was very excited to take on the new role. Nguyen has been very active in Fields Corner for several years, and most recently was the director of the SPARK Boston youth council for Mayor Michelle Wu. A formal announcement is expected soon.

•The Love Your Block annual clean-up will take place on April 27, and Fields Corner residents plan to focus on cleaning up 35 Faulkner St. – an underutilized community garden abutting the Fields Corner Station.

•An abutter’s meeting will take place for the new bookstore, Just Bookish, on April 17 at 6 p.m. for a potential beer and wine license for the bookstore and community space.

•The graffiti vandal ‘Poet’ has been prolific all over Boston since at least 2016, but nowhere is his tell-tale tag more apparent than in Fields Corner, and with an uptick in graffiti in the area right now, residents are ready to clamp down on Poet, even if he doesn’t know it. Residents said they spotted ‘Poet’ as early as 2016 hitting businesses in the area, and others have caught him on camera ever since. Meanwhile, a spike in graffiti overall has Fields Corner residents and businesses on edge.

“We always see graffiti here, but right now it’s really bad,” introduced Jackey West Devine, director of Fields Corner Main Streets.

That sparked the conversation about ‘Poet’ and the hopes that neighbors would band together to force the city and the police to make an arrest.

•Officer Mike Keaney reported two concerning police matters from the last two weeks. On March 27, at 8:30 p.m., officers reported to Arcadia Street where three black males – two on scooters – robbed a man of his iPhone and sweatshirt at knifepoint. About 12 minutes earlier, police believe the same three males attempted to rob two men of their phones at knifepoint in Ronan Park. However, those men told them to buzz off, and they fled. There were no injuries.

Secondly, on March 30, police responded to a domestic violence call at 11:13 p.m. on Arcadia Street and observed a man hitting his girlfriend on arrival in the street. The suspect fled from police and was caught in the parking lot of the CASH high school on Charles Street, where a Glock 27 loaded with nine rounds of ammunition allegedly fell out of his pants. The 24-year-old Mattapan man was charged with five felonies.