The Fulton Street BID
Monday, December 29th, 2008Here’s a little article posted in the New York Times about the proposed Fulton Street Business Improvement District (BID).
The BID will run along Fulton Street from Rockwell Place all the way to Classon Avenue which passes through both Ft Greene and Clinton Hill. Business that are located in the BID will be required to pay a fee. The fee covers extra security, street cleaning and holiday decorations as well as marketing efforts and other items to improve the area.
Opponents of the BID, particulary in the Clinton Hill end of the mile long stretch the BID covers, are worried that the cost will cause their already failing business to totally collapse.
To see the benefits of a BID, you just have to walk a few blocks over to Myrtle Avenue. When I first moved into the area, Myrtle was not a very inviting place to shop, and I would typically either go to Downtown Brooklyn, or Manhattan to buy what I need. Now, Myrtle Avenue is well lit and cleaner with many new shops and restaurants. I can now say I shop on Myrtle Avenue weekly.
The Myrtle Avenue BID helps merchants get new signage and provides other benefits that, from my consumers point of view, has only helped to make Myrtle Avenue more vibrant, which in turn must have helped merchants make more money.
Time will tell whether or not a Fulton Street Bid will help do the same for the ailing portions of Fulton Street that the Myrtle Avenue BID has done along Myrtle Avenue.
