Why Won’t Radiofree Bay Ridge Let the Community Hear Both Sides?
Interestingly, a group called Radio Free Bay Ridge did an interview with the people who supported the BID and the coalition against the BID. RadioFree Bay Ridge only released the podcast of those who support the BID. #SomethingIsn’tRightHere.
Why are people always trying to control the news in Bay Ridge instead of sharing the truth?
Why would anyone want to make Third Avenue like Fifth Avenue? Fifth Avenue is a mess with so many store closures. We wouldn’t want to see 3rd Avenue Merchants shut down because of the added fees for a BID. You can see the Bay Ridge BiD only promotes a few businesses on their website or Instagram.
Anthony from the No Bid Group took over two hours of his time to talk to Dan from Radiofree Bay Ridge (RFBR confirmed it was two hours). Anthony waned to explain why a BID is unnecessary and the merchants can work together, rather than increase fees on everyone.
Radiofree Bay Ridge wrote they never intended to share Anthony’s recording and it was for research purposes. WHAT?! Anthony met with RFBR because he believed they wanted to tell the full story. But RFBR just censored Anthony and our community with a one-sided story!
RFBR’s deliberate censorship of the coalition against the BID makes it seem like Anthony said something very important and someone doesn’t want us to know! If the No Bid group was saying something untrue, why wouldn’t RFBR show that?
Dan asked Anthony how can Third Avenue compete with Industry City? Did Anthony’s reply that the Avenue can’t compete with Industry City not fit with Dan’s perspective? Anthony and the Merchants on Third Avenue understand that people love NEW, but 3rd Avenue is a Neighborhood shopping area – it’s not Industry City, which the government has poured money into.
The Anti-BID Merchants have a lot of good ideas, which are low cost AND will bring the merchants back together! They should take a year and work together!
We have asked Radiofree Bay Ridge to release the interview! Don’t censor us RFBR!
Bay Ridge has a history of one-sided reporting….show it all and let people decide for themselves.
The 3rd Avenue BID Steering Committee claimed people wanted the 3rd Avenue BID. If people wanted it, it would have been created already. We are glad so many people are voting against the BID as our merchants have enough bills. See here
Interestingly, RadioFree Bay Ridge also stated that the Fifth Avenue BID had money disappear (not under the current manager though). That’s the first we heard about that!
Here’s what RadioFree Bay Ridge won’t tell you:
a) Property taxes assessments went up….taxes were already HIGH. There is no end in sight.
b) The water bill went up $250 (see here)
c) NYC Council voted and signed a bill to allow only a limited amount of carting companies in each area. The Third Avenue Merchants will be forced to use the carting companies on the list. Guess what…those companies are probably going to charge more for the carting. Antonio Reynoso sponsored the bill and was called out for creating a monopoly by Errol Louis on Channel 1 News (Reynoso put his head down when he was called out).
The steering committee has people who don’t own property or businesses pushing for a BID to be formed because they could potentially work for the BID. The businesses on our avenue were formed by people who put all their money and hard work into this community – they can’t keep losing! Non-owners should not be pushing this. While it is fine for them to be on the committee, they should not be calling for a BID when there are so many against it. The people who don’t own property or a business on 3rd Avenue should disclose that they could stand to benefit from doing business with the BID in the future.
The lack of diversity on the steering committee should embarrass everyone. You live in a culturally-diverse neighborhood with business owners from various background. The steering committee needs to have people that are bilingual and can speak with various store owners and welome them in!
By the way, we don’t actually think RadioFree Bay Ridge will release the video. There used to be another member of RFBR, but she left. She was very down-to-earth. She was replaced and the podcasts are quite different now.
Hugs,
marlene
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