Why Doesn’t John Alexander Want Bay Ridge to Know That Everyone Doesn’t Want a BID?
John Alexander, senior editor of the Brooklyn Reporter, wrote a one-sided article about the formation of the Bay Ridge BID. Alexander was at the meeting where some great merchants expressed dissatisfaction with forming a BID.
I don’t understand why Mr. Alexander doesn’t think it is important for Bay Ridge to know the entire story. Who is benefiting from this type of news? John Alexander must not be aware of the NO 3rd Avenue BID group.
Some 3rd Avenue shop owners questioned why the BID will need $45,000 each month ($540,000 for the year). The merchants were told that they can’t get the full budget breakdown until after the BID is created. The BIDs Assessment will be added to the property tax owner. Those who rent stores will have their rent raised to cover these costs.
The merchants questioned the $240,000 for the administration cost of the BID. No one should be expected to work for free, but expenses need to be transparent. If there are merchants willing to take on those jobs, the administration fee could be reduced.
The Steering Group should be able to provide a monthly breakdown of fees, as some members have been part of the Merchants Group for years and know how much money is needed.
Other questions were asked and the steering committee said here that they would post them on social media, but they haven’t yet. One merchant shared about the strange things that happened at the meeting in the comments here (other merchants politely expressed their opposition to the BID on other social media).
The morning meeting for the BID was shown on the Merchants Facebook page – see here.
Perch Advisors shared the evening meeting on Instagram and remarked that it was “amazing community turnout.” If the BID was three blocks long, that would be a good turnout. The proposed BID is 30 blocks long, so this is a low turnout, especially since the Steering Committee is also in the picture.
I talked with 22 merchants over the past few weeks. Some of them didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned the BID. I thought they just didn’t want to talk about it, but they might not know because the letters where sent out to the property owners.
Councilman Brannan funded the exploration for a BID because some merchants are not cleaning the area in front of their stores and he had to hire cleaners to keep 3rd Avenue looking nice. Many merchants keep their areas clean, but some don’t. Brannan also funded extra pickups for the corner garbage, whereas the Fifth Avenue BID takes care of that on their avenue.
Senator Andrew Gounardes should meet with the BID. It appears the Merchants have some problems and some of them have solutions too. We haven’t seen the senator call the business owners together and speak with them (he may have, but we are sure there would be a picture if he did). Rather than force a BID on some great merchants, why not talk to them about what they need?
We want the Merchants to do well in Bay Ridge. We don’t want 3rd Avenue to look like 5th Avenue. Fifth Avenue has a BID and we haven’t seen any improvement in the avenue.
Hugs,
marlene
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