More than $1.5 million are heading to the Bronx to support local organizations and business improvement districts to help the commercial corridors improve quality of life and increase foot traffic.
The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) said the grants, distributed among 15 organizations, will fund neighborhood improvements as small businesses continue to grapple with rising operating costs.
The money will support projects ranging from lighting and beautification to wayfinding, public art, marketing campaigns and merchant organizing.
For smaller business improvement districts, the funding can make a significant difference.
“With our low bid assessment of $240,000, we rely heavily on city grants and sponsorships from private funders to accomplish the work you see every day,” every day in our BID,” said 161-Street BID Executive Director Trey Jenkins.
Jenkins said that the city funds allowed them to expand their team and hire a full time director of operations to support the increase in neighborhood beautification efforts.
“Without this grant, our BID will be severely limited,” Jenkins added.
The 161st Street BID is among 10 Bronx BIDs that will share a combined $825,000 through the city’s Small BID Support Grant program. The funding is intended to help smaller BIDs address resource and equity issues.
The grants will support business districts serving 161st Street, Belmont, Castle Hill, the Hub, Jerome-Gun Hill, Morris Park, Southern Boulevard, Throggs Neck, Westchester Square and White Plains Road.
Andrew So, co-founder and executive director of South Bronx United, said the 161st Street BID’s programming and support have helped the organization’s Clubhouse Cafe, which employs local youth, succeed.
Andrew So, Co-founder and Executive Director of South Bronx United said that the success of their Clubhouse Cafe, which employs local youth, has been in part due to the programming and efforts said up by the 161 BID.
“It’s been thanks to the 161st Street BID that we’ve been able to be as successful as we have, keeping this as a really vibrant community, supporting the work that we do, bringing people through,” So said.
So pointed to a World Cup watch party held at Macombs Dam Park in June as an example of how the BID brings residents into the neighborhood. The event drew about 1,000 community members, he said, and was organized with support from the borough president and the BID.
“[They] bring people through, advocate for the work that we’re doing and advocate for us to be able to have such an event right here in our borough and in our neighborhood,” So said.
Three organizations — the Hub-Third Avenue BID, Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation in East Tremont and the Westchester Square BID — will receive a combined $325,000 in multiyear Avenue NYC Commercial Revitalization grants.
The grants are intended to support commercial districts in low- and moderate-income communities, including funding for full-time program managers, Commercial District Needs Assessments and organizational training.
The Hub-Third Avenue BID previously unveiled their Commercial District Needs Assessment in March following two visits from SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya, about much needed investment in the district.
Another $200,000 will go toward Public Realm Grants for neighborhood beautification, wayfinding, public art and creative lighting projects. The recipients are Hometown Security Laboratories, the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition and Our Bronx.
Elsewhere in the borough, KRVC Development Corporation will receive $100,000 through the city’s Merchant Organizing Grant to support commercial districts and merchant associations in Kingsbridge and Riverdale.
Davidson Community Center will receive another $100,000 through a Business Improvement District Development Grant for work in Burnside. The funding will support staffing, planning and implementation of a proposal to create or expand a business improvement district.
The city said the grants are part of an effort to strengthen Bronx commercial corridors and create more vibrant, welcoming neighborhoods while supporting the small businesses that anchor them.
Reach Marina Samuel at msamuel@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
