By LAURA KUSISTO
The city is moving ahead with plans to launch business improvement districts in industrial neighborhoods, which will help companies band together on common problems such as threatened zoning changes and illegal dumping.
The city’s Economic Development Corp. plans to announce on Tuesday that it has selected four local organizations that will lead the creation of business improvement districts on the west shore of Staten Island, Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, Long Island City in Queens and Eastchester in the Bronx.
Companies in business improvement districts typically agree to contribute annual fees toward sanitation, security and advocacy services.
Such districts are already credited with helping spark the transformation of areas of the city like Times Square, Union Square, Bryant Park and downtown Brooklyn.
Now the city is offering extra encouragement to industrial businesses to band together with the expected approval of $300,000 toward planning to set up the industrial business improvement districts.
“The creation of up to four industrial business improvement districts will allow industrial businesses across the city to work collectively to overcome the unique challenges they face,” Seth Pinsky, president of the Economic Development Corp., said in a statement.
The four consultants that were selected are East Williamsburg Valley Industrial Development Corp.; South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp.; Long Island City Partnership and Staten Island Economic Development Corp.
Businesses in each of the four areas still need to vote to for the creation of the districts, but the four consultants say they have thus far receive positive responses.
