200 WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Borough President Adams visited Leroy’s Barbershop in Flatbush during a
walkthrough of small businesses along the Church Avenue BID.
Small businesses are the economic
engines of Brooklyn, fueling the borough’s
commercial corridors from Brighton
Beach to Bushwick. These small and
medium-sized enterprises are manufacturing
and selling products, providing
a variety of services, and improving the
physical streetscapes of the neighborhoods
in which they operate. The borough’s
small business community is also
bettering conditions for other businesses,
generating new jobs, and enhancing local
quality of life. Based on 2015 statistics
compiled by Empire State Development
(ESD), there were more than 150,000
Brooklynites employed in small businesses
Photo Credit: Erica Sherman/Brooklyn BP’s Office
with up to 19 employees, and
more than 58,000 individuals working in
companies with 20 to 49 employees in the
borough.
“Small businesses are not only incredibly
important job generators for our borough,
they are caretakers of community
character,” said Borough President Adams.
“They are at the forefront of making our
streets more vibrant, while unlocking the
economic potential that makes neighborhoods
thrive.”
Many of Brooklyn’s small businesses
are part of business improvement districts
(BIDs), which aim to deliver community
improvements and services that go
beyond the purview of City government,
ranging from beautification and economic
development to maintenance and public
safety. There are 75 BIDs in New York City,
of which 23 are in Brooklyn. In total, they
invest $148 million annually into the City’s
economy, serve 93,000 businesses, maintain
127 public spaces, and collect four
million bags of trash. BIDs are currently
in operation in Brooklyn include the 86th
Street Bay Ridge BID in Bay Ridge; Bed-
Stuy Gateway BID in Bedford-Stuyvesant;
Fulton Mall Improvement Association in
Downtown Brooklyn; Grand Street BID in
East Williamsburg, and Kings Highway BID
in Homecrest and Midwood.
Each BID is run by a non-profit organization
and a board of directors in the district.
Borough President Adams has a seat
on all of the borough’s BIDs, which gives
him meaningful insight into small business
dynamics on a hyperlocal level, from
congestion concerns facing the North Flatbush
Avenue BID in Park Slope and Prospect
Heights to threats facing manufacturing
in the East Brooklyn BID in Brownsville
and East New York. He has invested more
than $1 million in upgrading these corridors,
from sidewalk improvements to
street lighting.
Brooklyn Borough Hall has emphasized
the importance of leveraging the power of
these grassroots commercial groups in
keeping our borough’s streets safe to promote
increased economic development.
In July 2016, Borough President Adams
launched Operation Safe Shopper, a program
that involves local civic organizations
agreeing to identify storefront locations
that provide optimal views of street activity
for the installation of street-facing security
cameras, through consultation with
their local police precinct. The first phase
included a funding allocation for security
cameras to retail stretches in Brownsville,
Clinton Hill, Coney Island, Crown Heights,
Fort Greene, and Park Slope. In May 2017,
the public-private initiative was expanded
to corridors in Brooklyn Heights, Canarsie,
Ditmas Park, and Flatbush.
In addition to advocating for a streamlined
process for approval of street events
and festivals, Borough President Adams
has also pushed the New York City Department
of Design and Construction (DDC) to
be held accountable for better communication
with BIDs in community planning.
Borough President Adams has also
emphasized the importance of having
Brooklyn Borough Hall — the “People’s
House” — be a convener for businesses
to meet and learn from each other. In
that spirit, BID leaders from across the
borough come together bi-annually to
discuss best practices, communicate issues
they are facing in their communities,
and learn about how to navigate City government.
Since March 2016, he has also
hosted a small business mentoring center
at Brooklyn Borough Hall in partnership
with SCORE NYC, a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with
free, confidential mentoring, workshops,
and education on a largely volunteer basis.
AROUND BROOKLYN
CORRIDORS of COMMERCE
Brooklyn Cyclones
Opening Week Fireworks Week
Saturday, June 16th_6:30pm_
Coney Island, Brooklyn
vs. vs.
Monday, June 18th 7pm____
Tuesday, June 19th 7pm_____
Wednesday, June 20th 7pm__
_______Sunday, July 1st 6pm
_______Tuesday, July 3rd 7pm
vs.
____Wednesday, July 4th 6pm
vs.
______Friday, July 6th 6:40pm
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
Schedule Magnet
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