Why Northside?
A Business Improvement District (BID) is a public-private partnership in which property and business owners come together to make a collective contribution toward the maintenance, development and promotion of their district.
BIDs are funded through special assessments paid by property owners in a clearly defined district. Over the past two decades, New York City BIDs has invested over $930 million into neighborhoods, providing critical supplementary support.
Northside Williamsburg, characterized by its blend of thriving commercial corridors, diverse residential communities, vibrant cultural scene, and dynamic industrial spaces, would greatly benefit from a hyperlocal BID model.
Establishing a Northside Improvement District presents an opportunity for North Brooklyn to address the emerging needs of a rapidly growing community by ensuring that essential services align directly with the neighborhood's unique identity and evolving needs, enhancing the quality of life and business vitality for all stakeholders.
Our district can improve quality of life by expanding services like sidewalk sweeping, street cleaning, public safety, and business initiatives.
Beyond these traditional expectations, the Northside Improvement District is designed with a special focus on the improvement and maintenance of parks and open spaces, including the future 27-acre Bushwick Inlet Park.
needs assessment survey results
From almost 1000 responses!
In 2023 the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, alongside other community nonprofits and elected officials, created and circulated a survey across the neighborhood. The survey gauged community content with various quality of life issues and evaluated need for possible neighborhood services. The results were illuminating.
Quality of life concerns
Sanitation ranked by far the highest, on the scale from 1 (not concerned) to 5 (very concerned). Its average score was a whopping 4.2!
About half of all respondents gave sanitation a concern score of five out of five.
The next highest concerns were Flooding/Stormwater Management, Pedestrian Safety, and Lack of Green Space Maintenance.
Cleanliness Needs
More trash cans, more frequent trash pickup, and sidewalk sweeping were all rated as high-priority needs.
These are exactly the kinds of needs that a Northside BID would fulfill. Sidewalk sweeping and trash pickup would be performed by the BID itself, and BID advocacy often leads to installation of additional trash cans as well.
business services
Business owners highlighted "Liaison with elected officials” and “improved interagency coordination” as their major needs.
The message is clear: local businesses here are in need of organized coordination with City government. This kind of advocacy is exactly what BIDs provide!
cultural highlights
Fostering neighborhood identity and culture for locals was emphasized.
Farmers and artist markets were the highest-rated cultural provision. Next highest was public art. Helping local artists and artisans thrive is something that BIDs do across the city!
“In my opinion, the biggest value-add a new BID would have for residents is making this corridor cleaner. It is embarrassing to go to places like Ft. Greene, Park Slope, Upper East Side and not have to step across litter on their main corridors.”
“Would love to do a shop crawl in Williamsburg, similar to something Greenpointers does”
“Street cleaning remains sporadic and in summer it is truly disgusting. Our trees on Bedford and Metropolitan/3rd were not trimmed all summer.”
“We need to invest in beautifying the Wythe and Kent Avenue corridors from N 10th Street to N 15th Street”
“Its a god awful mess”
On March 5, 2024 the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance and New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler hosted a panel discussion at National Sawdust in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Northside Summit: is a BID the Answer? aimed to engage community stakeholders in the Northside Business Improvement District formation process. Representatives of three BIDs from Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan discussed how their BIDs are funded, how they complement city services, and how they benefit their local communities.
Past Event
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