Photo by Denae Brewer/Horizon
The sidewalks outside these shops on 161st Street may get a face lift if the city approves a proposed BusinessImprovement District for the area.

New business district proposed for 161st Street

By Geoffrey Orens
Contributing writer

Shop owners on 161st Street have long had to deal with food peddlers, gangs, double-parked cars, and overflowing trash. These problems, combined with the economic downturn since 9/11, have made business harder, say some merchants. But all this could soon change if a proposed Business Improvement District (BID) is established for shopping strip.

A group of local businesses is calling for the city to approve a BID to run along 161st Street between Morris and River avenues, extending one block to the north and south. Supported by special taxes that would be paid by the property owners in the district, the BID would aim to bring more customers to the area by keeping the streets and sidewalks clean and decorated and by better promoting local stores. BID proponents hope to hire private sanitation and security services, advertise in local media, and coordinate special sales and events like book signings and entertainment in Joyce Kilmer Park at 161st and the Grand Concourse. The shopping strip would be decorated with lights during the holiday season and with banners throughout the year.

“The idea is that people in the community can find work and be blessed and share their talents and gifts with each other,” said Joyce Davis, director of economic development at the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council.

Mid-Bronx, which is based on the Grand Concourse near 161st Street, first agreed to sponsor the BID plan eight years ago. The organization hired LTM Associates, which has successfully lobbied for BIDs on White Plains Road and on 181st Street in Washington Heights. “This area has a life of its own between eight and six,” said Ann Lindsey of LTM. “But on weekends there’s not enough traffic to generate business except when the Yankees are in town.”

To support the BID’s services, local property owners in the district would pay an annual tax based on the size and value of the property: A small business might pay as little as $2,000 a year, while a much larger business could pay around $20,000.

At first these fees deterred some businesses from getting on board. But today, all 30 businesses in the proposed district are signed on.

For many, the need was clear: “A lot of people who live here … feel the only time the streets are cleaned are during Yankee games,” said Renee Cross, branch manager of the Apple Bank. If the BID succeeds, coordinators plan to hire a street sweeper to work six days a week, seven hours a day.

The BID would also hire someone to work closely with the local police to make sure trouble spots are covered and illegal and rowdy behavior is stopped quickly.

Lindsey hopes to present the BID proposal to the City Planning Commission by the end of July, after which it would go before the City Council.

The BID already has the support of local City Councilmember Jose Serrano, who plans to introduce legislation for the creation of the district this fall. “This will be a small but integral piece of the revitalization of the South Bronx,” said Serrano aide Nicholas Arture.

Lindsey hopes the new district will be approved and operating by January.

“The street is going to be a major, major street,” said Pat Keneally, owner of P&D Hero Shop on Sherman Avenue and president of the 161st Street Merchant’s Association. “It’s going to be the downtown Bronx in the years to come.”