PARK SLOPE — Merchants along Seventh Avenue are pushing to establish a business improvement district that would pay to keep the bustling commercial strip looking its best.
If the business owners succeed, the new BID would span the avenue from St. John's Place to 16th Street, according to the fledgling group's website. Organizers are holding a meeting Feb. 28 where the public can learn more about the proposal.
BIDs levy an annual fee to all business owners in the district to pay for maintenance services beyond what the city provides, including street sweeping, trash pick-up, and beautification projects. The fee is based on the size of the merchant's storefront; the average annual fee on Seventh Avenue would be roughly $700 to $900, according to the group's website.
The BID will focus on improvements identified in a 2012 survey conducted by the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce asking businesses and residents about what upgrades they wanted to see on Seventh Avenue. At the top of the list were better sanitation, safety, greening and beautification, events and economic development, according to the group's website.
Merchants have been talking about a BID since at least 2010, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The plan picked up steam again in 2011, after a street sweeping contract with the nonprofit Doe Fund expired, the paper reported. Fifth Avenue merchants established a BID in 2009.
To move ahead, the Seventh Avenue BID will need widespread support from business owners and city approval.
Learn more about the plans for a Seventh Avenue BID at a public meeting Thursday, Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. at Greenwood Baptist Church, 461 Sixth St.
