CLIFTON — The city had awarded $425,000 in prizes to nine new "catalytic" businesses that will open up on the North Shore of Staten Island.
The businesses, winner's of the New York City Economic Development Corporation's "Staten Island Storefronts: Race for Space!" contest, include a brewery, restaurant, gym and a grocery store which are revitalizing the borough's downtown area.
“The North Shore is open for business and the long awaited revitalization is underway,” said councilman and borough president-elect James Oddo in a statement.
“That message needs to continue to ring forward. And as the song goes, 'We've only just begun.”
The competition, announced in June, awards money to businesses when they open their doors on a first-come first-serve basis, with the amount decided by the size of the space and type of store, the EDC said.
To qualify for the money, the businesses must open or expand within six months of the start of their lease, the EDC said.
The biggest winner announced by the EDC was the Flagship Brewing Company, which plans to open in January in St. George, It will get $75,000 when its first brew is poured.
"As small business owners and native Staten Islanders, the Flagship team is so excited to be a part of the great new additions to the North Shore waterfront,” said James Sykes, executive vice president of the brewery, in a statement.
“The NYCEDC, through this grant, has shown that they truly believe in the people of Staten Island to build up our borough through small business."
Aside from Flagship and the Verrazano CrossFit, which received a $25,000 award, other businesses announced Thursday were Fire Grilled Burgers, Crab Pizza, Metropolitan Citymarket, Exercise My Mutt and Settanta, an expansion of Pier 76 pizzeria in St. George.
