BROOKLYN — The head of the North Flatbush Business Improvement District has stepped down after five years at the helm.
Sharon Davidson resigned in December, she told DNAinfo New York.
“I had put in five years and it was time for me to leave," Davidson said. She declined to comment further, but said she was working on a new venture that she couldn't discuss yet.
BID president Regina Cahill said BID policy prevented her from commenting on Davidson's departure.
The North Flatbush BID was founded in 1986, according to city records. Like other BIDs, the group charges a yearly fee to local businesses then uses that money to improve the area.
The BID's services include street cleaning, promoting neighborhood merchants and hosting special events such as a visit from Santa at Christmas.
The BID has also pushed for street beautification along Flatbush, including the installation of solar-powered trash cans and bike corrals.
The North Flatbush BID's territory covers 157 businesses on both sides of the avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Grand Army Plaza, according to city records.
Unlike some Manhattan BIDs that collect millions in assessments, the North Flatbush group takes in about $150,000 a year, according to the city's office of Small Business Services, which oversees BIDs.
Press coverage from the late 1990s praised the BID for overcoming its small budget to make noticeable improvements in the area.
In recent years Davidson was well-known to locals as an advocate for Flatbush Avenue, which braced for changes both good and bad as the Barclays Center opened in 2012.
She caused an uproar when she broke the news that Hooters was eyeing a spot in the neighborhood, and worked with new bars opening in the area to make sure they wouldn't bother locals.
The BID hasn't updated its website or Twitter feed, or sent out its regular email newsletter since Davidson's departure. The group's main email address wasn't functioning Wednesday and the answering machine at its Flatbush Avenue office wasn't accepting messages.
Cahill did not respond to a question about whether the BID is still operating.
