Chinatown BID inches closer to reality

After more than two decades, Chinatown is moving closer to forming a business improvement district that would give property owners services for a fee, charging as much as $5,000 per property, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Department of City Planning is now reviewing the plan, which must be approved by the department’s board of commissioners and the City Council. Though two earlier attempts to create a district were defeated, the measure has overcome early opposition. The proposed district would run between Broadway and Rutgers Street, stretching north to Broome Street and south to Madison Street. Proponents of the district say that sanitation would be its main benefit. The Chinatown Partnership, a local economic development group, has funded street cleanings and additional trash pickups in the neighborhood for the past several years, but since the partnership is unable to fund the cleanings forever, the proposed district would help provide a steady stream of revenue to continue the cleanings. [WSJ]