New York City’s 73 business improvement districts spent more than $134 million in their respective communities last year.
The Downtown Alliance had the largest expenses for the 2016 fiscal year, having spent $20 million, according to a report by the city’s Department of Small Business Services. The BIDs, which are nonprofits that are primarily funded by assessments on property owners, provide services like sanitation, public safety, marketing and capital improvements. Collectively, the city’s BIDs spent the most — 25 percent — of their total expenditures on sanitation services.
“Each and every day, business improvement districts are delivering important services that are helping build safer, cleaner and more vibrant neighborhoods across our city,” Gregg Bishop, the department’s commissioner, told the New York Times. “BIDs are invested in their communities, and their local leadership helps small business corridors grow and succeed.”
Since first arriving in the city in 1984, BIDs have grown exponentially, with 33 of the organizations forming since 2000. BIDs have expanded the kinds of services they offer to local communities. For instance, the Montague Street Business Improvement District in Brooklyn Heights recently supported a campaign to prevent rodent infestations, the Times reported.
In 2015, the city’s BIDs spent $127 million. In August, The Real Deal took a look at the influence that developers sometimes have over BIDs. [NYT] — Kathryn Brenzel