New York City's Small Businesses services has awarded 16 community-based developmental organizations (CBDOs) — including five organizations based out of the Brooklyn area —$800,000 in Business Improvement District (BID) Exploration and Formation grants, announced the organization on Wednesday.
The funding was announced by NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Kevin D. Kim. The grants will be used to assist CBDOs in taking crucial steps towards organizing and planning BID formations throughout the 17 commercial corridors around NYC.
“SBS is proud to support the incredible work every single BID in New York City is doing to improve and maintain the city’s commercial corridors,” said Kevin D. Kim, Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business Services.
“Vigorous and dynamic BIDs are a catalyst to creating flourishing small businesses and good jobs — and we are taking every step to ensure any community that wants to form a BID has the opportunity and resources to get started.”
The BID development program is a part of Mayor Eric Adams' commitment to investing in underserved commercial corridors and promoting stronger networks of small businesses throughout the five boroughs.
This commitment was outlined in Mayor Adams' "Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery", which was released back in March of this year.
BID Grant Recipients
Overall, SBS will be awarding two distinct grants to the 16 total NYC organizations. These grants are the BID Exporation grant and the BID Formation grant.
The BID Exploration grant awards organizations up to $20,000 each to support with early-stage planning and organizing of a BID.
In total, the BID Exploration grant awarded $200,000 to nine organizations in NYC. This includes two organizations that serve the Brooklyn area.
The first Brooklyn recipient is Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services (BACDYS). This non-profit organization is based out of East Brooklyn and helps low-income families to improve their living conditions.
The second recipient of the BID Exploration grant is the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District. The non-profit, community-based organization provides services to business and property owners in the Pitken Avenue community.
The other grant that the SBS has awarded is the BID Formation grant. This particular grant awards individual organizations up to $100,000 for the purpose of staffing, planning, and implementation of a current BID formation or expansion process.
In total, the BID Formation grant awarded $600,000 to seven NYC organizations, which includes three organizations that serve Brooklyn.
The Alliance for Coney Island organization, which works to ensure that Coney Island and the communities both thrive, was the first recipient of the grant.
The next recipient is the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. The organization provides services and programming to the Cypress Hills community to strengthen the neighborhood and its residents.
Finally, the last Brooklyn-based recipient of the BID Formation grant was Gowanus Canal Conservancy. The organization "advocates and cares for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands while empowering a community of stewards", according to the organization's website.
With all of these NYC-based organizations receiving BID development grants, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso says that these grants will be important in not only making a positive impact on small businesses, but also on the overall communities as well.
“Retaining culture, preserving history, and sustaining families across generations, small businesses are far more than just an economic force. They are the backbone of every community, which means that the $800,000 awards across 16 CBDOs will fortify our hard-hit small businesses as well as the neighborhoods in which they service," said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
