New district to include over 352 businesses. On May 21, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved an application by the New York City Department of Small Business Services to create the Belmont Business Improvement District, located in the Bronx in the neighborhood generally known as Little Italy. The Belmont BID would be bounded by East Fordham Road to the north, Lorillard Place to the west, East 183rd Street to the south, and Southern Boulevard to the east. It would be the second such district in the area, complementing the Fordham Road BID, which lies adjacent to the proposed boundaries of the Belmont BID.

The Belmont BID would represent 352 businesses, including a concentration of Italian restaurants and specialty stores located along Arthur Avenue. The 267 properties that comprise the BID are developed primarily by mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail. Property owners can expect the BID to provide certain services to the area such as graffiti removal, security patrol, holiday programming, and marketing. (read more…)