BID will address sanitation and security problems and increase marketing for the area’s attractions. The Planning Commission unanimously approved a new BID in the East 161st Street corridor in the Bronx, which will encompass Yankee Stadium, Concourse Village, the Bronx County courthouses, as well as existing one-story fast-food restaurants and street-level retail. The BID is proposed to extend along East 161st Street, from River Avenue on the west to Morris Avenue on the east.

The BID proposal, which culminated nine years of community efforts, will focus on remediation of East 161st Street’s graffiti, litter and security problems. The first year’s budget is projected at $190,000, with almost half, $89,000, allocated towards six-day weekly sidewalk cleaning, garbage pick-up and graffiti removal. The budget will come from an assessment on commercial property owners of $32.97 for each linear front foot and $29 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. Residential property owners will be assessed $1 a year.

At the October 6, 2004 Commission hearing, a representative of the BID’s Steering Committee stated that the area’s sanitation and security problems were aggravated by pedestrian and car traffic to the Bronx courts. The Commission approved the BID as submitted on November 3, 2004, with Commissioner Alfred C. Cerullo abstaining. The Commission found that the BID would be an effective economic development mechanism that would strengthen existing businesses and attract new ones.

BID Approval Process: The Department of Small Business Services, as lead agency, issued a negative declaration on April 28, 2004, and submitted the BID plan to Mayor Bloomberg, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Bronx Community Board 4, and the offices of Council Members Helen Foster, Jose Serrano and Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

Community Board 4 unanimously approved on September 28, 2004. Both the Mayor and the City Council must now hold public hearings prior to its final approval. Council’s Finance Committee review is pending.

CPC: 161st Street BID (N 050063 BDX) (November 3, 2004). CITYADMIN