By Alex Davidson
Business owners and leaders in Richmond Hill and Ozone Park are starting to organize a drive to establish a Business Improvement District along Liberty Avenue.
Raymond Ally, co-chairman of the Agenda 21 Merchant Group that is spearheading the project, said he is hoping to form a task force by year's end that will look into the mechanics of starting a BID. He said Agenda 21 already had commissioned a study last year that showed the need for a BID in the area.
“This is not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “If we do this, then we will have the resources to clean streets and have additional security.”
Business Improvement Districts are city-sponsored initiatives that charge business owners along commercial zones a fee based on the size of their storefronts. The money collected by the city is then given directly back to the neighborhood and administered by private corporations.
The funds have been used by other BID zones to increase the number of sanitation and security personnel in the area, thus potentially reducing the amount of trash on specific streets and lowering crime rates.
Ally, along with his Agenda 21 partner Jamal Baksh, said initial plans call for the BID to include the blocks along Liberty Avenue from 106th Street to 127th Street. He said he is hoping Agenda 21 will be able to organize business renters and owners along Liberty Avenue in favor of a BID by the end of the year so a final plan can be formalized by 2004.
“That is what we would like it to be, but the BID could be more or less, depending on where support for it is,” said Ally, a Richmond Hill resident.
At least 51 percent of businesses in a proposed BID zone must be in favor of a BID for it to be put into place, Ally said. He said the biggest hurdle leading up to a final Liberty Avenue BID proposal will be persuading a majority of business owners to pay additional fees during a slow economic period.
Liberty Avenue is home to a variety of immigrants and businesses, including substantial Indo-Guyanese and Hispanic populations and several West Indian supermarkets.
Ally and Baksh are leading the effort along Liberty Avenue with Agenda 21's other 10 board members and 20 advisory board members, Ally said. He said the all-volunteer organization was founded five years ago and was created to improve Liberty Avenue, which spans the communities of Richmond Hill and Ozone Park.
“We try to advocate for the neighborhood,” Ally said.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156
