Hearing set for Bayside BID

Late last month, the City Council brought the proposed Bayside Village Business Improvement District (BID) one step closer to reality, when it set August 22 as the date for a public hearing on the plan to establish it.
The Bayside BID is slated to include both sides of Bell Boulevard, from Northern Boulevard to 35th Avenue, and 41st Avenue, from 214th Place to 213th Street.
Properties along these streets would be assessed dues based on their status as commercial, residential, governmental/non-profit or vacant property, and their frontage, (the amount of sidewalk they occupy.) Commercial properties would pay nearly all the dues, as the plan calls for residences and vacant properties to pay $1 per year, and for government or non-profit-owned properties to be exempt.
The BID would be administered by The Bayside Village District Management Association, Inc., which would collect the dues and administer services such as sanitation, holiday decoration, parking and capital improvements.
The plan submitted by the Bayside Village BID Steering Committee has already been approved by the New York City Planning Commission and Community Board 11.
The close of the public hearing, to be held in the council’s Committee Room on the 2nd floor at City Hall, starts the clock on a 30-day comment period.
Unless 51 percent of the property owners within the proposed BID file objections with the City Clerk within the 30 days, the BID will be established.
Bell Boulevard business owners south of Northern Boulevard had sought to be included in the plan and voiced objections when it was brought before the Community Board. They could not be accommodated, as the law does not allow modifications to plans once they have been approved by City Planning.
Copies of the resolution adopted by the City Council, which include a copy of the BID plan, are available for public inspection from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Office of the City Clerk, located at 265 Municipal Building (South Side), One Center Street, in Manhattan.