Fulton BID Opponents Threaten Not to Pay

Outvoted by their fellow Fulton Street merchants and landowners, a bunch of business owners, mostly on the Clinton Hill stretch of Fulton Street, are now threatening to withhold tax payments in their effort to fight the already-approved Fulton Street BID. On Thursday, reports the Brooklyn Paper, opponents of the Business Improvement District, delivered a letter with 70 signatures to Council Member Letitia James threatening civil disobedience. “We won’t pay,” the letter read. “This BID [business improvement district] has left us out. We want a new, democratic vote. Otherwise it’s a battle on Fulton Street.” Some merchants claim that the monthly fees imposed by the BID—$80 per month for every 20 feet of street frontage—are too onerous. The Brooklyn Paper, however, suggests another reason: "There’s the fear among some entrepreneurs that it will accelerate gentrification and eventually drive them out of business." But why do the Clinton Hill merchants fail to grasp the benefits of organizing to improve the safety and aesthetic levels of where they do business when their peers both to the east in Bed Stuy and the west in Fort Greene are overwhelmingly on board with the program?
Clearing the Air on the Fulton BID [Brownstoner]
Fulton BID Approved! Buses Returning Soon [Brownstoner]
Fulton BID Gaining Momentum [Brownstoner]

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"But why do the Clinton Hill merchants fail to grasp the benefits of organizing to improve the safety and aesthetic levels of where they do business when their peers both to the east in Bed Stuy and the west in Fort Greene are overwhelmingly on board with the program?"

They all read "The Hunt" in the New York Times and see the future.

Posted by: bkhabitant at June 1, 2009 10:45 AM

bkhabitant, please elaborate.

Posted by: Susan Elkins at June 1, 2009 11:10 AM

The real question is how does Tish James support the BID, and still get love from the merchants?

"James has defended the business improvement district and said that its formation now enables her to funnel city money to the area for other uses that could revitalize the commercial corridor."

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/22/32_22_mm_fulton_bid.html

Now that's a real magic trick!

Posted by: Knickerbocker at June 1, 2009 11:59 AM

i live near the clinton hill stretch of fulton, and I have to say that someone must be pissing in these people's ears, because it is dismal. there are junkies hanging around all the time at st. james street, drug dealers openly dealing drugs at grand and putnam, and so on...
I don't know enough to know if a BID is the answer, but something has to change. As far as there being fear of gentrification, get over it already. good grief.

Posted by: miss priss at June 1, 2009 12:14 PM

I agree with miss priss. The houses are already going for a million bucks... gentrification? Uh -- already happened. It reminds me of that Columbia prof who wrote the article on how terrible the Isabella was -- did he not notice that everything else around the new condos was also amazingly expensive?

I would love to see real reasons against the BID, because I don't get it, and yet some of my favorite stores are against it.

Posted by: Heather at June 1, 2009 12:34 PM

That strech of Fulton is dispiritng. I would rather walk from the Lafayette C then the Clinton-Wash C. The stores are blah and the street is dodgy. Looks like a set from one one of those "day after" movies.

Posted by: DeLepp at June 1, 2009 12:46 PM

Has Ms. James - or anyone who advocates the BID - made an effort to speak face-to-face with the anti-BID merchants to discuss their objections?

Posted by: East New York at June 1, 2009 12:51 PM

Councilwoman James, Assemblyman Jeffries and representatives of the interim board met with merchants six weeks ago. See the Brooklyn Downtown Star:
http://tinyurl.com/kqvzjq.

Posted by: g man at June 1, 2009 3:17 PM

Let me preface by saying that I fully support and recognize the need for the BID, being a resident of this end of Fulton Street. Every time I go in one of these stores with those dumb "hate BID, love Tish" (or the inexplicable "hate BID, love the B25") signs up, I just want to rip it down and ask the owner what their beef is?!

That being said, I have thought a lot about the reasons for such strong opposition and what I have decided, without knowing for sure, is that it is perhaps because many of these businesses operate with a very slim profit margin (even the owners of the MET, with all their property holdings, don't strike me as being anything close to a Catsimatidis) and have a feeling of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The trash on the ground and the vagrants on the corner don't keep people from buying their cigarettes and newspapers. It might however, keep away more upmarket businesses that would take up space that could be used for yet another bodega, nail salon, or 99 cent store!

I have also wondered, noticing that many of the business owners are immigrants from one place or another, if they come from a place where businesses are routinely shaken down for all sorts of taxes and fees for "services" that fail to materialize or weren't necessary in the first place?

Again, I could be wrong on both these counts but generally, what seems totally irrational from one perspective is perfectly rational from another and it is good to try to get the heart of what their true concerns are, so that they can be addressed and we can move on with making sure that Fulton Street is clean, safe, and conducive to a wide variety of retail businesses.

Posted by: dbkgirly at June 1, 2009 4:58 PM

A bid has done wonders for Myrtle Avenue and is surely needed on that horrible corridor on Fulton from Vanderbilt to Franklin Aves. I dont know what the objections are other then the money the merchants would have to pay but improvements are definitely in order.That stretch has alot of abandoned buildings that could be developed into much needed businesses like a shoe repair, fish store, book store and more and even a yogurt bar or ice cream shop. The streets could use some more garbage cans on the corners and some trees and benches.That would bring more business into the area and benefit those who lost customers during the construction phase.Hope the bid gets going already.

Posted by: iluvclintonhill at June 2, 2009 12:14 AM

Another example of the short-sightedness of many businesses that serve (sometimes former) areas of color. Always embracing the lowest common denominator. God forbid Fulton, Utica or Nostrand Aves are half as clean as 7th ave, PPW, or Smith St.

Posted by: Crownlfc at June 2, 2009 9:16 AM

what they are afraid of is that the drug dealers who pay them regularly will have to move on and they will be out of money. half of those stores are fronts for dealers and their customers. get out!

Posted by: witchdoctor at June 2, 2009 9:45 AM

Hey, everyone, how smart do you have to be to understand why the merchants are rebelling against an outside, secretive agency -- that would be PACC -- setting them up for a shakedown. Who the hell is PACC? By what authority are they trying to tell shopkeepers what they can /can not do in their own stores? Brooklyn News 12 reported yesterday that Councilwoman James and PACC will be setting the tax assessments for the BID -- and MS. James's hail mary bailout fund. The fact is the BID is a hardship for the majority of the Fulton store, but James and PACC will determine who gets help and who doesn't. In other words, don't admit the BID is a mistake, make it worse by ensuring it falls unevenly, unfaurly one shop to another. Nice. How great would you feel if you're paying full freight and the guy next door gets a buy, courtesy James&PACC, Co. The BID is being fought so bitterly because it is undemocrtatic. The merchants' letter says so. Quite well. Obvious.

Posted by: Thomasina at June 3, 2009 11:29 PM

The BID is not undemocratic. It was approved by a majority of property owners and merchants along the affected strip.

Posted by: clintonista at June 27, 2009 8:06 PM

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June 1, 2009

Fulton BID Opponents Threaten Not to Pay

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