What We’ve Accomplished in SoHo
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The BS SoHo BID Plan is not the answer for SoHo.
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We don’t need the BID TAX !!
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There’s a better alternative …
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Thanks to all our neighbors, friends and others who, over the past year, have supported our efforts to find a better way to improve our neighborhood.
Here’s just some of what we’ve accomplished by acting together:
1. Uncovered any number of problems inherent in the proposed SoHo BID plan.
2. Created strong connections with a number of elected officials and political organizations, and obtained their support for our cause.
3. Discovered the underlying conflict between ACE and the overall care of the neighborhood.
4. Worked with Department of Sanitation to address the failure of the City, some local property owners & countless vendors to deal responsibly with trash throughout our neighborhood, a consequence of Broadway becoming a very successful shopping mall.
5. Lobbied for and urged enforcement of vending regulations to bring the sidewalk & street vendor situation under proper control.
6. Exposed the bureaucratic process behind NYC BIDs to be haphazard and without proper oversight.
7. Championed the individual rights of residents, property owners & small businesses in the face of an onslaught from big real estate and retail interests.
How the SoHo BID will Sell Out SoHo
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If you think SoHo sidewalks are CROWDED now …
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Look what the SoHo BID crew
has tucked inside its BS BID Plan for SoHo:
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Selling Public Space for Retail and other Uses
is a key aspect of the BS BID Plan …
The SoHo BID Plan to sell public space on Broadway.
Click HERE to see how the SoHo BID will SELL OUT SoHo
if the NY City Council votes to enact the BS BID.
SAY NO to the SoHo BID!!
Senator Daniel Squadron States OPPOSITION to the SoHo BID
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He knows the SoHo BS BID isn’t the plan that SoHo needs.
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The Senator considered the concerns of his constituents.
He understands that the BS BID will mean increased operating costs
for many local businesses.
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Senator Squadron knows that substantial local support “just isn’t there“
He agrees that the SoHo BS BID Plan is filled with problems, many outlined by
our local Community Board, and he now states:
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“As you are no doubt aware, Manhattan Community Board 2 (CB2)
unanimously opposed the SoHo BID proposal. I join CB2 in its opposition.“
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READ Senator Squadron’s LETTER to the Departments of City Planning and
Small Business Services HERE.
SAY NO to the SoHo BID
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REJECT the BAD BS BID Plan
“Substantial Support” Just Isn’t There
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The problematic SoHo BID proposal is NOT needed.
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An Editorial in the Downtown Express states it clearly:
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“We can’t support the effort to create a BID along Soho’s Broadway corridor.”
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Read the entire Downtown Express Editorial HERE
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This BAD BID PLAN, which would give over local community control to a consortium
of Real Estate interests, should be tossed in the TRASH, where it belongs.
The Downtown Express reminds everyone that Councilmember Margaret Chin has previously stated:
“I will not support a Broadway Soho BID unless I see substantial support
from residents in the proposed BID catchment area”
The Downtown Express Editorial also notes:
“Clearly, that “substantial support” just isn’t there …
a BID without the community’s backing simply won’t fly.“
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Tell Councilmember Chin to keep her promise to her constituents.
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The time has come to take a stand: REJECT the SoHo BID!
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Assemblymember Glick Opposes the SoHo BID
Our NY State Assembly Representative, Deborah J. Glick, declares
STRONG OPPOSITION
to the proposed creation of a
SoHo Business Improvement District:
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Read the entire LETTER that was sent to City Planning & SBS.
Then follow Assemblymember Glick’s lead:
SEND a MESSAGE to City Council Member Margaret Chin
Tell her to REJECT the BAD SoHo BID Plan.
The SoHo BID Plan is Now Properly Called the BS BID Plan
Those behind the SoHo BID have changed their name:
They now call themselves The Broadway SoHo BID, aka
The BS BID
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Has there ever been a more fitting name for such an unnecessary and unwanted proposal?
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READ MORE about why this BS BID plan is simply and completely WRONG:
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Exposing the Dirty Facts behind the Soho BID Plan
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Under the “revised” BS BID Plan those in charge of the BID will be able to:
- EXPAND beyond the current proposed boundaries
- INCREASE the BID BUDGET, a stated purpose of Mayor Bloomberg and Small Business Services
- INCREASE ASSESSMENTS aka TAXES levied on property owners, both commercial and residential
- INCUR DEBT which will make it practically impossible to disempower the BID
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DO the SMART thing: SAY NO to the BS / SoHo BID
NOT in the Public Interest: STOP the SoHo BID
SoHo IS BEING SOLD OUT TO PRIVATE INTERESTS BEHIND THE SoHo BID
The proposed SoHo Business Improvement District (BID) is a
FINANCIAL GIVE AWAY to
PRIVATELY HELD REAL ESTATE COMPANIES and is
NOT in the PUBLIC INTEREST
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New York State Law mandates that a BID can be established ONLY if it is “in the public interest”
NIX the BID
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SEND a MESSAGE to the Politicians who would SELL OUT SoHo
TELL THEM to REJECT the SoHo BID:
- Margaret Chin, NY City Council Member District 1 Manhattan
- Christine Quinn, Speaker of the NY City Council
- Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President
- Domenic Recchia, Chairman Committee on Finance, NY City Council
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SAY NO to the SoHo BID
SAY NO to the SoHo Business Improvement District
SoHo residents are under assault by a small group of real estate investors and property holders, a powerful and well-connected few who will take control of our neighborhood under the guise of the SoHo Business Improvement District (BID).
The real estate interests behind the SoHo BID have greatly benefitted from their
transformation of SoHo, where flagship emporiums for global brands are filling all the available storefronts. They’ve been so successful that a crush of shoppers from around the world can be found in SoHo on any given day. Their thriving retail stores have brought congestion and trash to the sidewalks along Broadway.
But the syndicate behind the SoHo BID, rather than contribute funds to solve these self-created problems, instead plans to assess a FEE on every property owner along Broadway. This is an annual and perpetual fee, essentially a TAX, to be calculated and controlled by those who will run the SoHo BID.
See WHAT YOU CAN DO to SAY NO to the SoHo BID
- The majority of longtime SoHo property owners do not want the BID.
- Local businesses do NOT want the BID.
- Local residents, the people who pioneered SoHo when demolition loomed, DO NOT WANT the BID.
Our local Community Board VOTED UNANIMOUSLY to OPPOSE the creation of the SoHo BID. Yet, despite overwhelming neighborhood opposition, the New York City Planning Commission recently voted to approve the SoHo BID plan.
The fate of the SoHo BID now rests in the hands of our local NY City Council Member, Margaret Chin, who testified before the City Planning Commission, stating:
” … regarding the proposed SoHo BID … I must point out that community boards are no strangers to BIDs and most are voted through unanimously, which is unfortunately not the case here … SoHo is a busy and congested area, which may not benefit from these efforts …
… right now I find it hard to wholeheartedly support this application.”
We appeal to Council Member Chin to hold fast and not allow the SoHo BID to move forward.
Read through our PAGES, listed to the right, to see why the SoHo BID is simply A BAD PLAN for SoHo.
