Mayor Bloomberg Signs Legislation Establishing the SoHo Business Improvement District

October 23, 2013

Remarks by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at a Public Hearing on Local Laws

“Before me today is Introductory Number 598, sponsored at the request of the Administration by Council Members Recchia, Cabrera and Gennaro. Introductory Number 598 establishes the SoHo Business Improvement District in Manhattan. Business Improvement Districts, also known as “BIDs,” are voluntarily formed community organizations that promote business development and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods across the City.

“The SoHo BID will serve more than one hundred and thirty retail establishments along Broadway between Houston and Canal Streets and will work to promote and support the artistic, architectural, cultural, and historical landmarks that contribute to the identity and character of the district and the SoHo community at large. The BID’s annual operating budget is $550,000, which will support sanitation and snow removal services, pedestrian and public safety services, and capital improvement projects.

“The SoHo BID marks the City’s 68th BID, and the 24th created under our Administration – twenty of which are located in boroughs outside Manhattan. BIDs provide maintenance and sanitation services, security services, marketing and promotion of local businesses, holiday lighting, economic development, beautification and landscaping. The services provided to the community are essential to ensuring that small businesses, and the neighborhoods in which they operate, are given every opportunity to succeed.

“I would like to thank Small Business Services Commissioner Rob Walsh and his staff for their role in establishing these BIDs. In particular I would like to thank Eddy Eng, Director of the BID Management Program who helped create forty-eight of the City’s sixty-eight BIDs and who recently retired after an illustrious twenty-six year career. I also want to acknowledge the important contributions of the members of the SoHo BID Steering Committees and the City Council.”

Contact: Marc LaVorgna/Evelyn Erskine (212) 788-2958