Attendees at the 2018 Annual LIC BID meeting. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Oct. 11, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The Long Island City Partnership celebrated the first full year of the district’s expansion at its annual meeting yesterday, where it boasted of last year’s achievements and spoke to future programs aimed at bettering the area’s economic profile.
The Business Improvement District received approval to expand into Hunters Point, referred to as the “south subdistrict,” in January 2017, nearly doubling the BID’s coverage and bringing services like 7-days-a-week supplemental sanitation and streetscape improvements to a larger area.
Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the LIC Partnership, said the prior year was an exciting one for the district, and mainly spoke to past and upcoming efforts to highlight local businesses and beautify the district.
Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the LIC Partnership. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
The BID, for instance, will be installing snowflake lighting across the district, to pair with an upcoming shop local for the holiday season campaign. The prior year was spent making sure lampposts were properly wired to install the lights, with 85 ready to go.
It is also helping to fund and organize streetscape and arts projects in Long Island City beyond the confines of the district, with several works of art set to appear in neighborhood in the fall and next spring.
Works, done in partnership with local artists and organizations, will be found along park walls, fences, sidewalks, and other open spaces.
The first project they helped bring about, Lusskin said, was the mural at the Queensbridge Houses Baby Park.
The next one will be a joint project with the Department of Health on an unspecified location along 42nd Road. The stretch, near the department’s headquarters, is within the Queens Plaza neighborhood and spans about five blocks.
Another project will focus on the public realm, and help transform underutilized spaces into temporary and permanent public spaces—a ongoing hot topic in areas like Court Square.
The partnership is also continuing to work on its way-finding and signage program called “LIC Compass.” The program, funded in part by Empire State Development and the NYC Department of Small Business Services, aims to help locals and visitors find their way around the neighborhood and discover new places to purchase goods and services.
A beta of the pilot program will be launching in November.
Lusskin said LIC Springs, which celebrated its fifth year, saw more than 100 different participating businesses and organizations last year and more than 1,000 attendees. Last year’s Small Business Saturday, she added, marked the eighth year of the event in the BID, and encouraged people to shop at more than 50 businesses offering promotions on that day.
On a district-wide scale, the BID resolved 159 graffiti incidents, collected 53,000 trash bags, and maintained 93 trash receptacles—all numbers that increased given the expanded district. It also installed 87 hanging flower baskets and, as it does yearly, planted begonias into tree pits.
The partnership ended the fiscal year with a positive net balance of $51,546, with treasurer Alan Suna noting that it was due to money not being used for winter lights, as it was discovered that many of the poles were not yet wired.
The BID’s financial report also shows that most of its $830,000 went to sanitation and maintenance. Administrative expenses were also higher this year compared to last year due to the partnership’s offices moving to another floor within the Brewster Building.
Featured Events
12 Comments
The FAKE MRLIC wrote the October 16, 2018 comment on Trump giving massive tax breaks.
Why can’t they organize local school kids to paint the columns and green fencing over the Sunnyside yard bridge down to queens plaza, they are full of graffiti wish they would do a bansky type silhouette on each column to beautify, bet JVB would fund it if his picture gets in the paper.
The LIC Partnership is really useless. It’s all about the developers for them too.
How about give Vernon the respect it deserves between 46th Ave and Borden. Brick sidewalks, benches and lighting.
LICP should extend it’s BID north-east bound to cover 37 Av where the official zip 11101 boundary is, instead of only up to 42 Ave according to BID current map shows. A large number of ‘left behind’ residents and businesses need your services too.
Yes agreed Angela
The FAKE MRLIC wrote the October 11, 2018 comment on building more luxury condos. The FAKE MRLIC surely knows they will not stop building these luxury condos until the community rises up against the developers and vote politicians out (JVB) who welcome them.
We need to speak out against these politicians that are going easy on the developers. Like Trump, who gave them MASSIVE tax breaks.
As a fifth year resident, I fail to see any material improvements directly tied to the BID or CSCA. This feels like lip-service to the developers.
Take out the STUPID PLANTERS ON JACKSON AVENUE that the DOT installed a while back. No one can see oncoming traffic while in the middle waiting to cross. An accident waiting to happen. Traffic can only make left turns on Pearson St. and Court Square West. JUST DUMB.
Keep up the great work! The neighborhood looks great.
I hope they build more luxury condos