A Seventh Avenue BID?

A Seventh Avenue BID will begin to take shape this week in an effort to revitalize the stretch, reports the Brooklyn Paper. Business Improvement Districts, such as Fifth Avenue and North Flatbush, have been successful in generating commerce in the area, and Seventh Avenue business owners hope for the same.

The Paper also reports that many business owners along Seventh Avenue had been unhappy with the city for allowing a contract with the Doe Fund, which hires homeless individuals to clean streets, to expire.

Following the guidelines of forming a Business Improvement District, building owners along Seventh Avenue will have to pay a tax of $300 per building (unless they apply to opt out), which is then pooled to use for street cleaning, marketing and safety measures.

The proposed BID would span all businesses on Seventh Avenue, between Flatbush and Prospect avenues.

Park Slope already has a Chamber of Commerce, but according to Brooklyn Daily, only 100 of the more than 300 storefronts along Seventh Avenue are members.

Mitch Szpicek, owner of Little Things Toy Store and president of the Chamber of Commerce, believes that the mandatory membership of the BID will generate more money than the voluntary dues of the Chamber, according to the report.