The newly established South Shore Business Improvement District is raring to get to work. The BID’s Board of Directors, Councilman Vincent Ignizio and the Staten Island Economic Development Corp. (S.I.E.D.C.) will host a press conference on May 19th at 1:00 PM in front of Giovanni’s Restaurant in Eltingville, in order to make a comprehensive announcement about the BID’s plans for the South Shore.
The South Shore BID consists of over 300 businesses in the towns of Annadale, Eltingville, and Great Kills, was signed in to law by Mayor Bill DeBlasio on April 20th, making it the largest geographic BID in New York City. The annual budget for the BID will be $185,000, which will be spent on private sanitation and security services, marketing, holiday lighting, capital projects and events.
Family Fun Day is next on the agenda for the BID, and will take place on June 6th from 12 PM to 5 PM. The festivities will be FREE to the general public and will be held in three separate locations in Annadale, Eltingville, and Great Kills. The event will consist of rides, games, face painting, live music, and more. Families are encouraged to come to the event and stroll through the towns afterwards. The locations are:
Annadale- Richmond County Savings Bank at 820 Annadale Rd.
Eltingville- Richmond County Savings Bank at 4523 Amboy Rd.
Great Kills- Train Station Lot & Brower Court
The BID’s private security service has already hit the streets, consisting of 4 days of security patrols a week, in all 3 towns. Sottile Security Inc. are providing the services, the same organization that is responsible for the successful 2011 Drug Bust at Nel Boy Bagels in Great Kills, which resulted in the arrest of a 25 person drug ring.
In addition, the BID started its spring marketing campaign which includes a wide range of newspaper and online advertisement. They even have started to air a TV Commercial on Time Warner Cable and Verizon FIOS promoting shopping in the towns. Next month, a shopper’s guide will be printed featuring every business in the BID, and a number of “Thank You for Shopping” banners are being replaced throughout the towns. You can “like” the BID’s new Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/southshorebid.
Furthermore, the SIEDC will announce their plans for the South Shore Business Incubator. The incubator will serve as a central component for the South Shore Business Improvement District and will promote the adaptive re-use of a vacant building, retain, and attract small businesses to these historic neighborhood corridors and demonstrate the importance of collective planning and marketing for the entire Business Improvement District area.
“When businesses come together to form BIDs and incubation centers are available to help entrepreneurs, the economic community thrives, and everyone gains,” said Joseph Tazewell, New York City Regional Director of Empire State Development. “It’s great to see the Staten Island EDC take the lead on this important project, and I’m glad ESD was able to help put it together.” Through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative, Empire State Development is providing the SIEDC with a $50,000 grant to assist with the implementation of the BID and to study the feasibility of launching the South Shore Business Incubator.