Competing interests for city funding leave manufacturing districts with fewer resources.
Month: October 2013
New Storefronts for Storm-Ravaged Businesses
The City is trying to replicate the success of the Small Business Storefront Improvement Pilot Program along Beach 116th, making it available to nearly any Superstorm Sandy impacted business that falls within an evacuation zone.
Queens BID Fights Strong Resistance
The plan to form a Jackson Heights-Corona Business Improvement District, has hit a snag after a group of local business owners and residents have voiced opposition to the plan, but organizers of the BID say they will take as much time is needed to drum up local support and form the BID.
‘Breaking Bad’ Boosts (Some) Brooklyn Bars
In Brooklyn neighborhoods populated by young artists without cable, bars that aired Breaking Bad bumped up their revenues, while those who didn’t saw a big dip in revenues.
Queens is the New Brooklyn
What originally attracted people to Brooklyn – cheaper rents than Manhattan and cultural amenities – are now pulling people across the river to Queens, especially as neighborhoods throughout the borough continue to improve.
NYC Nurtures Female Tech Entrepreneurs
In New York City 18 percent of startups are founded by women, while in Silicon Valley the number is a mere 10 percent. Attributed to the city’s diverse array of industries and a cohort of female professional willing to both invest and mentor, the city has become a preferable location for female-led startups.
Horse-Drawn Carriages Fear It’s Over
The horse-drawn carriage industry, comprised of about 300 drivers and more than 200 horses, is harshly criticized by animal rights groups who say the horses are mistreated, don’t belong in city traffic, and could successfully be replaced with electric cars. But the drivers say they are animal lovers who work with very healthy horses, the industry wouldn’t survive if electric cars took over, and tourism could suffer.
Brooklyn Industrial Business Zones Falter
Declining city funds and the growing number of non-industrial businesses in and around industrial business zones (IBZ’s) are at odds with the program’s original purpose.
Growing Tech Boom Finds Third Home in Queens
A small number of startups have put Queens on the map as a potential place for the city’s expanding tech industry. Local advocates and business leaders believe the borough’s immigrant population—combined with affordable real estate and the promise of better amenities—could attract more companies to join its nascent tech scene and generate more jobs.
Zoning Hurdles for Brooklyn’s Tech Dreams
The Brooklyn Tech Triangle, an urban planning project designed to bring more than a million square feet of office space and at least 20,000 tech jobs to the area by 2015, is a wildly ambitious attempt to steer public resources and private interest in a new direction. But the scope of the project, and the sheer number of initiatives involved, makes the complete realization of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle unlikely, at least anytime soon.