A five-year effort to create a Business Improvement District in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx came to fruition earlier this month when it was finally approved by the mayor.
On May 12, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation establishing new business improvement districts (BID) in Castle Hill and the West Village in Lower Manhattan, which will help accelerate making them fully functional by the beginning of Fiscal Year 2023.
The creation of the BIDs will help local businesses bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic and is the result of years of grassroots organizing. Steering committees — representing property owners, business owners and residents — had been formed to identify the needs of their neighborhoods and envision how a BID could improve the conditions and economic activity of Castle Hill. Targeting specific geographical areas, BIDs oversee and fund the maintenance, improvement and promotion of their commercial districts, and are overseen by the city Department of Small Business Services.
