BID Summary

Facts on the Business Improvement Districts influencing/influenced by Columbus Circle, Times Square, and Atlantic Yards.

New York City is one of the most dense urban areas in the Unites States having set the standard for mixed use, multi-family/multi-unit development, and the accompanying traffic and pedestrians.  Each of the areas in my four-week study has changed over time to address traffic and pedestrians needs, incorporating residential concerns and commercial viability with structural resources.  Some areas have balanced the public vs. private better than others, resulting in appealing and improved spaces with a strong sense of place.   A crucial element that reflects this balance is the inclusion of public/open space in development plans that encourages a range of diverse uses.

Columbus Circle, Atlantic Yards, Times Square, and the High Line all include public/open spaces, either privately-owned such as commercial plazas, city-owned such as parks and intersections, or a combination of private/public such as DOT/BID-encouraged pop-up cafes, intersection improvements, and traffic-calming.  

Sources:

Project for Public Spaces “The Big Apple Hall of Shame” 

http://www.cleanhippie.net/2010/05/  

The Independent "New York turns Times Square into al fresco dining area" April 2011

AM New York Concessions planned for Times Square pedestrian plazas 3/29/11

The Architects Newspaper 09.30.2010 "NEW FRONT YARD FOR ATLANTIC YARDS: SHoP unveils design for temporary plaza outside Barclays Center arena" 

High Line BID Alternatives: Community Representation Beyond the BID

While not directly served by a municipally-approved Business Improvement District (BID), the communities along the High Line are not without representation. Property and business owners in Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and the Meatpacking District have organized various citizens groups, many aimed to preserve the historic buildings and advocate on behalf of local merchants. While many support the High Line development and welcome the subsequent commercial revitalization, these organizations also work to retain and preserve affordability and diversity of the existing business owners, a balance that is difficult to maintain as development increases.

Source: http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/ with author additions

, established in 2010, works to manage the neighborhood's public plazas and provide programming to "promote and enliven" the neighborhood and serves as "a collective voice for businesses regarding area changes, relationships with governmental agencies and other community groups". (Meatpacking District Initiative)

High Line - Insufficient support for BID

While many transitioning area residents and businesses have organized to manage development, the High Line developers were unable to generate adequate support for a business improvement district (BID).  In 2009, The High Line Improvement District Steering Committee sought community support for the BID with a plan for the BID to cover "park maintenance services on the High Line itself and possibly the access points to the High Line, not the more usual street level, district-wide security and sanitation services that most BIDs focus on." (High Line FAQs)

High Line Background: West Chelsea/Gallery District

Building use in West Chelsea has transitioned from manufacturing to warehousing to industrial. During the middle of the twentieth century, highways began to replace rail as the preferred method of freight transportation. By the 1960s, large sections of the High Line were already being dismantled with traffic along the railway halted altogether in 1980.

Beginning in the 1960s, the number of large industrial firms headquartered in Manhattan significantly declined. This decline continued into the 1970s as disinvestment decimated the city’s previously thriving manufacturing economy. The effects of the decline stretched to related sectors as well, taking a toll on trucking, warehousing, and wholesaling. By the 1990s, New York could no longer claim to be an “industrial city.” This economic shift led to new uses for the large spaces of the old industrial buildings, one of the more innovative adaptations being nightclubs in West Chelsea.  

The “gritty industrial neighborhood,” as it was described in the New York Times in 1997, began to attract art galleries and related businesses, many which were being priced out of SoHo. Among the attractions for artists of the old industrial buildings were the ground stories featuring wide expanses of column free space, 13-foot ceiling heights, and eight-foot-tall operating windows available in many of the buildings.

Today, West Chelsea remains a thriving district for galleries and art-related businesses, with more than 50 percent of the district’s buildings dedicated to these uses.

New York Central Railroad - Meat Packing District - Eleventh* Avenue & West 12th Street - ca. 1911
Man on horse is a NYCRR Watchman / RR Policeman a/k/a "West Side Cowboy" escorting the locomotive as required by NY City law.
Source: trainweb.com

Source: Gaytravelabout.com

The Meatpacking District now includes retail, galleries, restaurants, and hotels.
Source: Meatpacking District Improvement Association map 5/2/09

Source:

Christopher D. Brazee & Jennifer L. Most, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission "West Chelsea Historic District Designation Report" July 15, 2008

Above & Below

Brian Cronin

Rybczynski, Witold. "Bringing the High Line Back to Earth." New York Times, May 14, 2011: 

Has the High Line caused gentrification?  Who walks above the residents and business owners of the neighborhoods below?  Who are the neighbors and business owners impacted most?

Neighborhood Context Map
Source: thehighline.org

While the High Line has been praised and awarded by urbanists, green enthusiasts, visitors and architects, some criticism has come from its closest neighbors.  Residents and business owners are coping with the influx of tourist traffic, increasing property values, and new upscale development in West Chelsea, the Meat Packing and Gallery districts.

As a public park, the High Line is available to everyone; however, its success has resulted in higher than expected maintenance costs and increased development interest.  For now, Friends of the High Line, the non-profit that manages the park, must raise operating funds privately having abandoned efforts to secure sufficient local support for a business improvement district.  As 2-story walk-ups, auto repair shops, and the last few butchers shops are replaced with luxury hotels, innovative architecture, and fashion retail, the contrast between those above and below the High Line will continue to transition.