As efforts to clean up the historic Gowanus Canal continue, neighborhood residents and businesses find themselves divided over whether a Business Improvement District (BID) proposed by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy could help.
A BID is a nonprofit entity that delivers services customized to the needs of a specific area. The Gowanus BID would circle the canal, running roughly from 9th Street to Wyckoff Street and from 4th Avenue to Bond Street.
Map of the proposed BID. Courtesy of Gowanus BID Formation Effort Steering Committee
Rina Brindamour, owner of Brindamour Studios, a photo studio at 487 Union St., said she supports the creation of a BID.
“There’s no trash cans in this neighborhood,” she said, which is a problem the BID could solve, she said. Among the changes she would like to see, Brindamour mentioned: “safety improvements, putting more activity on the street and having everything cleaner.”
Martin Bisi, a neighborhood resident who has run a recording studio there since 1979, opposed the BID, saying it would bring a further layer of gentrification.
“So first we have gentrification,” he said, “then we have hypergentrification, and now we have a destination.”
Bisi isn’t sure the proposal is geared towards locals.
“This whole idea is geared toward tourists,” he said, adding that the Gowanus Improvement District has “this vision, which is to ring the canal so it’s walkable. Who needs that?” He said he feared new developments and improvements in the neighborhood could displace his studio if the building where he rents space is sold.
A waterfront esplanade at 365 Bond St. in Gowanus. (Credit: Delfina Marchese)
The Gowanus neighborhood, with the canal as its central feature, is a blend of old and new, characterized by low-rise 19th-century houses, public housing and industrial buildings, with a sprinkle of new developments. As part of the rezoning plan, green spaces are increasing and integrating into the urban landscape, it also includes cleaning up the heavily polluted canal to create affordable housing and diverse job opportunities.
According to the Gowanus Improvement District website, BIDs maintain the public realm, improve public spaces and provide community-driven programming, among other services.
Voice of Gowanus, an environmental group that advocates cleaning up pollution in the neighborhood, believes a BID would overpower the grassroots voices in the community.
“If the BID is successful, it could end up the de facto organization that speaks for the community, which could sideline serious public health concerns,” the organization published on its website.
With a first-year budget of almost $2.8 million, the BID proposal includes supporting community-led programming, streetscape improvements, conservation of waterfront esplanades, and supplemental maintenance of parks and streetscapes. These services are to be funded through an assessment on properties within the BID’s boundaries. By law, a BID’s services must supplement, not replace, those provided by the city.
