The New York City Council voted unanimously to approve an expansion of the DUMBO Business Improvement District at a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday. The full council vote on the bill came after the Finance Committee unanimously passed it in the morning.
The legislation expands the current boundaries of the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) BID and increase its annual expenditures.
The law adds to the existing BID an area to the east which is called DUMBO Heights, some properties around Brooklyn Bridge and a commercial property at the edge of the district.
The legislation also raises the BID assessment by $185,000 a year to $835,000 from $650,000. The extra money will be used to pay for maintenance and sanitation, marketing and promotion, capital improvements and administration.
The new law results in no fiscal impact to the city's revenue, according to the council's finance division. The bill was sponsored by Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, at the request of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Representatives of the city's Department of Small Business Services testified Wednesday before the Finance Committee that in in the 30-day waiting since the panel held hearings on the proposal on Dec. 15, no objections by the public had been filed. The legislation was first introduced last November.
The DUMBO BID was first established in 2005 when the area was mostly used for manufacturing and shipping. Since then, the district has changed into a mixed-use community with offices, retail areas, artist spaces and residences. The tech sector is the BID's most significant industry and consists of digital design, digital marketing and educational tech and e-commerce firms.
The legislation will now be sent to the mayor for his signature and then becomes law.
Last Friday, the mayor signed into law a bill to expand the Long Island City BID, adding the commercial corridors near the waterfront area.
That BID, run by the Long Island City Partnership, includes Queens Plaza and Court Square and will now encompass firms on both sides of Vernon Boulevard and Jackson Avenue south of 44th Drive. The law also increased the annual amount of funds to be spent and modified the method of assessment.
"Business Improvement Districts serve a special purpose in our city," De Blasio said last week. "They ensure that commercial districts are maintained, promoted and developed in a way that would allow businesses to flourish economically.
