34 The QUEE NS Courier • business • march 13, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com ▶business ▶BID launches programs to help biz BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO of the district,” said Rachel Thieme, executive director “Sunnyside residents spend on most of the goods aaltamirano@queenscourier.com of Sunnyside Shines. “Sunnyside is a very safe district and services outside the neighborhood and we want to @aaltamirano28 and we want the shopping district to reflect that. This capture some of that spending at our local businesses,” is a great neighborhood and we want to help business.” Thieme said. “We want to give people more reasons One local business improvement district (BID) is Thieme added that if this program goes well during to shop locally.” looking to help Sunnyside “shine.” the first year, the BID will look to help more businesses After conducting its own shopper survey last summer, The Sunnyside Shines BID recently launched two the following year. the BID found that some of the type of retailers major programs that aim to help improve businesses The second initiative is one that hopes to attract new residents would like to see are clothing stores, housewares, and the overall neighborhood of Sunnyside. retail into the neighborhood. more full service restaurants, independent coffee The first of the initiatives is the gate replacement Thanks to the City’s Department of Small Business shops and a bike shop. program which will help businesses replace their solid Services’ Neighborhood Development Division, the Thieme said the next step would be to send marketing metal gates with open grille gates. During the pilot BID has been matched with real estate consultant tools to 200 retailers in the city that might want to program, up to five businesses within the BID will be JGSC Group to look at how retail is doing in the come and open up shop in Sunnyside. The BID will able to recover half of the cost -- up to $1,000 -- of a neighborhood. also be posting available spaces throughout the neighborhood new gate. The BID will be accepting applications for During one of the reports, it was found that residents on the website. this program through April 15 and will review them at spend close to $227 million each year outside of For more information on either program or to fill a first-come, first-served basis. Sunnyside and also that the neighborhood has more out an application for the gate replacement, visit www. “We really hope to help improve the look and feel businesses that offer services, rather than goods. sunnysideshines.org. Photo Courtesy of Gary Vollo The iconic Steinway Mansion is in contract to be sold to a private buyer. Private buyer set for Steinway Mansion BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 The mansion that sits on top of a hill at 18-33 41st Street in Astoria might soon be bought. The Steinway Mansion, which was built in the 1850s, has reportedly been on the market for about two years and recently a private buyer is said to be in contract to purchase the landmarked home. “We are aware that the Steinway Mansion is under contract to be sold,” said the Board of Directors of the Greater Astoria Historical Society in a statement. “We do not have any information to share at this time.” The Astoria home was built by Benjamin Pike and was later sold to the Steinway family as a summer home around 1870, with the Steinway & Sons piano factory built decades later only a few blocks away. In the 1920s, the home was sold to the Halberian family and has stayed in the family ever since. It was later selected as a New York City Landmark in 1967. Last year, the coalition The Friends of Steinway Mansion was formed to raise the millions of dollars needed to purchase the house, restore it and convert it into a public facility. The 27 rooms in the mansion could become a museum space or a teaching and learning center for small concerts and workshops. Funding cuts could hit home for biz BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @liamlaguerre It’s been nearly six years since Allen Frechter moved his company, Plexi- Craft, to Long Island City. Plexi-Craft, which was founded more than a half-century ago in Manhattan, makes acrylic furniture and displays. Frechter took control in 2008 after his father passed away and he wanted to expand, but realized Manhattan was too expensive. Frechter, who lives in Boston, thought about moving to Massachusetts. He also considered New Jersey and New Rochelle. But because of concern for his employees, and help from a local Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) manager in receiving incentives, he was drawn to LIC. “We have guys employees that have been here for 35 years, and our average is about 10-12 years,” Frechter said. “If we had moved out of the city, these guys would have been out of jobs.” Plexi-Craft currently employees 25 people, including 20 industrial workers, who cut, smooth and sort acrylic pieces. All of the employees live within the five boroughs. Community leaders want companies such as Plexi-Craft, which is located in the LIC IBZ, to stay and grow in the city. But some business owners and industry advocates say that their way of life is being threatened, since Mayor Bill de Blasio removed $1.1 million in funding for the IBZs from his preliminary budgets released last month. The program was originally created to save and foster manufacturing and industrial jobs in the city, but funding has been reduced year after year. The $1.1 million from last year’s budget was approved by the City Council in its revision, after then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut it from his budget. The City Council and de Blasio still have to make revisions to this year’s budget, so business owners hope the money will not only be replaced, but increased. When Bloomberg created the IBZs in 2006, he allocated nearly $4 million to the program. The money is used to give tax credits, up to $1,000 per employee if conditions are met, and pay for consulting services for IBZ managers, which businesses consider invaluable. Many business owners are too preoccupied with running their establishments to figure out what they qualify for, and find it confusing to understand the alphabet soup of programs. That’s just one way IBZ managers try to help. Spaeth Designs, a company that makes animated displays for stores during the holidays, including Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdale’s, is one such company. Spaeth Designs was located in Manhattan for about 40 years, until owners of the building they were in on 54th Street doubled the rent last year. After talking with an IBZ manager in Queens, they decided to buy a building in Woodside, where the newly formed IBZ was affirmed. The owners are depending on the IBZ manager to help figure out what incentive programs they qualify for. Since January, the company has been in the process of moving in to its new location. “We were focused on getting the building and fixing it,” said Sandy Spaeth, president of Spaeth Designs. “What we need right now is to move in. As far as benefits go we don’t know yet.” Spaeth employs about 30 worker at the height of its production season from July through November, and owners said their employees live in the five boroughs. The other argument for the IBZs is that it will protect industrial businesses, since they are zoned for manufacturing companies. David Spaeth, CEO and chairperson of Spaeth Designs, said the rent increase occurred because their former neighborhood was seeing an influx of luxurious businesses in other sectors. But in an IBZ, he argues, they won’t be pressured out. “This is our home,” Spaeth said, “and for as long as we see it.”
QC03132014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above