FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 14, 2017 • QUEENS BUSINESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 45
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business
Long Island City organization seeks local business
input on benefi ts and drawbacks of neighborhood
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Long Island City Partnership, a neighborhood
development organization, is
conducting a survey to collect information
on the area’s business environment
and gather data to help inform future policy
decisions.
Th e group is asking businesses located
within the ZIP codes 11101, 11102, 11103,
11104, 11105, 11106, 11109 and 11120 to
take a 20-question survey by Jan. 31, 2018.
According to Elizabeth Lusskin, president
of the Partnership, business owners
will answer questions ranging from
how much space they occupy, the education
level of their workforce, what they
need from the neighborhood to improve
their business and if they plan to expand
their business in terms of square footage
or hiring.
Th e goal of the survey is “to get a really
good picture of what the businesses
are that are here, what their plans are
for the future, what’s working for them,
what needs to work better for them in
Long Island City and how it fi ts together,”
Lusskin said.
Long Island City Partnership conducted
the fi rst survey during the 2015-2016 year
and as a result, released the Comprehensive
Plan for Long Island City in November
2016. Th e plan outlined nine recommendations
to ensure that the neighborhood
retains its mixed-use characteristics.
Lusskin said the survey helped the organization
discover key initiatives that would
help business owners stay in the area. For
example, the data led them to conclude
that cultural institutions, artists and nonprofi
ts struggle to aff ord rent and require
incentives to help them stay in the neighborhood.
Creating stronger links between business
owners and potential employees through
workforce training programs in schools
and colleges, working with transportation
agencies to improve subway and bus frequency
and creating more commercial and
industrial space were also in the list of recommendations.
Lusskin called the plan “foundational”
not just for her organization but for state
and city policy makers, academics, business
owners and developers.
Th e new survey will help keep the data
“fresh” and also help the Long Island
City Partnership determine if new recommendations
need to be added to the
plan, Lusskin said. She also added that it’s
a good opportunity for business owners to
weigh in on how to improve and enhance
the neighborhood.
“Long Island City is an amazing place,”
she said. “It’s the most productive neighborhood
in the entire state but not everybody
knows all the great things that go on
here because so much of it happens behind
brick walls.”
To take the survey, visit www.licqns.
com/survey2017.
Long Island City Partnership is asking neighborhood businesses to take a survey.
