A quick update on the campaign for a Chinatown Business Improvement District. Last night, Community Boards 1 and 2 gave their respective blessings to the proposal. The CB1 vote was unanimous, but the board was one short of a quorum (according to BID backers a quorum is not required). As expected, one member of CB2 (Soho activist Sean Sweeney) abstained. The resolution included language asking the BID steering committee to consider excluding the west side of Lafayette, between Grand and Broome, from the proposed business district. Sweeney, and others, had complained that this block is part of Soho, not Chinatown. Community Board 3’s economic development committee has signed off on the BID plan, CB3’s full board votes on Tuesday. Early next year, proponents of the new BID will seek approval from city agencies and the City Council.
