From the Mayor: Community Ideas to Energize Our Business District
By Mary C. Marvin
Jan. 18, 2017: I want to thank all of you for responding to my request for input as to how to sustain and energize our business district.
I was so gratified by the number of respondents as well as the quality of the suggestions. It just further demonstrates the commitment community members have to the existence of a small village business culture.
The following are just a representative sampling of the ideas put forth. In their entirety, they will be shared with all the constituent groups, including village staff, elected officials, shop owners, landlords, and the Chamber of Commerce and given a serious vetting and evaluation.
Streetscape Comments
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Cleaner sidewalks, less garbage on the street, cleaner waste receptacles, more plantings, less merchandise impeding pedestrian passage, and tighter control of the cleanliness of outdoor dining spaces.
Many of these responsibilities are jointly shared by shopkeepers, landlords, and the village. The village commits to increasing our vigilance in the business district in our maintenance obligations as well as requiring the merchants to do same, most notably the care and washing of their abutting sidewalks.
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In the same vein, many thought store windows were cluttered with advertisements and paper signs, negatively impacting their attractiveness. They encouraged the village to be more vigilant in enforcing code regulations relating to window displays.
Types of Businesses Needed for a Retail Mix
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A well-stocked hardware store with locksmith.
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More goods catering to men and boys, including shoes, lacrosse and football gear, and birthday present options.
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Activities especially for young people, capitalizing on their increased numbers in the village, including ballet space, arts and crafts, youth exercise, and a pottery studio.
Note: When a second-grade class did a "shopping in our village survey," a vast majority of the children voiced dislike for the car rides needed to buy their clothes and shoes.
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Allow national chains to come to the village if they have a needed product and fit in with village character.
Public Relations
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Start a regular feature in our online paper that highlights one store owner and their goods and services to educate the reader as to what is available in the village and make a personal connection with our shopkeepers.
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In the same theme, centered on the holidays, have a local shopper suggest gifts for mom, dad, and toddlers. In a fashion, a virtual stroll through the business district for residents who may be commuters and not often in the village shops and unaware of all our offerings.
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Have a local Bronxville restaurant week.
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Adopt the "10% program" initiated by many New England small towns to encourage residents to move even 10% of their purchases "back home" from the Internet.
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Follow the lead of other small businesses, in Beacon Hill as an example, and display prominent decals that say proudly, "locally owned."
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Meet with the nearby communities for a summit on best practices and innovative ideas that have proved successful in other small business districts.
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Make better connections with school and church organizations to partner on purchasing/promotion of local stores and events.
Parking/Traffic
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Increase the inventory some way, somehow, of available spaces for patrons.
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Create incentives to encourage business employees to remotely park away from the needed on-street customer spaces.
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Change our parking culture. Residents who moved here from the city and thought locating a spot four blocks from a museum was a good find vs. now, for some, not finding a spot on Pondfield Road equates to there being no parking to shop.
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Make Park Place a pedestrian esplanade to encourage festivities and street activities.
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Make Pondfield Road one way to end the double yellow line crossing for parking spaces and improve traffic flow.
Rents/Landlords
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Find some way to incentivize new businesses to come to Bronxville.
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Conversely, also find a way to financially penalize landlords for multi-year empty storefronts.
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Lower rents: Caveat: Landlords and then shopkeepers absorb a significant amount of school taxes into their rental costs and do not have the legal option to use our school system.
Outreach
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Continue to educate the public on the direct nexus between local shopping/increased sales tax revenue and resulting lower local property taxes.
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Conduct a community-wide SurveyMonkey to learn what shoppers truly want in the local business district.
Just since Christmas, North, a beautiful upscale women's clothing store, closed, as well as Candyland on Park Place, and we lost one of our most venerable retailers, Joan Manning, a fifty-year shop owner, who passed away over the holidays.
We are at a watershed in the local economic climate. Please help us start new traditions, add vibrancy, and re-energize our historic business district. It is to all our benefit.
Financial & Legal Assistance Directory
Hymes & Associates, CPA, P.C.
Our firm provides outstanding service to our clients because of our dedication to the three underlying principles of professionalism, responsiveness, and quality.
Listed as one of the 10 largest firms by The Westchester Business Journal, we serve clients throughout the tri-state area. By combining our expertise, experience, and
the energy of our staff, each client receives close, personal and professional attention.
Our high standards, service, and specialized staff spell the difference between our outstanding performance and other firms. We make sure that every client
is served by the expertise of our whole firm.
Hymes & Associates, CPA, P.C.
55 Pondfield Road
Bronxville, NY 10708
914-961-1200
914-961-1715 (Fax)
Website: www.hymescpa.com
Baillie & Hershman
44 Pondfield Road, Suite - 12
Bronxville, N.Y. 10708
Office: 914-337-6300
Matthew W. Kerner, ESQ.
Direct Dial: 914-337-6569
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fax: 914-337-6913
Suzanne M. Bloomer, Esq.
Direct Dial: 914-337-0142
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Baillie & Hershman provides comprehensive Real Estate legal services for buyers, sellers, current owners, real estate agents and lenders. We also handle estate planning, including the drafting of wills.
Griffin, Coogan, Sulzer & Horgan, P.C.
Attorneys and Counselors at Law
Griffin, Googan, Sulzer & Horgan, R.C.
Located in Bronxville, New York, Griffin, Coogan, Sulzer & Horgan, P.C. takes great pride in providing our clients with comprehensive, high quality legal services in a responsive manner. The firm concentrates its practice in real estate law with a primary focus on issues relating to real estate tax litigation (also known as tax certiorari), real estate transactions, valuation law, real property taxation and tax planning and real property tax exemption matters throughout New York State.
The firm serves as general counsel for several local cooperatives and represents clients in various issues relating to wills, trusts and estate planning.
51 Pondfield Road
Bronxville, NY 10708
(914) 961-1300
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Nobile, Magarian & DiSalvo LLP
We are hardworking and dedicated attorneys who, combined, have more than 150 years of experience delivering quality legal advice. Our cutting edge is our ability to enter both the conference room and the courtroom with strength. Our law firm provides legal representation and counsel for both individual and business clients on issues related to estate planning and administration, real estate law, litigation, and business law. Our practice areas include: Commercial Litigation, Business Law, Real Estate, Wills, Estate Planning, Trusts, Estate Administration, Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, Powers of Attorney, Not For Profits, and Employment Law.
111 Kraft Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
914-337-6300
Veneruso, Curto, Schwartz & Curto, LLP
Veneruso, Curto, Schwartz & Curto is dedicated to providing businesses and individuals with exceptional legal services customized to each client's needs and objectives. Practice areas include litigation, real estate, not for profit, wills and estate planning, land use and zoning, business and corporate, cooperative and condominium and real estate tax assessment litigation.
The Hudson Valley Bank Building
35 East Grassy Sprain Road, Suite 400
Yonkers, New York 10710
914-779-1100
Aegis Capital
Steve brings 40 years of investing experience to his role as Senior Managing Director at Aegis Capital Corp., a prominent national securities firm.
Allstate
Auto, Home, Business and Life Insurance
Exclusive Agents:
Debbie M. Stockton
George L. Petronella Jr.
108 Kraft Avenue
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-961-7200
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://agent.allstate.com/DSTOCKTON2/Welcome/
John L. Vorbach Company, Inc. Insurance Brokers
Manhattan Media & Technology Center
65 Broadway, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10006
212-294-4900 x 112
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.vorbach.com
MDIC Investment Company
Mutual Funds, Stocks & Bonds, Financial & Estate Planning, Investment & Advisory Services, Life & Health Insurance
Daniel S. Macdonald, Jr.
116 Kraft Avenue, Ste. 8
Bronxville, New York 10708
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.mdicinc.com
Palmer-Tanno Agency, Inc.
Independent Insurance Agents since 1948
Greg Tanno
141 Parkway Road, Suite #11
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-793-6603
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Personal Risk Management Solutions
Focuses solely on personal insurance and
provides unique, customized solutions that save
money and time and create peace of mind.
Linda Graef Jones, Private Client Sales Executive
6 East 43rd Street
New York, New York 10017
914-645-3951
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ranieri Insurance Agency
Auto, Home, Business & Life
Over 50 Years' Experience
Paul D. Ranieri, CPCU
457 Palmer Road
Yonkers, NY
914-376-2560
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Rollins Agency, Inc.
Insurance and Risk Management Solutions
Since 1910
800 Westchester Ave. Suite N-311
Rye Brook, NY 10573
914-337-1833
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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