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PACC Home Services
First Time
Home-Buyer Courses start Wednesday, January 7th. The series continues
to the 14th, 21st and 28th
-Are you or
a loved one facing foreclosure?
-Do you need
help with overwhelming debt?
PACC's
Home Services Department offers a wide range of services to the
community. Call 718-783-3549 *10 or email
us to find out how we can help you get back on the right track.
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Brooklynites know your rights!
-Need information about lease
renewals?
-Illegal
lockouts?
-Paying
back rent?
Attend
our tenants
rights workshop & legal
clinic:
Thursday,
January 15, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
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Click here
to find out how you can be the proud owner of a PACC Tshirt!
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PACC Talk January 2009
PACC TALK...
...Read about PACC's commercial revitalization efforts on Fulton Street
in Central Brooklyn.
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The Fulton Street Business Improvement District (BID) becomes a reality.
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On
December 29th Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law the Fulton Street
BID serving
the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill from Rockwell Place
to
Classon Avenue. Commissioner Robert
Walsh of the Department of Small
Business Services whose staff guide local
partners through the process of becoming a BID, local steering
committee
members Adina Boyce, Wellington Sharpe and Gary Con,  Jamie Ruddy,
Branch
Manager for Capital One, and PACC
staff Deb Howard and Dale Charles
attended the signing. Prior to the
signing Mayor Bloomberg spoke of BIDs as a valuable economic tool that
strengthens and stabilizes commercial areas. "The services provided to
the
community are essential to ensuring small businesses, and the
neighborhoods in
which they operate, are given every opportunity to succeed."
Fulton Street becomes the 18th BID approved
by the Mayor, the 62nd in the City and the 2nd along Fulton Street.
Wellington
Sharpe, the BID Steering Committee Chair, thanked all those who
participated in
the process including the DSBS staff, steering committee members and
most
particularly Council Member Letitia James for her support.
The
process for forming a BID was launched i n December 2005
with a "BID Bash" held at
"Crunch Fitness".
The steering committee was formed in the Spring of 2006 with over 20
local merchants, property owners, residents, and elected officials
participating. PACC's
Economic Development team provided manpower to conduct the needs
assessment
survey, helped guide the Steering Committee through the budget and
ballot collection
process, provided outreach for 8 community meetings and public hearings
within
the proposed district, and assembled the District Plan which was
finalized in
February 2008.
"We are excited that the BID will provide targeted
revenue funneled into services to support local merchants and improve
the
shopping environment on the Fulton Street commercial corridor." stated
Deb
Howard, Executive Director of PACC.
"The merchants on the Clinton Hill side have been hard hit by the
street
construction and the economic downturn is affecting everyone. So when
the BID
Board is formed, we will be encouraging them to focus a major amount of
the
first year revenues on marketing efforts and building awareness of
local
businesses on Fulton."
To read the Mayors official Press Release, click here
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Storefront
Improvement Grants Brighten Up Fulton Street
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PACC's economic development department has been busy this Fall
as nine local businesses are receiving storefront improvement grants.
PACC identified the storeowners who would qualify,
administered the grants, helped them obtain prop er
permits and connected them
to contractors. Joglu, the manager of
the Key Food on Fulton near Franklin whose beautiful new awning went up
in
October said, "I'm very happy with it-it looks nice and I am sure it's
going to
improve my business."
Five
stores between Bedford and Grand Avenues received matching funds from
the
Department of Small Business Services this year which were used to
install open
mesh security gates, security lighting, awnings, and high quality
signage. In
addition to City money, PACC also
solicited funds from the Independence
Community Foundation to support merchants
in Clinton Hill between Vanderbilt and Grand Avenues where storefronts
are in
dire need of capital improvement but the area does not meet DSBS'
criteria for
assistance. With a pass-through grant of
$15,000 from Independence, PACC was
able to offer four storefront improvement grants to businesses on this
stretch
of Fulton.
The matching grants have allowed businesses such
as Joloff Restaurant,
Au Tour Du Monde, Key Food and Al Pasha to contribute
to a safer and more welcoming Fulton Street. "The security lighting
makes a
huge difference, especi ally on cold
winter nights," explained Dale Charles, Director of Economic
Development.
"They give the strip a new feel that is safer, cleaner, and a better
place to shop.
I am glad that PACC was a part of
the process." Over the past five years PACC has administered
a total of 52 matching grants
to local businesses on Fulton Street.
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Reconstruction on Fulton
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The
Department of Design and Construction began a capital construction
project on
Fulton Street between Clinton and Bedford back in 2006, and it has been
a long
two years fo r the merchants on
the strip. The $7.5 million dollar project which
includes a new sewer system, water main, new sidewalks and curbs,
better street
lighting and revamped bus stops has finally drawn to a close and not a
minute
too soon for locals like Pape Diagne, the owner of Joloff restaurant.
He says
that he has lost nearly a third of his business due to construction.
"I
understand that you can't make an omelet without breaking the eggs, but
you
shouldn't overcook the eggs either!" Still, Diagne is "happy that these
improvements are being made-I just wish it hadn't taken so long."
PACC played an important role as an intermediary between the
City and the merchant association, keeping businesses informed about
the
schedule and ensuring that the city helped the merchants remain in
business.
"Dale's been coming by about once a week with updates on the
construction and
advice for how to get through it," added Diagne.
Joglu from Key Food also highlighted the key
role that PACC has played. "PACC helped us keep our store open during
the
construction and kept them from blocking our entrance. The street looks
nice
now and I really hope that business begins to pick up."
For more photos of Fulton Street, click here
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Long awaited Capital One
Bank Opens on Fulton Street
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Anyone
who has walked along the Fulton Street strip would agree that the area
qualifies to be a part of a Banking Development District (BDD), which
is an
area that the New York State Banking Department has designated as
under-banked.
"Along the Fulton Street corridor there are no banks for twenty-seven
blocks,"
 explained PACC's
Executive Director
Deb Howard. "And PACC has actively
been trying to recruit a banking presence for this section of Fulton
Street for
many years without success." But that all changed on Monday, December
8th with
the soft opening of a new Capital One Bank branch on the busy corner of
Fulton Street and
Clinton Avenue. The branch is now open for business and will
have a
grand opening celebration soon. "We are thrilled to be a part of this
neighborhood and to serve a new community." said Jamie Ruddy, the
bank's branch
manager.
Pape
Diagne, from Joloff restaurant, echoed the sentiment of many of the
merchants
when he said: "We'd like to see more banks around here. This new branch
will
save me a lot of time as I used to have to walk twenty or thirty
minutes to get
to a bank."
PACC was instrumental in getting the branch opened. We
identified the location, and supported the bank's application as a BDD
both at
the local and state levels to make the branch a reality. "This is
something
that we are very proud of and is a critical addition to the commercial
corridor." said Howard. "We also applaud Capital One Bank for their
commitment
to serving this community."
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PACC would like to thank the
following agencies, corporations and organizations for their support in
2008.
Astoria
Federal Savings, Bank of NY
Mellon, Butler
Foundation, Capital One
Bank, Center for New York
City Neighborhoods (CNYCN), Citibank
Foundation, Deutsche
Bank, Honorable David
Yassky (Councilmember 33rd CD), Honorable Letitia
James (Council member 35th CD), Honorable Hakeem
Jeffries (Assemblymember), HSBC Bank
USA, Independence
Community
Foundation, JP
Morgan
Chase, Local
Initiatives Support
Corporation (LISC), M & T
Bank, Neighborhood
Opportunities
Fund- SNI, Neighborhood
Opportunities
Fund-INCO,
New
York Community Trust, New
York Mortgage Coalition, New
York City Council HPI, NYC Center for
Neighborhood Economic Development, NYC Department of
Health & Mental Hygiene, NYC
Department of Housing Preservation & Development, NYC Dept of Small
Business
Services, NYC
HRA HASA, New
York
State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Public
Allies, Ridgewood
Savings Bank, Surdna
Foundation, Taconic
Foundation-Section 8, United Way, Washington
Mutual Bank and United
States Department of Housing & Urban Development.
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To find out more about PACC or to become a
member, email us at pacc@prattarea.org and visit us on the web at
www.prattarea.org
Sincerely,
Deb Howard
Pratt Area Community Council |
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