Census of Local Businesses - Latest Updates

Economic Development Committee Meets Feb. 10

The Ecomomic Development Committee got together at the Brower Park Library.  There were three basic points on the agenda. First was a presentation by Linda Guest who has a new business called Preservatory, LLC.  It provides training in CPR and other forms of safety training.  She provided a leaflet about her services and is hoping people will sign up and pay for the training she offers.

Then there was planning for the next two or perhaps three months of meetings.  Next month there will be a presentation by the Brooklyn Public Library Business and Career Center on March 10th.  Various ways were discussed to get widespread participation.  A leaflet would be prepared and there would be outreach to Community Board 8, Bridge Street Development Corporation, and Franklin Avenue Merchants as well as the North Nostrand Avenue Merchants Association, headed by Sharese Parris, who was at the meeting.  This event will be on Zoom as well as in person.

On April 14, JP Morgan Chase will make a presentation about programs they have to support small businesses.  The place for this and what exactly will be covered remains to be developed in detail.

Then came the most difficult part of the meeting.  The Economic Development Committee along with Crown Heights North Association and the North Nostrand Avenue Merchants Association sponsered a Winter Lights contest in which merchants on Nostrand Avenue got a card inviting them to put up a display of lights.  There would be a deadline for this, then a panel of judges would decide whose display was best, this followed by an awards ceremony at which cash prizes from Crown Heights North Association would be given out.  This program failed.  Only four merchants signed up and only two actually put up lights.  The judging and award ceremony were canceled and the two merchants who participated were given honorable mentions.  One of these was Blossom's Kitchen.

9.1 Photo of Blossom's Kitchen

The outcome of this contest revealed a serious disconnect between the sponsors and the merchants on Nostrand Avenue.  Having a Winter Lights contest did not appeal to virtually any of these merchants.  I did a census of merchants on the avenue and found 192 of them both on the avenue and in side streets.  As far as I know all of them got the card.  So participation was about 1%.  The hoped for effect of having the avenue lit up in a festive way that would draw in customers simply did not happen.  In fact it seems doubtful that anyone knew such an attempt was being made.  Another fact I found from the census was that roughly 40 spaces for stores were empty.  That leads to another percentage – 21% of the stores are gone.  That seems to suggest a serious problem – businesses are going under and they are doing so at a faster rate than they are being replaced.

The one thing that was not discussed at the meeting was talking to merchants and finding out what it is they want that would improve their chances of surviving and prospering.  Instead, the group decided to try to do the lights program again and find more ways to support the effort.  Get politicians involved, buy the lights, find volunteers to put up the lights and help out in other ways and also start other programs that might get merchants interested.  These would deal with garbage, beautification, having clean up days and merchant mixers.  And then of course there were the March and April meetings listed above.  All these things might work or not; the only way to find out would be for the merchants to have their own forum in which they could decide how best to pursue a better future.  Otherwise this work is proceeding by trial and error, and right now there is one big mark in the error column.

– John DeWind

Some Merchants on Nostrand Avenue

As I have written elsewhere, there are 192 entities on Nostrand Avenue, most of them businesses.  If one wanted to find out what these merchants want, here are some of them one could seek out and talk to.  Reaching them is not just a matter of showing up and asking to talk.  By and large one would need an appointment based on having something significant to talk about.  These names and stores move go from south to north on Nostrand, Eastern Parkway to Atlantic Avenue.

Nostrand Station, Arianna

777 Nostrand Avenue Deli, Ali

Suite V, Vanessa

Lula Bagel and Lula Bird, Yossi Cohen

Puff's Jamaican Patties, Willa

Simple Syrup, Mike De Zayas

Colina Cuervo, Jorge Salamea

Mas Discount, Abdul Rahman

Cornerstore, Kai

Wayward Hairdresser, Kelly Shine

Nana Connection Hair Braiding, Nana

Thunder Deli, Abdulla Abdullah

Trinidad Chinese Bakery, Wasool Rahman

Nostrand Hardware, Ellen Zou

Complete Care Pharmacy, Sam

Urban Assanas, Jyll Hubbard

Body Politic, Mona Eldahry

Taqueria Milear, Artemio Balthasar

Crown Hill, Peter Tulloch

Blossom's Kitchen, Blossom

E-Kutz, Eric

Sabor Azteca, Alejandro Morales

Merritt Cleaners, Richard

Naye African Braiding, Rosa

Zola's Original Herbs, Zola Kojo

Lula Body, Tara Kashyap

No. 1 Chinese Kitchen, Jian Jie Zheng

Savvy Bistro, Dwayne Winters

Yummy's Restaurant, Keith Bryant

Another World, Crown Heights Care Collective

Island Pops, Shelly Marshall and Khalid Hamid

BK Halal, Matthew

Nostrand Avenue Pub, Lauren and Mitch Polo

Rosalia Cafe, Carlos Flores and Katya Torres

La Napa, Francisco Anton

Cotton Bean, Mayumi Maeda

UPS Store, Regina

Barbara's Flowers, Len

King Tai, Dane Risch and Palmer Thompson-Moss

Island Ribhouse, Vanessa

Uotora, Atsuomi Hotta and Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Wholesome Food Market, Omar Haimid

Holic Thai, Joe