The White Plains Road Business Improvement District held its annual luncheon. The keynote speech supported the use of technology to improve business and communications along the commercial corridor.
The BID honored 49th Precinct commanding officer Deputy Inspector Kevin Nicholson and Community Board 11 district manager Jeremy Warneke at F&J Pine Restaurant on Thursday, November 17.
Warneke urged the BID to embrace the kind of technological change that is the future.
“Some people are scared by technology, but I encourage you to embrace it,” Warneke said. “Facebook is not just used by revolutionaries in Egypt.”
Facebook proved to be an invaluable tool in helping a dying cousin come to grips with the lung cancer she developed as a non-smoker, and was helpful in mounting a successful campaign in getting her name up on a marquee at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois before she passed, Warneke said.
CB 11 launched its own webpage, which led to many of its issues getting into the mainstream media as news outlets have come to monitor the site, Warneke said. He encouraged the businesses to use the very same technology for growing their visibility.
Nicholson was honored for his support of the BID, especially in dealing with issues related to unlicensed peddlers and making sure that there is a turn over at metered parking spots, said BID executive director Larry Prospect.
“Everyone who knows me, knows that I care about this neighborhood and I give 100%, and I have my officers give 100%,” Nicholson said.
The BID’s website gets about a million hits per year because it’s just as oriented to the community as it is to the more than 100 stores that comprise the district, Prospect said.
Over the past year the BID has seen five new stores and another five completely renovated, Prospect said.
“We think that close to $10 million in private investment has occurred on this street in the past three to four years,” Prospect said.
The BID’s website is pelhamparkway.com.
Patrick Rocchio can be reach via e-mail at procchio@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3393
