By Patrick Rocchio
The Westchester Square Business Improvement District was approved by the full New York City Council in a unanimous vote on Wednesday, February 29.
The council voted 48-0 with no abstentions to approve the a BID for the Square. The vote comes on the heals of a unanimous 15-0 vote by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, January 3.
The vote effectively makes the BID the ninth in the borough, and is the culmination of a lot of work by Councilman Jimmy Vacca and local advocates that began with a meeting in Vacca’s office in 2006, Vacca stated.
“Since I became Councilman in 2006, I worked hard with Westchester Square community leaders in making sure that the dream of creating a BID would become a reality,” Vacca said. “This is another big step in revitalizing Westchester Square. The BID will allow local merchants to further transform this community into a truly bustling commercial center.”
In a statement, John Bonizio, the chairman of the Westchester Square BID Steering Committee, thanked Vacca and the merchants who made the BID a reality. The creation of the BID should have a positive impact on all communities surrounding the commercial area, said Westchester Square Merchants Association president Greg Perry.
