COMMERCIAL
Revitalization
Branding initiatives for commercial corridors
Understanding the uniqueness of two districts co-existing in our vibrant neighborhood, we have worked with several sponsors and design companies to establish brand identities for our commercial corridors.
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In the Amusement District, we partnered with Coney Island Brewery to brighten up Surf Avenue with Light Pole banners with images of mermaids and mermen for the 2018 summer season bringing aquatic elements from the beach to the street!
Through grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, we hired 3x3 Design. Through an inclusive stakeholder engagement process, 3x3 Design designed street banners, stickers, tote bags and more as a means to create a brand identity for Mermaid Avenue, its merchants and shoppers. Often, our residential community and local businesses in our neighborhood node have been overshadowed, and our goal is to create a shared sense of community through this newly designed brand identity.
Through grant funding from NYC Department of Small Business Services’ Neighborhood Design Lab, we worked to establish a collective brand identity to address the divide between our districts. Through our branding “Coney Island for Everyone”, we aim to further foster the shared sense of community throughout our lively neighborhood. View our Neighborhood Design Lab materials here.
promoting local spending
With over 350 businesses in our community, we believe that Coney Island has a variety of goods and services to offer and there is a need to foster connections between our local businesses and community stakeholders to promote local spending.
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We took the first step towards shopping local by partnering with multiple local businesses for every event we held in the past year. Whether it was a venue reservation for our events, food, drinks or flowers, to name a few, we bought and shopped locally. We believe that this initiative also promotes our local businesses to other stakeholders attending our events and encourages further local spending!
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This year, we are proud to announce our largest involvement with the Shop Small Movement through the Small Business Saturday initiative. We supported multiple Coney Island small businesses with marketing materials, decorations and guidance on deals and offers to maximize their success and returns!
SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE
Our goal through commercial revitalization is to strengthen businesses and ensure a thriving neighborhood, and we achieve this through several different initiatives.
Through our strong partnerships and constant communication with local city agencies, we are informed of grants and initiatives that may benefit our local businesses. Our community outreach staff are always out and about, visiting and educating our businesses on these opportunities, while helping them to apply. So far we have assisted over ---- businesses in receiving the Business PREP grant, over 15 businesses receive the goTenna text messaging network system and 4 businesses apply for the Love Your Local Grant.
Our constant outreach is also to inform businesses of any changes in the laws and ensure compliance with existing laws to avoid violations, such as the styrofoam ban and the changes in storefront signage and awning requirements.
With a goal of helping businesses avoid violations and be more informed of the current NYC regulations, we facilitate free, on-site compliance consultations from the NYC Department of Small Business Services to help small business owners prevent costly fines and penalties.
MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES
After Hurricane Sandy hit, Empire State Development funded a Mermaid Avenue Market Research Study as a basis to design and implement initiatives for a more efficient and speedy recovery, as well as a more resilient neighborhood.
The Alliance worked with multiple consultants and community stakeholders, including Larisa Ortiz Associates and WXY to identify the corridor’s strengths and areas that required attention or improvement.
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In addition, we worked with NYC Department of Small Business Services to conduct a Commercial District Needs Assessment (CDNA) for all our commercial corridors - capturing an economic snapshot of 287 businesses. Through multiple engagement sessions with our stakeholders, surveys, outreach and streetscape and facade observations, we collected data to determine the needs of our different commercial districts and our residents. Please click below to access our CDNA.
All these studies have provided valuable insights and guide our strategic initiatives in the coming year.