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 Programs and ProjectsClick the following links to learn more about these topics:
Business Attraction & RetentionWe are always actively working to improve the retail mix along Myrtle Avenue to better serve the neighborhood, and to strengthen the avenue's small businesses by increasing foot traffic and attracting new shoppers. Our strategy is based on a combination of providing assistance to existing avenue merchants to improve their businesses, attracting and working with new and first-time entrepreneurs to find appropriate retail space on the avenue, and recruiting a few established area businesses to open new locations in our neighborhood when appropriate. We are constantly gathering information from local residents to help us determine what types of businesses people would like to have on Myrtle Avenue.Over the past serveral years, we have conducted focus groups and shopping surveys with LIU, PACC and the Fort Greene Association that have helped us to target our business attraction efforts, as well as online surveys. Please feel free to contact us to let us know what type of business you would like to see on Myrtle, or if you have your business plan in place and are considering Myrtle Avenue as a retail location. We are not currently able to offer technical assistance with business plans or financing options in-house, but will make referrals to local partners where appropriate. Please check out some of the following resources. Small Business Assistance & Financing Resources
Environmental StewardshipWhile working to keep the avenue clean of garbage and graffiti, we have begun to promote some preventative measures that help to reduce the amount of solid waste generated by businesses and consumers, and reduce the amount of energy used, all while helping merchants and shoppers to save money. In an effort to reduce the amount of garbage overflowing onto the sidewalks, we have rolled out a customer incentive program in conjunction with local merchants. The myrtlemugs and myrtlebags program encourages consumers to purchase reusable mugs and shopping bags instead of the usual disposable products. When shoppers use them at participating avenue merchants, identified by the green and yellow decal displayed in their storefronts and the green and yellow icon ( Another strategy we use for reducing paper garbage in the neighborhood is to work with avenue restaurants to reduce their flyering of menus, and to instead place their menus on our website for area residents to view or download electronically, facilitating delivery orders without further littering the sidewalks. Visit myrtle menus to find the menu of your favorite Myrtle restaurant. We are also actively working with the Pratt Center and NYSERDA to help merchants and property owners to improve energy efficiency in their buildings and business operations. We have helped to designate the Myrtle Avenue vicinity as a New York State Energy Target Zone, and will continue to host occasional workshops or one-on-one sessions for those interested in learning more about what you can do to save money by lowering your energy consumption. Facade & Storefront ImprovementMyrtle Avenue's facade and storefront improvement programs provides technical and design assistance, as well as matching reimbursement grants, to avenue property owners and merchants for rehabilitation and preservation work on historic facades of mixed-use buildings, as well as to the exterior, interior, and signage of retail storefronts. Since its inception, the Storefront Improvement Program has completed over 35 improvement projects, thereby improving the avenue's building stock and the commercial district's overall aesthetics. As a general rule, our program emphasizes preserving historic building details, promoting transparent storefronts, and incorporating signage that is creative, minimalist, and clutter-free wherever possible. Please contact us before starting any improvements on your building or storefront to so if your project is eligible for a matching reimbursement grant, and so we may provide you with guidance, a book of signage ideas, and qualified contractor referrals. Our program consists of the following two components: New York Main Street ProgramDirected toward propety owners of mixed-use buildings in our target area, New York Main Street grants emphasize preserving entire building facades of historic buildings and rehabilitating dilapidated interiors. Matching (one-to-one) reimbursement grants of up to $10,000 are available, provided by funding from New York State's Division of Housing and Community Renewal. More details, and images of past projects, are here. Storefront Improvement ProgramDirected toward merchants, both new and existing, Storefront Improvement grants emphasize improving the transparency, aesthetics, and signage of retail storefronts. Matching (one-to-one) reimbursement grants of up to $1,000 are available, funded by Myrtle Avenue's Business Improvement District. Improvements can include the design and installation of a new sign or awning, painting, restoration of historic details, lighting, or the installation of interior, open-grille security gates (while replacing solid security gates). Other improvements that improve a merchant's storefront may also be eligible. Merchants are encouraged to take advantage of our in-house graphic designer, provided free of charge to grant recipients, for advice and design services. We can also provide sign, awning, and gate manufacturer referrals. Merchants who wish to participate in the program must contact us before undertaking any improvements, all of which must be approved to ensure code compliance with the NYC Department of Buildings. Grant awards will not be made for projects without prior approval. Grants can not be used to fund solid, non-open-grille gates, or awnings and signage that advertise anything but the business' name. Historic PreservationTo help foster the sense of place that is found in neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, and to protect the significant historic resources in the areas of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, we advocate for the protection of the neighborhood's architectural character and historic assets. We recently completed a cultural resource survey of the Wallabout neighborhood, the area north of Myrtle Avenue and south of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Researched by noted architectural historian Andrew Dolkart, who completed the landmark designation reports for both Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, the survey is now available here in PDF format. (The file is 2.1 MB, and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) These mixed residential and industrial-use blocks have the largest collection of pre-civil war, clapboard houses in New York City, in addition to numerous significant industrial and religious complexes. The area is not currently protected by historic district designation, the possibility of which is being explored in cooperation with the Historic Wallabout Association. Through funding for the New York Main Street Program, administered by New York State's Division of Housing and Community Renewal, we will be working to restore numerous historic building façades along Myrtle Avenue over the next four years. The program provides matching grants of up to $10,000 per building façade (with property owners putting up an equal amount of $10,000) for those property owners working to restore their mixed-use buildings. The major focus of this program is the preservation of buildings on traditional commercial main streets, and funds will be used to restore avenue buildings to their original design and condition. If you are the owner of a mixed-use property on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill and are interested in participating, please contact us. Marketing & EventsDrawing attention to the great locally-owned businesses, both old and new, that Myrtle Avenue has to offer is a principal part of our mission. By targeting local press with newsworthy stories, maintaining an avenue shopping guide both on the web and in print, spearheading marketing campaigns and promotions, and planning local events, we aim to attract shoppers, new businesses, and other investment to Myrtle Avenue in order to spur economic activity and strengthen our locally-owned businesses. Our avenue's major marketing and branding campaign, Home Grown & Locally Owned, features photos and quotes from some of our local entrepreneurs. The campaign not only helps to draw attention to the "Main Street" character of the retail district, but it also helps shoppers to match a name to the face of their neighborhood business owners while encouraging area residents to shop close to home. Public ArtMyrtle Avenue's Public Art program represents a multi-faceted effort to establish the retail district as an access point to art and cultural activities for the entire community. Projects include cultural events and programming, such as the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market, featuring live music and locally-based artisan vendors, as well as the exhibition of public sculpture and studio art as a means toward improving the commercial corridor's public space. Sanitation, Street Maintenance & Graffiti RemovalClean streets and sidewalks are a vital component of creating a safe and pleasant environment for merchants and neighborhood residents alike. We contract with a local business to provide supplementary sweeping and the maintenance of corner trash bins, but merchants are still responsible for doing their part by cleaning the sidewalks in front of their businesses when dirty. Graffiti removal, through both power-washing and painting, is provided to remove graffiti from security gates, brick walls, lampposts and mailboxes. Please call us if your building or business on Myrtle Avenue gets hit by graffiti. In addition to maintaining a clean street, we are always looking to enhance the aesthetics of Myrtle Avenue by improving the physical condition and appearance of the avenue's infrastructure. Over the past few years, we have planted 13 additional street trees, installed tree pit guards, and secured funds from the Brooklyn Borough President to install historic-style streetlights from Flatbush Avenue Extension to Classon Avenue. We are working to raise funds to make additional improvements to the avenue. Urban Planning & TransportationTo ensure long-term improvement for the commercial corridor, we maintain a participatory, comprehensive planning focus in our approach to economic revitalization. We work to address the various issues that affect the development of the avenue, including transportation and parking, open space and greening, pedestrian access and safety, land use and zoning, streetscape and urban design, neighborhood connections, public space and programming, housing and real estate, energy and food, business activity, and historic preservation. We have collaborated with local stakeholders to host planning forums and community visioning workshops, with the intent of garnering public input and ideas from Myrtle Avenue's many constituents. Through this participatory process, we hope to guide various design and infrastructure improvements for Myrtle Avenue through to implementation to make it a safer, more attractive, and more hospitable destination. Integral to our planning efforts is the planning process. Our method for planning is broad-based and community driven. Throughout the planning process we incorporate local stakeholders, including residents, merchants, property owners, institutions, and other organizations. This community-based planning process ensures that many voices are heard. In the last few years we have held three public workshops, starting with Envisioning Myrtle Avenue (full report is available here in PDF format) facilitated by Pratt Institute urban planning professors and students, and conducted surveys to gather input and incorporate a wide range of suggestions. The workshop findings helped us to lay out a path for both short- and long-term improvements and formed the foundation for pursuing larger public space and streetscape improvement initiatives. Placemaking and Public Space EnhancementsAmong the planning workshops held, two were facilitated by Project for Public Spaces (PPS) and focused on improving four key sections of the avenue that were determined in our previous planning charrette to be dramatically underutilized and ripe for dramatic improvements. PPS worked to survey, analyze, and produce conceptual recommendations for these four underutilized public and quasi-public spaces on the avenue, focusing on : (1) Myrtle from Carlton to Ashland, which fronts Fort Greene Park and the Walt Whitman Houses; (2) the intersection of Myrtle and Vanderbilt Avenues; (3) the intersection of Myrtle and Clinton Avenues; and (4) Myrtle from Hall Street to Emerson Place, the 4-block section of the commercial district with a parallel service road and single-story retail buildings that resulted from an urban renewal project. PPS recommends key physical improvements and regular programming to balance the allocation of our public spaces, that is, to re-emphasize pedestrian connectivity and gathering spaces over the accommodation of automobiles. Through simple changes, we can improve the avenue’s image and identity and create true destination places that are well loved by regular visitors and casual passersby alike. PPS’ recommendations provide a range of concepts for each site. |
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