Throughout the year, the LIC BID maintains the areas lying within the business improvement district. The BID services include but are not limited to beautification, sanitation, safety, community support and overall area maintenance.
The BID contracts with Street Plus to provide supplemental on-street services to keep the district clean 7 days a week as well as serve as important ambassadors for the neighborhood. Every day they are out there sweeping the sidewalks, bagging trash, cleaning off street furniture in addition to their monthly graffiti removals. They also remove snow and ice from intersections and sidewalks in the winter months.
Beautification
Our efforts to beautify the neighborhood take place year round. In the fall we plant and maintain tulips that come up in early Spring, in the winter we hang snowflakes and skyline banners to keep the district lit up in the darker months, and in the summer we plant begonias our tree pits and fill the hanging baskets with seasonal flowers to last throughout the summer and early fall. We also directly maintain the Jackson Avenue medians and partner with NYC Department of Parks to maintain and beautify Dutch Kills Green and the Queens Plaza Greenway bike path.
Safety
Public Safety is a high priority in the LIC BID. Throughout the year we work closely with NYPD’s 108th and 114th Precincts. We host frequent roundtable meetings with both Precincts, local business, city officials and property owners to discuss community events, safety tips, and general guidance to keep our BID safe. As Community Partners with the 108th Precinct we meet weekly to discuss crime trends, updates, and attend their frequent Build-A-Block and Community Council Meetings to hear public concerns and opinions from around the district, elevating when necessary to senior personnel and other city agencies. We also work closely with our partners at Breaking Ground, the city-designated homeless outreach organization, to offer support and assistance to those in need.
We host a number of community events each year including our annual neighborhood street festival LIC Springs! that brings over 15,000 attendees to Vernon Boulevard to gather together and celebrate LIC. Throughout the rest of the year we host a number of smaller events and promotions to support our businesses year round including but not limited to, Shop Small for Small Business Saturday, LIC Lights Up to celebrate our winter lighting and our annual community and corporate volunteer days that help to build community and beautify the neighborhood.
Our BID team works hard to market our small businesses to residents and visitors of the neighborhood. Learn more about the LIC Community Gift Card here.