I have regularly shopped in the Utica Ave business district since I first started working in the Crown Heights in early 2002, and have never found that part of community in want for much of anything. Within the eight blocks or so from Eastern Parkway (four in each direction) on Utica there is a wide assortment of businesses and services; three largish grocery stores, five or more small produce stands, five bank branches, shoe stores, clothing stores, half a dozen discount / dollar stores, religious stuff, flowers, computers, appliances, doctors, accountants/ tax prep, lawyers, eight or so bodegas etc. I didn’t even get into restaurants, take-out places and other things like health food stores.

In the years that I have been paying attention to this area I have been surprised by a lot of the patterns along that stretch. Storefronts do not remain empty for long. Even seven years ago there was already a mix of the national chain (Subway, Chase, Rent-a-Center), locally owned chains (Golden Krust, GEM store), neighborhood chains (the same family owned a few of the bodegas). Most of the business are independent though. This is a very vibrant area, with shoppers strolling every day all year long. The businesses in that area seem well suited to serve the needs of those who live in the neighborhood.

I am not flat out against a BID for Utica but I think that other business districts could use one more. The Utica district seems to have no trouble attracting businesses or customers, it does that better than the other main drags of Crown Heights like Nostrand or Franklin. It also doesn’t seem to have the visible crime problems that the other drags have. Though that might just be an issue of lopsided enforcement on the part of the NYPD. My fear is that this BID will push that area into a type of change that will make it easier for gentrification to happen inside of a vibrant and non-blighted community. I would hate to see the businesses that make Utica Ave so special get priced out.