Tag Archives: small businesses

Attack of the Big Bad Businesses

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Brighton Beach, Brooklyn is equally renowned for its boardwalk and its borscht. But now, one of those claims to fame is in jeopardy.

Shoppers on Brighton Beach Avenue. Photo courtesy of Flickr member Axel Drainville.

Small, family-run operations – like the dozens of beachfront restaurants specializing in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine – have dominated the Brighton Beach economy for over 50 years. In fact, according to a report released in July by the state comptroller’s office, an astounding 88 percent of the Greater Coney Island area’s businesses have fewer than 10 employees. But in the last few years, residents have seen a marked increase in the number of national chains moving into the neighborhood. Walk down Brighton Beach Avenue, the fifteen-block heart of Brighton’s retail scene, and you’ll see half a dozen wireless stores, and nearly twice as many large banks. (And if those numbers sound excessive to you, check out the “All Shops” listing on the Brighton Beach BID website for proof.)

The takeover by AT&T and Bank of America has come at the expense of the independent shops that give Brighton Beach its unique flavor. “Every month, you see one big company come in, and three or four little guys close down,” said one staffer in the comptroller’s office – himself a longtime Brighton Beach resident. Some Brighton Beachers suspect that the forcing out of local businesses is a form of spillover gentrification from neighboring Coney Island, which has been battling its own redevelopment issues for some time.

If the big bad businesses continue to take over in Brighton Beach, pushing out the family-owned Russian bookstores, markets, and cafes, will the neighborhood lose its appeal as a tourist destination? Take the survey, and let us know what you think.

Survey says: Is Columbia Project good or bad for West Harlem?

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Columbia University has been in the process of a major expansion project that will weave the university further into its West Harlem location. The expansion, called The Columbia Project, has been underway since the final public approval was made by the New York State Public Authorities Board in May 2009.

According to the Columbia University site that focuses on the project, the plan will result in 6.8 million or more square feet of space for teaching, support services and underground parking and the growth can also create new jobs. However, one Columbia University site about the expansion explains that negative results would be the closing of an estimated 80 or more businesses and destroy 132 affordable housing units, the influx of Columbia University affiliates to the area could increase housing costs and the new businesses that derive from the expansion could cater more to new residents.

Basically, the expansion most likely will change the original character of West Harlem.

Community Board Manager of district 9 Eutha Prince said that there is practically no commercial space, and with the school expansion, people and businesses are being displaced. “Businesses are closing, there are not as many ‘mom and pop’ shops,” she said.

Let’s face it, New York is crowded enough. Columbia University is already taking on a global expansion, Phase One, to Rio de Janeiro and Nairobi, which is explained more in four separate YouTube videos . There isn’t a lot of room for a well-known school to expand so the neighborhood has to put itself in a position where it would sacrifice small businesses.

However, Columbia University as mentioned before suggests job possibilities, or 6,000 as a result of the expansion. Jobs include administrative assistant jobs, cooks, lab technicians and mechanics, which are open to various ages and skill levels, retired or new to the workforce.

Please fill out the survey to express your thoughts on the pros and cons of this expansion and for me to continue researching possibiities.

Small Stores in East Harlem are Feeling the Pinch

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Small, local stores in East Harlem are suffering. One of the big ones reasons why is that rent in East Harlem has been on the rise for a while.

Seema Gul, 35, is the owner of Star Electronic Discount, Inc. between 110th and 109th streets, on Third Avenue. She bought the store with her husband two years ago.

“We were making $2000 a day. Now I can’t pay the rent. I have to borrow,” Gul says. They make about $200 a day now, and their rent is $5500, according to her.

According to a report by MNS, a real estate broker in Manhattan, while rent there is still low compared with any other area, when you scroll down to the very bottom and look at Harlem’s price trends, rates there are clearly rising as well.

While the rent prices going up has definitely affected local business owners, there has been a sharp drop in the bottom line of most local stores in the last two to three years specifically because of the opening of the East River Plaza.

As more people of middle income moved there, it made sense for stores like Target, Best Buy, Marshalls and Costco to to open as these people would be more inclined to buy a lamp from, say, Target than the 99 cents store. Unfortunately, local businesses like Gul’s electronic store cannot compete in terms of pricing.

“Sometimes people come in and say, “It’s cheaper in Best Buy,” and I say that this is not Best Buy. We are a small business, we can’t afford to have such low prices,” she says.

On the other hand, the competition might be good for the local community, specifically for people who live in Public Housing or are struggling to make ends meet as their rent goes up.

What do you think? Is the East River Plaza opening up a good thing for the community? Or do you feel that it’s not worth it due to way it affects local businesses?