Where is New York City's newest destination neighborhood? Downtown Staten Island.
Private development like the Empire Outlets and the New York Wheel is already underway.
Now, the city too is making an investment in the neighborhood with a $1.54 million dollar grant to be distributed over the next three years
"It’s exciting for Staten island. [Public] money like that hasn’t been spent here in years," says Linda Baran, President of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.
The money comes from the City’s Small Business Services Neighborhood 360 grant. Downtown Staten Island is one of six neighborhoods to receive the grant, including Downtown Flushing, East Harlem, East New York, Inwood, and Jerome Avenue.
Baran says the grant will help local, independent shops along the Bay Street Corridor join the renaissance on the island.
"[Downtown Staten Island] is the gateway. It’s the welcome mat. Whenever you invite someone to your neighborhood, you want everything to look great," she says.
Baran says there is much room for improvement. For example just under half of the storefronts on Bay St. between St, George and Stapleton are listed in poor condition according to a Small Business Services study.
Its report highlights other challenges like disjointed streetscapes created by the Staten Island Railway, but it also identifies opportunities to beautify the neighborhood, create public art, and build a neighborhood identity.
"An identity and marketing… that’s very important for small businesses,” says SBS Commissioner, Gregg Bishop, “We need to market downtown Staten Island as a destination not only for locals but also for visitors to New York City."
Bishop says grant money will also create programs to attract and support independent business in the neighborhood.
"We are making an investment to help small businesses adapt to a change,” he says.
Bay Street stakeholders will work together to decide how to use the grant.