BID Madness

Why is this catching on now? Not because NYC is falling apart. The garbage is being collected, the streets are safe, graffitti is not out of control so why are BID coming to Brooklyn? They will probably succeed in creating one on Fifth Ave in Park Slope and are trying to create a BID on Court Street (Cobble Hill and Carrol Gardens).

So what's going on here? I don't know. My guess is power, personal power. Several people want something done in the neighborhood; they want to do it; and they want to get paid for it.

How do you get new streetlights put in -- streetlights with a retro 19th C feel? Start a BID. How do you put the neighborhood stores on the map? Start a BID. How do you get a start in community politics? Oh that's easy be president of the local BID. And guess what? You can get paid doing what you love by taxing all the neighborhood businesses and building owners.

I would not be so adamant against BIDs if they weren't created in such a dishonest fashion; if the BID was a voluntary organization; and if people could disolve their membership in the BID if they no longer wanted to be part of it. But that's not the case. A BID is not voluntary, at least not once its started. You cannot opt out of it if you are within the BID's jurisdiction.

Worst of all is the means by which a BID is started. Did you know that when the vote takes place that if you do not vote NO, if you abstain, or did not know of the pending vote, that your vote counts as a YES vote? That's right the voting is not limited to the people who actually vote. If 51% of the voters either vote YES or do not vote at all then the BID goes through.

This is disgusting and any and all supporters of a BID who employ such dishonest methods ought to be considered as thieves and shake-down artists.