Ki-Sung testifies on legacy business needs in East Williamsburg
Ki-Sung of the Grand Street and Graham Avenue BIDs describes East Williamsburg's legacy businesses, with 22% operating 20+ years and the oldest in continuous operation for 97 years. He notes businesses lack administrative capacity for certifications and succession planning, and urges systemic, proactive support beyond conventional loans and webinars.
Thank you, Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Ki-Sung, and I currently serve the neighborhood of East Williamsburg in my capacity as the Commercial Revitalization Program Manager at the Grand Street bid and the Graham Avenue bid as a port of
By SBS's Avenue NYC program.
As my colleague Francesca Bruce has testified, we are here in support of all these bills attached to today's hearing, and I'd like to provide further testimony that points to the critical need to implement Bill 874.
As evidenced in our forthcoming Commercial District Needs Assessment Report, our neighborhood has a strong representation of legacy businesses.
22% of them have been at their current location for over 20 years and are oldest in continuous operation for 97 years.
They lend to the neighborhood's celebrated character as having old-school family vibes and local mom-and-pop shops where multi-generational families can continue to age in place.
For instance, Metropolitan Fish Market supports an entire commercial ecosystem by supplying to households as well as local restaurants and delis, while St.
Herman Music Shop has been sponsoring the neighborhood's Three Kings Parade and Hispanic holidays for generations.
These businesses are embedded in the neighborhood's identity and they have local street cred, but what they do not have control over is their long-term tenureship in the neighborhood.
The beloved Crest Hardware has closed and local bookshops like Quimby's and Desert Island have been displaced due to high-rise luxury developments.
Similarly, the economic development observed in North Brooklyn in general, as measured by metrics such as aggregate sales tax records, hides the gentrification and displacement experienced by East Williamsburg's legacy commercial and industrial businesses.
Our businesses who operate with an average of two full-time employees lack the administrative
strut of our
financial capacities to pursue the certifications, regulations, financing mechanisms, and even the basic succession planning that can help sustain their businesses.
So respectfully, conventional loan options and webinars do not reach the family-run operations in our neighborhood.
Instead, there's a patent need for systemic, proactive, and equitable support to ensure that these strongholds can remain in the neighborhoods that they serve with additional
coordination, hopefully, with DOB, DEP, DSNY, and other agencies to more effectively operationalize the bill spirit.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks.
All right.