SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

 NYC Council Speaker Christine. Quinn and City Council member G. Oliver Koppell and Jeffrey Dinowitz held a business luncheon with small business owners to see how they and the City Council can help them operate and grow. The luncheon was held at Greentree Restaurant in the heart of the North Riverdale Merchants Association area, and was well attended with members or representatives of, the South Riverdale Merchants Association, Kingsbridge Business Improvement District, Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corp and others also attending.

 Speaker Quinn opened the meeting by asking everyone to get their lunch, and then Councilman Koppell thanked Speaker Quinn for her attendance at the luncheon to hear from his local merchants and what types of problems that they run into. Koppell noted that the council is not anti-business, but business friendly. Dinowitz also thanked Speaker Quinn for coming to listen, and said that it appears that this is an area that new business wants to come to by the two new shopping centers that are being built in the area.

 There was a question and answer period in which questions about a central data base, the local business city scape, street vendors, lack of bike racks, lack of credit for small business, and the lousy repaving that is being done by DOT in the area were brought up. 

 Quinn answered that the city does send business around to different agencies, but that she is trying to help business by having a central office help in cutting that down. As for the city scape Quinn replied that DOT can come out to do a survey of what can be changed, and gave examples of more trees, better street lights, and even surveillance cameras (but that the city can not pay for such cameras), with Koppell and Dinowitz concurring. On the subject of the repaving Councilman Koppell said the DOT has done a miserable job by towing cars with short notice, and not working on days that signs said they were posted. As for street vendors Quinn said that there is a task force that was set up for Manhattan, and maybe they should come to the area for a day. She added that it is up to the police department, DOT, and Department of Consumer Affairs to monitor street vendors.

  Below are a few photos of the event, which went off very well with everyone learning something new. There was a call for more of the businesses to band together such as having a local Restaurant Week similar to the City and Bronx ones. 

Left - Councilman G.Oliver Koppell addressing the luncheon.

Right - City Council Speaker Quinn addresses the luncheon.

Speaker Quinn answers a question from Mr. Gary Wartel (far left) the President of the North Riverdale Merchants Association.