QUESTION
What are the factors contributing to the high storefront vacancy rate in Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers' district in Queens, and how does the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) target its outreach efforts to improve these rates?
0:27:50
·
95 sec
The council member inquires about the reasons behind Council District 31 having the highest storefront vacancy rate in Queens according to Department of Finance data.
- The SBS deputy commissioner explains that vacancy rates are complex and can be impacted by various factors unique to each community district
- SBS works with local partners to understand the specific challenges contributing to high vacancy rates in an area
- SBS utilizes its resources like outreach efforts and grant programs to provide a localized approach to addressing vacancy issues
- SBS coordinates with the city's strategies to remove zoning barriers that prevent spaces from being occupied, which may help reduce vacancies
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
0:27:50
So according to the Department of Finance Data, my Council District Council District 31 is seeing the highest storefront vacancy rate of all council districts in Queens.
0:28:02
Do you all have a sense of why that may be the case and how does SBS target any outreach it does to improve vacancy rates?
0:28:11
And how does vacancy data guide SBS's efforts to improve vacancy in certain corridor?
0:28:17
Course?
Calvin Brown
0:28:18
Well, vacancy rates is very complex.
0:28:23
The conditions or the factors that impact vacancies and community districts may vary.
0:28:30
What we do is we do work with any local partner to understand, you know, some of the challenge is that they may be seen, that may be contributing to the high vacancy rates.
0:28:39
But just given the sort of nuance of the issue and the complexity of the issue, we work with our local partners to really understand what those challenges are, and then we see whatever resources I mean, we sorry.
0:28:51
Utilize whatever resources that we have at SBS, whether it's our outreach or any of our grant programs to provide a more localized approach to it.
0:29:02
We also think in tandem with some of the strategies that we have been using with the city of yes, it may remove some of the archaic zoning barriers that prevent some spaces from being able to be occupied.
0:29:17
So we think in tandem with our strategies in the city of yes, that we may see a trend of those spaces potentially being occupied?
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What is the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) doing to address vacant storefronts along commercial corridors like Merrick Boulevard in District 31?
