New ways to save the city's shopping districts
Local commercial corridors play a vital economic and social role in New York City neighborhoods. But many shopping districts are facing complex challenges that threaten their future, whether it’s falling foot traffic or dark and vacant storefronts. Obstacles to retail vibrancy are even more pressing in marginalized, long-neglected neighborhoods, mostly outside of Manhattan.
On Bay Street in Stapleton, Staten Island, for example, the storefront vacancy rate is an astounding 24% (it is 10% in Lower Manhattan). And on Fulton Street in East New York, Brooklyn, negative perceptions of public safety and the poor condition of storefronts contribute to a retail leakage of almost $600 million annually—meaning residents go elsewhere to spend their money. In these communities, nearly three quarters of merchants—mostly mom-and-pop businesses—lease their space, leaving them vulnerable to commercial displacement because of increasing rents.
