BID fever not spreading in Long Island City.

The start up of a Business Improvement District (BID) in Long Island City's industrial portion has not been greeted with open wallets by several of the local owners.

With 27 now in operation, Business Improvement Districts have been sprouting and succeeding all over New York City. But some BIDs have had rocky starts and bumpy times.

Many small owners are resentful and feel they should not have to pay more for services they should already be receiving. Their needs, they say, often differ with the requirements of the larger developers and owners.

The Fashion Center BID organizers, for instance, did a lot of work to convince small owners they could benefit from a unified area plan. When they tried to increase the levy, however, they realized they had overstepped their goals and backed off.

"BIDs face the same tough choices as municipal government," said Adam Friedman, a representative from Borough President Ruth Messinger's office. "Demand for services are increasing and what do you do?"

In general, Friedman said, the borough president is supportive of the BIDs and has put resources into both 86th Street and the Fashion District. There are issues that need to be resolved, he said, including the decision making process, oversight and community accountability.

Friedman noted the Times Square BID has made a "tremendous effort" to bring people into the process by rotating its chairman, including residents of SRO hotels and having convenient advisory meetings for smaller merchants. "Not every BID has made that effort," he said.

The Fulton Mall Special Assessing District recently ousted a new director. Then its chairman, a representative of a large developer, left the board as well. "The small family-owned merchants wanted the status quo and didn't want any changes," said one party familiar with the situation.

The original plan proposed for Long Island City, including a budget of about $840,000, was so vehemently opposed by smaller but vocal industrial owners that the group's creators are currently redrawing boundaries and rethinking what they are trying to accomplish.

At least one owner said they were delighted to hear about a change in plans. "I'm against it," the owner said. "The BID doesn't do anything for an industrial tenant."

Organizer Stuart Match Suna, president of Silvercup Studios and co-chair of the Long Island City District Management Association (LICDMA), said the larger owners such as Citibank, the International Design Center of New York, Con Edison and Q.P.'s Market are all for the plan. Some of the groups goals are to increase security, sanitation and lighting in the area. Match said they intend to hire veterans from the all-veteran men's shelter as staffers.

Owner Morris Met, president of Met Construction Corporation, said most of the local owners have learned to live without the services or have provided them for themselves already by lighting their own buildings, installing security cameras and making landscaping improvements.

"Then they come along with a lamebrained scheme that they are going to provide services that the city owes you," he observed. "They cannot provide them with that budget. The area is already over burdened with taxes, it gets very little attention from the city and the owners will have to pay more for this and it will force people to move out."

Donald H. Tack, a vice president of Don Alan Realty Associates of Long Island City, who are owners, brokers and managers of area property, is opposed to the plan. He observed the BID seems to be pushed by a few people with big businesses who are looking to make their businesses attractive.

"The city government has a philosophy of 'go to the deepest pocket'," he said. "Someone who is working on an investment is getting killed."

Many Long Island City owners and investors are struggling to keep their heads above water, Tack continued. Tenants are moving out, they have negotiated reductions in rent and waivers of real estate escalations. If the BID were to impose further taxes, these owners say, there would be no way to pass it onto the tenants. Met said the tenants would laugh if they were asked for increases.

The Queens West development at Hunter's Point might benefit the surrounding area, Tack admitted but noted it is five blocks away. "Just like Citicorp didn't help, [Queen's West] will be a city within a city."

Arnold Manheimer, a local owner with the J. Manheimer company and co-chair of the District Management Association that is trying to organize the BID, said after the initial outreach they felt they "should go back to the drawing board. That complaining was heard."

At a meeting last week with the LICDMA and the Long Island City Business Development Corporation (LICBDC) attended by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Barry Sullivan, the group decided to prioritize its goals and work with the city to obtain better services before going the BID route.

Business Services Commissioner Wallace L. Ford II, who also attended and whose agency oversees the city's BIDs noted, "There are always going to be organizational concerns. Nothing is written in stone at this point. The board has to reassess its entire approach."

Suna said, "Numerous people are comfortable with the idea that if we tax ourselves the money comes back to us and we can spend it as we see fit." He emphasized the two business groups would not be working at cross purposes.

Dagny Du Val, president Plant Specialists Inc. a landscaping company that owns most of a block, lives in Long Island City and is also a member of the Community Board. She said the last thing she wants to do is pay more taxes but believes BID services would improve the area.

"A lot of people who are not in favor are up to their gills in taxes," she explained. "My attitude is the same way but goes beyond that. Yes, the city should be taking care of the things we would do with the BID money but they aren't doing it. So should you sit there and grumble or do you do something?"

Other local owners, such as John A. Werwaiss, president of Werwaiss & Company who owns several parcels in Long Island City, are glad the group is reconsidering its position. "What it has done is galvanize the people into seeing they are paying for these services and not getting them," he explained.

One of the issues the DMA is working on now is to eliminate or win over the people who don't want to be involved, added Suna. "We are looking to address the concerns of some of the people against the BID and either educate them as to the benefits or change the boundaries and eliminate them."

Among the problems cited by the industrial owners are a lack of sanitation services including street cleaning; a pervasion of dumping; erratic ticket blitzes for sidewalk litter; sewers along Bordan Avenue and 50th Street that constantly back up; local prostitutes and a lack of response by the police to crimes including car stripping and repetitive burglaries.

At Silvercup, located on two city blocks on 21st and 22nd Street and Bridge Plaza South, Suna explained they have a lot of transient tenants making commercials and films who don't like to see the trash or the prostitutes. "There is only so much that city services can provide," he said. Through our own BID we can improve the area. The 108th precinct is doing a great job but there is only so much they can do."

Met said, "The BID would benefit the people on the board who want to encourage public traffic to and form their businesses and want to advertise that they have the additional security. They are not doing this out of public concern."

His business occupies 5,000 square feet and pays over $20,000 a year in real estate taxes. "We derive no service, have private carting, sweep our own streets, sometimes have ticket blitzes because there is a tissue on the sidewalk, we can't park in our own driveway because we get ticketed and if a crime is being committed we can't get a policeman. We can't get in touch with the local precinct anymore and must call 911."

These problems and others were raised at a Town Hall style meeting also held last Tuesday that was organized by Commissioner Ford and attended by about 20 representatives of city departments--including police, fire, finance and sanitation.

One key issue that upsets business owners is a lack of a person to contact when they have a problem, Assistant Commissioner Coy LaSister, noted. This is a complaint that was heard at all 15th other such meetings held around the city.

Sullivan, Suna said, would like to start a program that is already working in Harlem to cut through red tape so problems, be they potholes or prostitutes, are addressed in a timely manner.

Ford also realized the LIC owners feel the lack of delivery of municipal services is a key issue. "They don't want to feel left out," LaSister said. "Yesterday was an indication they will not be left out."

Commissioner Ford said the city will work more closely with the LIC District Management community, particularly with regard to city services. "We want to improve that service delivery level which will have an important effect on the community," he said.

"What we try to do is figure out what are the priorities, what do we need to address first," LaSister continued. "We need to focus on solving a few things first and particularly if they are successful, it sends a good message to the business community."

The key, Manheimer believes, is whether there is an area within Long Island City that wants a BID. "That would have to be established," he said. "We want to identify the area of greatest interest and then if that works, then we can expand from there and work our way out. The last boundaries were so huge, that 1 think that in itself presented an abstraction so that the owners couldn't see they would get any advantage to the BID."

Fifty-one percent of the tenants and landowners have to be in favor of the BID for it to go forward but city officials said they prefer a number closer to 80 percent or more. There is no vote, explained Suna, but a consensus is reached through the public hearing process.

If they can work closely with Sullivan's office through Ford's department to improve the city services, Suna said, they will be able to demonstrate the city cares about the area and that the Development Corp. is the conduit that is able to get better services. Then, he said, "the businesses will recognize we can help ourselves. We'd like to get BID in place by end of this year." he added.