Fashion District readies for improvement district.

The Fashion Center Business Improvement District (BID) should be up and running this fall, said Rusty Moore, its executive director. The plan has already passed the New York City Council and was signed by the mayor but is awaiting State Comptroller approval. Once that is obtained, a notice is published in the City Record beginning a 30-day objection period before it becomes official.

She noted that while BID organizers had discussed a variety of options to raise its $3 million budget, they ultimately decided to bill owners on a percentage of assessment basis, rather than on a square foot basis. This would be more equitable for the large number of small side street owners, she explained.

"We looked at a number of different ways of assessing but we never got locked into it so we didn't back off," she added, referring to the terminology used in the July 7 REW article on the Long Island City BID.

Owners will pay for the Fashion Center BID based on one-fourth of one percent of the property's billable assessment.

Moore said the first bills will go out to owners around October and the BID should be up and running with personnel for security, sanitation and social services on the streets by January 1. Eventually there will be a heavy emphasis on fashion center industry marketing.