Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance Seeks Community Input for Possible Northern Expansion

Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance (HYHK) , a non-profit organization that helps maintain and advocate for the southern part of Hell’s Kitchen below W42nd Street, is considering expanding its borders northward, and they want to hear from you.

HYHK is one of New York City’s 75 business improvement districts , commonly referred to as BIDs. Its boundaries are approximately W30th Street to the south side of W42nd Street, between 9th and 11th Avenues.

Robert Benfatto, HYHK’s executive director, said they are considering expanding along 9th, 10th and 11th avenues, “going up to at least the low 50s.”

Throughout the city, BIDs provide services to neighborhoods and commercial strips, including supplemental sanitation pickup, planting and maintaining street trees, and promoting and advocating for small businesses.

BIDs are funded through a “special assessment” billed to commercial property owners within their coverage area and distributed twice a year. It’s up to those property owners whether they want to trickle those costs down to their tenants. HYHK currently brings in $4.1 million annually, and Benfatto said that according to early calculations it would bring in an additional $1.5 million by expanding.

“We did a budget exercise and the numbers worked out,” Benfatto said. “That made us say okay, now let’s see if people are interested.”

The HYHK Alliance was formed on the last day of 2013 after public consultation . In addition to sanitation services and advocating for small businesses, the BID maintains Bella Abzug Park with largely native plants. It also curates public art in the neighborhood and organizes free outdoor programming, including fitness classes and movie nights.

Councilman Erik Bottcher has long called for the BID to expand further into Hell’s Kitchen, describing it in a statement to W42ST as “a top priority of mine since I took office.”

“My team and I are excited to work closely with our block associations to engage residents in this process,” he said.

North of W42nd is “not as well-kept as the part of 9th that we have,” Benfatto said. “It’s a nice challenge for us to fix it up.”

HYHK’s staff is reaching out to the neighborhood for input (expect a postcard in your mailbox this week) on where the BID should expand to and what services residents and small businesses would like to see.

“We really want to make sure that everyone who is interested in responding and wants to have their voice heard has an opportunity to, and we’re doing a multi-pronged engagement effort,” said Ariana Cipriani, HYHK’s director of programming and marketing.

She is soliciting input from anyone who lives or works in Hell’s Kitchen through a District Needs Survey . Cipriani said the BID’s goal is to receive responses from 25 to 30% of property and business owners.

The survey asks stakeholders to describe, on a scale of one to five, whether they think their neighborhood has dirty sidewalks, is unsafe during the day or night, if the streets are in need of repair, and more. It also asks people to rank their highest priorities for supplemental services. The survey is also being distributed in Spanish and simplified Chinese.

Respondents also write their addresses in the neighborhood, and the BID will use them to determine where different services are desired and which areas to expand to. Cipriani hopes to complete the first leg of outreach by the end of the summer, and present the findings to Manhattan Community Board 4 in September.

So far in Cipriani’s outreach, people’s biggest desire has been for supplemental trash pickup. “People just love having clean streets,” she said. “It has a big impact on the sights and the smells of your neighborhood.”

People have also been excited about free programming, Cipriani said, “having another organization to help support cultural and community programs in your district.”

There’s a long road ahead before residents and small businesses north of W42nd Street will see HYHK’s services.

The current 30-member HYHK board would increase in size with the expansion, while it would maintain its ratio of 16 property owners and 14 stakeholders representing nonprofits, commercial or residential tenants, and city agency reps.

After conducting multiple rounds of outreach, at least 51% of property owners in the proposed area would need to vote in favor of HYHK’s expansion.

It would then need to be approved by the City Council and signed into law by the Mayor, but would likely start offering services at least six months later, after it receives funding from the first special assessment. The entire process could take up to two years, Cipriani and Benfatto said.

Aside from HYHK, other BIDs that border Hell’s Kitchen include the Times Square Alliance , the Garment District Alliance , the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District and the 34th Street Partnership .

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