Here's a look at the core services we offer at the DUMBO Improvement District:
Planning + Advocacy
The DUMBO Improvement District advocates on behalf of the community for better services and public spaces, support for local businesses, transportation enhancements and preservation of the neighborhood’s unique character and historic charm.
This includes projects like the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, as well as advocating for pedestrian safety improvements, more city benches and trees, and plaza reconstruction. In fact, restoring the historic Belgian Block streets and the aging infrastructure underneath has been top of the list since the beginning. We completed Phase I (Water and Washington Streets) in fall 2011 - and will start Phase II in 2018.
Management of Public Spaces
From cleaning to programming, the DUMBO BID manages the public plazas that form the “living rooms” of our community: the Archway under the Manhattan Bridge, the Pearl Street Triangle and Old Fulton Plaza. These iconic spaces total more than 40,000 square feet of public space. They are critical to DUMBO’s urban fabric and valued by workers, residents and visitors alike.
Maintenance includes planting flowers, supplemental sanitation and cleaning, and providing lots of great places to sit and hang out (picnic tables, bistro furniture and Fun Seetz!
Public Art & Community Programs
The DUMBO Improvement District develops community programs and sponsors additional events–markets, concerts, public art installations and more–that activate public space, spark social interaction, and drive foot traffic to local businesses. These include public art installations and regular programs such as Live at the Archway, a free, weekly performance series co-curated by the BID and The Lighthouse, Lunchtime Under the Archway, Smorgasburg vendors in the Archway Weds-Friday, LightYear, video projections on the Manhattan every First Thursday, First Thursday Gallery Walk, e-waste recycling events, and the monthly dance party TunnelVision.
Free WiFi
Ever the tech pioneer, DUMBO was first neighborhood in New York City to offer free public space Wifi in 2011. Now in its seventh year, the one-click access provided by SkyPackets is a popular amenity for DUMBO’s digital workers, allowing public spaces like the Pearl Street Triangle to function like fresh air offices.
Sanitation
The DUMBO BID “Clean Team” works seven days a week, rain or shine, to provide supplemental street cleaning. The “Clean Team” is contracted through the Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization working to end cycles of homelessness, incarceration and addiction through paid transitional work and supportive services.
These guys [the Doe Fund] are the best. I always stop to say "thanks for making DUMBO DUMBO." - Tara Dixon, Resident
Resident and artist, Tara Dixon
Beautification
This year we contracted with The Horticultural Society of New York (“The Hort”) to beautify our public plazas. The Hort is a non-profit whose mission includes using horticulture as a way to provide vocational training and transitional employment to former inmates and at-risk youth.
Small Business Services
The DUMBO BID helps small businesses thrive in this neighborhood through the #DUMBOVIP program, promotions, assistance with government entities, space recommendations and introductions to related businesses in the neighborhood.