Department of Small Business Services Awards Downtown Alliance Neighborhood Achievement BID Award

As part of the 2012 New York City Neighborhood Achievement Awards, Deputy Mayor Robert K. Steel and Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh presented the Alliance for Downtown New York the Business Improvement District (BID) Innovation Award for its Handheld Infrastructure Tracking System.

“It’s the 300 vibrant neighborhoods that make New York City so unique, and each year the Neighborhood Achievement Awards spotlights the remarkable small businesses, individuals, and organizations helping to strengthen neighborhoods in all five boroughs,” said Walsh. “I want to congratulate and thank tonight’s 17 awardees for their hard work and leadership.”

“The Downtown Alliance Handheld Infrastructure Tracking System has streamlined our infrastructure maintenance and enhanced our survey data, resulting in a lower, overall cost of maintaining Lower Manhattan’s distinctive streetscape,” said Joe Timpone, Senior Vice President of Operations. “It’s a win for us and a win for our constituents!”

As part of its mission to make Lower Manhattan a world class destination for businesses, residents, and visitors, the Downtown Alliance undertook a streetscape improvement plan, which included distinctive street name signs and wayfinding to area attractions and transit stations. As a result of this investment, the Downtown Alliance is responsible for maintaining more than 500 new street signs, 170 wayfinding elements, and more than 300 streetscape elements.

Through the development of a Handheld Infrastructure Tracking System, the Downtown Alliance created an electronic survey method that is easy to analyze, produces maps, saves time, and yields easy-to-understand data. The Handheld Infrastructure Tracking System has been utilized since 2009 and has significantly enhanced the survey data collected. To date more than 1000 issues have been reported and tracked to repair street furniture in the district.

Established in 2002, the Neighborhood Achievement Awards honor organizations, businesses and individuals that have demonstrated excellence in enhancing New York City neighborhoods by fostering economic opportunity. You can learn more at www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/neighborhood/awards.shtml.