Queens' Roosevelt Avenue: the colorful stretch that runs through Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona is lined with immigrant-owned businesses, restaurants, and shops. Now a group wants to turn the thoroughfare into a business improvement district, or BID, in which property owners pay into a fund that in turn takes care of things like street cleaners, improved lighting, shopping guides, and a website. Some worry about the expense, chain stores, and pricier outlets booting out affordable local mainstays, while others fear "it would drain the avenue of the eclectic mix of modest businesses that have afforded many immigrants an economic toehold." [NYT; photo via Flickr/Mattron]
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