Business Not Booming
To the Editor:
Re: “Second Annual Business Survey Shows Signs of Life on West Side” (March 11), I am sure the Spirit was only trying to sound an optimistic note. But even a cursory glance at the two maps shows that, despite the optimistic claims of their respective leaders, the Columbus Avenue BID and the Lincoln Square BID are both doing worse now than they were a year ago: in 2009, they each had four vacant storefronts; in 2010, your map shows eight vacancies in the Columbus Avenue BID, and nine in the Lincoln Square BID. In fact, only the Columbus-Amsterdam BID remains unchanged: 24 vacancies on both maps. Read more
Second Annual Business Survey Shows Signs of Life on West Side
Business isn’t booming yet, but commerce on the Upper West Side is definitely experiencing a comeback. That’s the consensus emerging from local business leaders and the conclusion indicated by West Side Spirit’s second business survey, conducted almost exactly a year after the first.
The methodology this year was the same: Feb. 22, West Side Spirit canvassed Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus avenues from West 59th to 110th streets, counting all the ground-floor, on-the-avenue businesses. Read more
Top Stories of 2009
As 2009 draws to a close, we thought we’d paw through our archives to dig up some of the more interesting stories that we covered during the past 12 months. From swine flu to Lincoln Center renovations and unexpected Hudson River air activity, there was rarely a dull moment in Manhattan, especially on the West Side. Below are our highlights, in no particular order. Read more
