The Metrotech business improvement district is expanding its reach to include longtime Brooklyn arts institutions in Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene.
The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership manages business improvement districts, commonly called "bids." The bids help keep an area welcoming to visitors.
"We work with the Doe Fund to maintain the area that's literally picking up trash on the street, making sure graffiti is taken care of, making sure the lights work," says Andrew Kalish, of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio approved expanding the Metrotech bid toward Atlantic Avenue, including the Atlantic Terminal and Mall, along with the Brooklyn Cultural District.
Binta Vann-Joseph, a member of Bric, one of the cultural institutions that hopes to benefit from the expansion, says connecting cultural organizations will help them provide more programs for residents.
"We are neighbors with 30-plus other cultural organizations in Downtown Brooklyn who we want to continue, to collaborate and grow together with, and this bid allows us to do more of that," he says.