Check Cashing Establishments: An Inside Look

Check out Rite Check on PBS News!

"Nearly 20% of low income US households are "underbanked," according to the FDIC. But is providing access to traditional, mainstream financial services the best solution for everyone? A professor does double duty as a New York City check casher and discovers that banks might not be the best choice for everyone."

Lisa Servon, a professor of urban policy at the New School, works as a teller at Rite Check to learn what makes check cashing establishments different-- and for some, better-- than banks.

Watch the full story on PBS News.

Welcome to 125th Street, Key Food!

West 125th Street's latest addition opened on November 22nd at 421-423 West 125th Street.

The store looks great inside and out:

According to an article at producenews.com: "'I am so proud to open my doors and become a part of this neighborhood,' store owner Mohammed Abuzahrieh said in a press release. 'Customers are my highest priority and I want to provide this community with a great shopping experience.'"

We welcome Key Food to 125th Street and look forward to working with them!

Please contact Jennifer Silverberg with any questions or for more information about the 125th Street BID's West 125 Merchants' Alliance: jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com

Harlem Holiday Lights 2013!!

2013's Harlem Holiday Lighting program is officially a wrap, and thanks to all your support, it was our best lighting event yet! This year, businesses in the West 125 Merchants' Alliance were very involved in making the lighting extremely special and drawing massive crowds to 125th Street all the way to the Hudson River.

Several West 125 businesses drew customers to their stores by offering unique and exciting promotions:
Amalgamated Bank: Holiday Food Drive and special incentives for opening an account
Checkers: Raffle-- each entry gets free order of new mozzarella sticks with purchase; winner eats free for a month
Duane Reade: A brown bag event with health-related gifts and free blood pressure test for everyone
ECDO: Table outside with brochures and handouts sharing the free services offered by ECDO’s Community Partnership Center
Levels: Photos with Santa Claus
Rite Check: Free activation of Green Dot Cards

Duane Reade Staff greeting the Double Decker Bus as the Parade of Lights passes Broadway

Checkers staff celebrating HHL2013

Levels Barbershop promoting their activity with the Harlem Holiday Lights poster!

HARLEM, LIGHT IT UP!

Thank you all again for your participation and help in lighting up 125th Street this Holiday Season!
The next meeting of the West 125 Merchants' Alliance will be on Tuesday, January 21st, 2014. More information to follow.

Harlem, Light It Up!!

HARLEM, LIGHT IT UP! This year, 125th Street will kick off the holiday shopping season in a special celebration on November 21st, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the inception of the 125th Street BID and the 200th birthday of 125th Street.

Harlem Holiday Lights is a program to attract visitors to 125th Street. In addition to store activities, there will be a Scavenger Hunt, a Parade of Lights, and activities along the street.

All businesses along 125th Street can get involved and take advantage of this opportunity to attract visitors by decorating their storefronts and/or offering complimentary refreshments, hosting in store events, launching new products, creating their own give-aways, offering exclusive promotions, hosting in store appearances by celebrities, Santas, and more. There are unlimited creative ways to attract visitors to your business. 

Businesses west of Morningside Avenue are encouraged to participate! This is a great opportunity to attract visitors, promote your offerings, and join other 125th Street businesses in lighting up Harlem for the holidays. 

Please visit www.harlemlightitup.com to register the activities your store is planning for November 21st! The 125th Street BID will launch a promotion campaign to inform the community of your offerings and help you to attract business. Do not delay; we will begin promoting registered businesses within the week.

October Merchants' Meeting

On October 15th, the West 125 Merchants' Alliance, the steering committee for the 125th Street BID's expansion to the Hudson River, held our October Merchants' Meeting. A huge thank you goes out to Checkers (567 West 125th Street) for hosting us!!

The meeting focused largely on the upcoming Holiday Season and planning for Harlem Holiday Lights 2013. The Harlem Holiday Lights celebration is a street lighting event on 125th Street which will commence on November 21st to kick off the Holiday Season in Harlem. This year's celebration is special; 2013 marks the 200th birthday of 125th Street, as well as the 20th Anniversary of the 125th Street BID. We envision the Harlem community coming together to create and enjoy a huge festival with in-store and on-street activities. It is important for businesses to register their planned activities on the BID's Harlem Holiday Lights microsite, so that we can promote them free of charge. Attendees were enthusiastic about participating in this year's festivities. For other items discussed, view Meeting Agenda.
Due to the busy Holiday Season, the next meeting of the West 125 Merchants' Alliance will be on Tuesday, January 21st.
As always, please contact Jennifer Silverberg at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com or (212) 662-8999 with any questions about the BID's merchant organizing effort.

NYC Barber Battle!

New York City is gearing up for the Fourth BARBER BATTLE! Thanks to Kamal of Levels Barbershop (425 West 125th Street) for sharing.



Press links:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=450674995049491&set=pcb.45067527...
http://youtu.be/iATk-p7fVtQ
http://youtu.be/onXBax5vFsI
http://youtu.be/9C9u3oz4KrM
http://youtu.be/4a61E2yh4Fo
http://youtu.be/YAZPdU45OOo
http://youtu.be/4q4xmBpnKWE
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/11/17/barber-vs-barber-in-hair-war/...

West 125 Identity

As of our September 17th Merchants' Meeting,a new identify has been created for the effort that is taking place on 125th Street between Morningside and Marginal Street: West 125 Merchants' Alliance.

Our new name gives more formal recognition of the businesses coming together to identify and address conditions that impede growth, and it is a step forward in preparing to become a part of the 125th Street Business Improvement District. Now, the West 125 Merchants' Alliance is in the final stages of selecting a new LOGO to represent the group and its work in the community. If you are a member of the West 125 Merchants' Alliance and have not received an email requesting your vote, please contact Jennifer at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com

The next Merchants' Meeting will be held October 15th. The BID and the West 125 Merchants' Alliance are gearing up for the holiday season, and the next meeting will focus largely on how to best promote our community and businesses to attract visitors and show our Harlem Spirit this holiday season.

More Promos, More Fun! News from ECDO & Amalgamated

This week is a busy one West of Morningside. In addition to Rite Check's new 24/7 hours (see previous post), ECDO and Amalgamated Bank have exciting news.

Ecumenical Community Development Organization (ECDO):
ECDO's Young Adult Internship Program is now accepting applications for its next cycle, which begins in November. This is a PAID internship for NYC residents who meet the requirements.

Click here to enlarge the flyer. For application or information call (212) 531-3211 or stop by the ECDO Community Partnership Center: 413 West 125th Street (between Morningside and Amsterdam).

Amalgamated Bank:
Do not miss this amazing opportunity at Amalgamated Bank TOMORROW, Saturday, September 7th, from 1pm to 4:30pm! How to Free Yourself from Debt and Be Positioned for Prosperity in 2014. This is a FREE and powerful workshop sponsored by Amalgamated Bank and featuring Dr. Grayson, the world's leading credit expert!

Click to download flyer
Call (917) 808-7146 or email prosperityagent1@gmail.com to register.

Rite Check Open 24/7!

Great news for West 125th Street!! Rite Check on 125th and Broadway is now open 24/7!!! To celebrate, they are offering a special promotion for the month of September. See flyer below. View larger in English or Spanish.

Fourth Merchants' Meeting

Happy Friday! The Fourth Merchants' Meeting of West 125th Street businesses was held this past Tuesday, August 13th at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (a really authentic and delicious venue in the area!).

This meeting focused largely on Resident Engagement, which has emerged as a priority for our businesses. The businesses in this area (125th Street, between Morningside Avenue and Marginal Street) offer a lot special services and promotions that would benefit the area's residents. At the same time, residents represent a huge base of potential customers for our businesses. We are looking at ways to create better connections between the businesses and residents. Click here for the full meeting presentation.

The next Merchants' Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 17th at 8:30am. Stay tuned for more details!

Don't hesitate to contact me (Jennifer) at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com or (212) 662-8999 with any questions or comments about the Merchant Organizing Initiative. Have a great weekend!

Blogspot & August Merchants Meeting

Two exciting updates today--
First, I have migrated the archived blog entries to our brand new West of Morningside Blogspot! Check it out at www.west125.blogspot.com/. The main advantages to the blogspot are: you can leave comments (!), and it's a little easier to navigate through the posts. For now I will continue to update the blog at www.125thstreetbid.com/merchantorganizing as well as on blogspot.com.
The second update is that our August Merchant Organizing Meeting will be held on August 13th at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que! All businesses and property owners on 125th Street west of Morningside Avenue are welcome to attend.

News & Promotions

Good afternoon, Harlem! At the July 9th Merchants' Meeting, attendees had a very productive discussion  with Deputy Inspector Steven Griffith, CO of the 26th Precinct, regarding Public Safety issues in the corridor. Deputy Inspector Griffith provided valuable advice and support on the issues brought up by businesses. We are now engaged in followup to implement his suggestions and continue our work on making the area safer for businesses, residents, and visitors. Click here for the full presentation of the July 9th meeting.

This Week's News & Promotions: 125th Street West of Morningside: 

Rite Check: 571 West 125th Street
               
Load a NetSpend Pre-paid                                 Checks cashed payable to your
Debit Card and Win a Kindle Fire!                   business! Instant cash and up to
Click here for more information                          $20 off your first check. Click here
                                                                            for more information.

www.ritecheck.com


Levels Barbershop: 425 West 125th Street
Congratulations to Levels, who is opening a new location in Astoria! The new shop will be opening August 3rd. Free haircuts all day at this location!

Click here for more information on the promotion.
Click here for more information on Levels.
www.levelsbarbershop.com

Ecumenical Community Development Organization (ECDO): 413 West 125th Street
ECDO's youth engagement initiative, the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP), is an awesome opportunity for youth and for businesses in the community!
Opportunity for Youth:                                    Opportunity for Employers:
Click for more information                                   Click for more information 
  
www.ecdo.org

Third Merchants' Meetup

We hope everyone is having a great summer so far! The 125th Street BID's Annual Meeting was June 27th, and it was VERY successful. Now that it's over, we are moving full steam ahead with the Merchant Organizing Initiative on the West side. Our THIRD Merchants' Meetup is next week, July 9th, at 8:30am at Amalgamated Bank. Businesses on 125th Street west of Morningside should definitely try to make it! Agenda items include: Distribution of Map & Guide; Organizational structure; Special Projects; Discussion of Public Safety issues with CO of 26th Precinct; Resident relationships; and Social media. Please RSVP to Jennifer: jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com or (212) 662-8999.

Second Merchants' Meeting

125th Street businesses west of Morningside-- if you missed the first Merchants' Meetup, here is your chance to get caught up on all the awesome work we are doing! Please join us at Amalgamated Bank at 8:30am on June 18th to discuss ways to increase traffic to your business; major promotion and event for next year; your public safety and sanitation needs; and more. Please contact me (Jennifer) at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com or (212) 662-8999 with any questions or to RSVP. See you there!

First Merchants' Meetup Recap

Last Thursday, we had our FIRST Merchants' Meetup for businesses west of Morningside! Discussion was very positive and productive, and we are all very excited to continue the work we started! Special thanks to ECDO, Rite Check, Duane Reade, and Amalgamated Bank for coming out! Some items we discussed were:

• Work accomplished thus far and what will follow
• Results of Needs Assessment survey and additional needs that businesses have
• Next steps for improving the community and helping businesses in area better promote themselves to clientele, including:
  • Major promotion idea for Fiscal Year 2014
  • Communicating better with target clientele and how the BID can help to promote business

If you are a business on 125th Street west of Morningside and weren't able to attend last week's meeting-- the bad news is you missed an awesome meeting. But the good news is that the next one is June 18th, and we hope you're able to attend!

Second Merchant Organizing Meeting:
Tuesday, June 18th
8:30 AM
Amalgamated Bank (564 West 125th Street)
Please contact Jennifer at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com or (212) 662-8999 with any questions regarding the upcoming meeting or the Merchant Organizing Initiative.

ECDO Paid Internships!

Attention, Harlem residents! Have you heard about this incredible PAID INTERNSHIP opportunity offered by the ECDO Community Partnership Center? If you're between 16-24 years old, not working or in school, and a resident of a 10023, 10024, 10025, 10026, 10027, 10030, or 10031 zip code, you are eligible to apply! See flyer below. Call (212) 531-3211 or stop by the ECDO Community Partnership Center at 413 West 125th for more information.

First Merchants' Meetup!

In case you haven't heard... In two weeks, we will be hosting the first MERCHANTS' MEETUP for businesses on 125th Street west of Morningside Avenue! All businesses in this area are invited and encouraged to come out and discuss the work that has taken place in your business community, and to strategize around next steps to improve our area. Get to know your business neighbors over breakfast and coffee (on us)!

Please RSVP to Jennifer at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com!

Spring Has Sprung on 125!

125th Street, you never cease to amaze us.

This is Roosevelt Triangle, the small park on 125th and Morningside, right across from St Joseph of the Holy Family. If you're in the area, take a few minutes to RELAX on one of the benches. It's also a really good place to eat lunch! (View the directory of businesses west of Morningside if you need lunch ideas.) One thing you can't tell from the photos is that the air here is FULL of the smell of flowers. Spring has sprung on 125th and we love it!!!

If you have any photos of the area on 125th Street west of Morningside that you'd like to share with us, please email jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com.

Happy Spring!

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on Forbes' Top 10!

Check it out-- Dinosaur BBQ has made Forbes' "10 Great BBQ Joints Across the USA"! Having eaten at Dinosaur, I can vouch that it definitely deserves to be on this list. I'm glad Forbes agrees!


"The popularity is easy to explain: the menu is broad, creative and very well priced, with lots of combo and sampler choices, there is a lively bar scene with craft beers, and the food is very good and quite substantial." Read the full review at Forbes.com!

Harlem's Dinosaur BBQ is located at 700 West 125th Street.

West of Broadway, Networking Reception

Good morning, Harlem! Hope everyone's week is going well. Yesterday, I continued visiting the businesses in the merchant organizing corridor (125th Street west of Morningside), this time focusing on the businesses west of Broadway. If you have not been out that way, I really recommend it. It has a completely different feel from anywhere else in the city and it's BEAUTIFUL. Also, there are some really exciting and unique restaurants/venues (see photo below). FYI, I spoke with the owner of the Cotton Club, and he mentioned that Monday nights have the most going on, in case you are looking to stop in.

Cotton Club, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and West Harlem Piers

Another item of interest: If you are free tonight, stop by the Aloft Harlem Hotel (2296 Frederick Douglass Blvd) from 6pm to 8:30pm for the Promotional Alliance of Harlem's second "Biz-Working Event"!!! The last one was AWESOME, and we expect this one to be even better (if possible). It's a great opportunity to meet and network with Harlem businesses and stakeholders, so bring business cards!

We hope to see you all tonight!!

Visit to Businesses

Happy Thursday, all! The past two weeks have been pretty busy on the merchant organizing project. Friday (March 22nd), was the deadline to apply for another Avenue NYC grant to continue the great work we've been doing on 125th west of Morningside. I think we have a really strong proposal, so keep your fingers crossed!

For a couple of months, I (Jennifer) had been trying to visit the businesses on 125th west of Morningside and introduce myself, but I am only in the office two days a week and it always seems to be raining or freezing when I'm here! So today I took advantage of the beautiful only-occasional-rainfall weather and visited some businesses. Today I visited most of the businesses on 125th between Morningside and
Broadway; hopefully next week, I'll visit those businesses west of Broadway. I introduced myself and the Merchant Organizing project and handed out another copy of the Needs Assessment survey (which is also available here!). I would like to thank all of the businesses who took time out of their busy schedules to talk to me this afternoon, it is really appreciated. Don't hesitate to call or email with any questions!

One thing I noticed during my walk was Primo Cafe on 125th and Amsterdam. Last time I walked past there, just a few months ago, it was a vacant building. Now, Primo is open for business and is a really beautiful corner cafe! They serve soup, salad, pizza, sandwiches, bagels, pastries, and more. Everything looked great, in a nice, light, friendly environment with tables and chairs. I think it's a perfect addition to the neighborhood and am really excited to go in and try it for lunch! I regret not taking any photos to post here... you will just have to go see it for yourself!

Announcements: Needs Assessment, Business Directory, and More

A week after our first mailing of the Commercial Tenants Needs Assessment Survey, we are already receiving responses! The responses we have received so far are extremely helpful; a big thank you to the businesses who have taken the time and effort to give your input! If you are a business on 125th Street west of Morningside Avenue and have not yet filled out the survey, you may do so here. Again, your responses will be very valuable in helping us to develop a list of priority issues to be addressed to help your business thrive.

Some exciting news-- the Business Directory on the BID's website now includes businesses west of Morningside Avenue! Click here to view the full business directory (Fifth Avenue to Marginal Street); or click here for only the businesses west of Morningside. All businesses on 125th Street west of Morningside: please email (jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com) or call (212-662-8999) with any changes or additions to the information we have. We hope this directory is useful to you!

Another feature of the Merchant Organizing section of the website is the Promotion Submission. If you represent a business on 125th Street west of Morningside Avenue, submit your events, promotions, sales, etc. and we can share them with our networks! Please direct all inquiries to Jennifer (jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com). (Note: We cannot promise that each submission will be shared.) Include all relevant info such as time; date; location; etc.

Lastly, as you may have heard, the Avenue NYC grant with which we are doing this Merchant Organizing project will be used through June. The 125th Street BID is now in the process of reapplying for a grant for next Fiscal Year so that we can continue with the work that is being done.

As always, don't hesitate to contact me (Jennifer) with any questions, comments, or concerns!

Welcome

Welcome to the 125th Street BID's Merchant Organizing Blog! As you can see, the section of the BID website dedicated to the Merchant Organizing Initiative is up and running at last! Within the next couple of weeks, this section should include a directory of all of the businesses located in the target area (125th Street, west of Morningside Avenue).

Today, we mailed out our first Commercial Tenants Needs Assessment Survey to the 125th Street businesses located west of Morningside Avenue. This survey will help us to determine the most important issues and concerns for businesses in the area, and what steps need to be taken to address these needs. We can't wait to hear the responses! In the coming weeks, we will also be preparing and mailing a Needs Assessment Survey to the owners of the properties in the target area. Next week, we will be working hard on the application to receive funding for these efforts in FY2014.

For more information or to let us know about events, promotions, or offers at your business, please email Jennifer at jsilverberg@125thstreetbid.com. We look forward to hearing from you!