As an executive director with New York City's Department of Small Business Services (SBS) in the Neighborhood Development division, Kris Goddard oversees the city's Business Improvement District (BID) program, providing support and oversight to 70 existing BIDs. Goddard is also responsible for the creation of new BIDs throughout New York City, guiding neighborhoods and commercial corridors that wish to form BIDs through the planning, outreach, and legislative approval process. In addition to his work with BIDs, Goddard also develops and oversees commercial revitalization programs for the city's BIDs and local development corporations including the Neighborhood Retail Recruitment Program and various capacity-building workshops. Goddard joined SBS in 2012 as director of BID expansion, where he was responsible for BID development and implementing SBS's cost-sharing BID management model. Goddard holds a master's degree in city and regional planning from Cornell, and received his bachelor's degree in 2004 from Brown University, where he majored in urban studies and sociology.

Abstract:

For more than 30 years, New York City's BIDs have been important partners in ongoing initiatives of commercial corridor revitalization and economic development. The city's existing network of 70 BIDs (the largest in the U.S.) invest over $116 million annually into local economies in the form of supplemental services and programs, making neighborhoods cleaner, safer, and more vibrant.

While BIDs will always be associated with the revitalization and maintenance of some of the city's most iconic neighborhoods and public spaces, assessment-based public-private partnerships have become increasingly popular beyond the densely commercial confines of Manhattan. The BID model is now being utilized in popular high-rent mixed-use neighborhoods, wholly industrial areas, and in low-income minority communities. With this shift comes a host of questions regarding the evolution, implementation, and governance of BIDs.