$1 Million Coney Island Business Improvement District Approved By NYC

NEW YORK, NY— Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood on the Coney Island boardwalk Sunday morning with the Atlantic behind him and signed the certificate that creates a new Business Improvement District for the waterfront neighborhood, committing up to $1 million for its first year of operation.

City officials said the district will provide supplemental sanitation, marketing and business support ahead of the 2026 summer season, when more than 5 million visitors stream through the amusement area each year.

Coney Island will become Brooklyn’s 24th Business Improvement District and the city’s 78th overall, according to the Department of Small Business Services. Across the five boroughs, BIDs receive about $207 million annually for services ranging from sanitation to event programming.

The allocation for Coney Island comes in addition to more than $850,000 the city has already directed to the neighborhood for commercial revitalization and merchant organizing, according to officials.

“By strengthening sanitation, public space, and business support along Mermaid and Surf Avenues, we’re building a Coney Island where local commerce thrives, corridors are cleaner and safer, and economic opportunity is rooted in the community,” Mamdani said.

The district will cover storefronts and properties along Surf and Mermaid avenues. Officials expect it to operate by July. Plans call for sanitation crews, landscaping and marketing campaigns, including power-washing shared spaces, installing potted plants and lining Mermaid Avenue with festive lights during the holidays.

Dennis Vourderis, vice president of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, said merchants have pressed for consistent services.

“The most important thing that the BID will provide is consistent supplemental sanitation, which is so important,” he said.

Business Improvement Districts collected an average of 10,421 trash bags and removed graffiti 2,227 times per day during fiscal year 2024, according to city data. Districts also reported hosting an average of 11 public events and distributing 2,796 marketing materials daily.

With the mayor’s signature, property owners along two of Coney Island’s main corridors will begin funding and overseeing those services locally, adding a new layer of maintenance and promotion to the beachfront commercial strip.