Chinatown Property Owners declare Victory in Getting the city to rescind $400,000 in illegal BID taxes

property owner Jan Lee , and AALDEF attorney Bethany Li (to the left of Jan)


On April 10th Chinatown property owners (PTP Inc.) and The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund held a press conference to declare victory in succeeding to get the City to rescind an illegally imposed Chinatown B.I.D. tax which would have retroactively reimbursed the Chinatown Partnership LDC BEFORE the Chinatown BID was even a legal entity.

""This misappropriation of our funds lived up to every suspicion that we had going into this," said Lee, 46, whose family has owned property in the neighborhood for 80 years. Lee, who has been a loud opponent of the formation of the BID, said that the incorrect fees add up to hundreds of thousands of illegal charges across different owners." - Village Voice 


"Li, from AALDEF, said it's a troubling sign that the city -- which now oversees 67 BIDs -- made this kind of error. "My understanding is [the city] just misunderstood the law, which is problematic given that this is their 67th BID."Ultimately, she added, the fees of the BID can be burdensome to longtime businesses who have to participate.  - Village Voice


"[Wellington] Chen called the issue a "technicality," dismissing AALDEF's characterization of the BID fees as being "illegal." "This is an accounting issue," Chen said. "It does not warrant wasting time and energy." - www.dnainfo.com 
Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120409/lower-east-side-east-village/city-refund-300k-chinatown-property-owners#ixzz1rn9OlvZY

According to the Interim Chinatown Business Improvement District Board of Dir's minutes:
minutes:

Treasurer’s Report

Tony Wong reported that the board needs to decide on the fiscal year and the billing date for the BID.

There are two options: 1) start the billing in July 1, 2011, when Chinatown Partnership started paying the expenses for the BID; or 2) October 1, 2011 when the BID was officially approved and the Partnership extended the service to the entire BID’s service area.

Eddy Eng mentioned that once the BID decided on the billing date, the property owners will receive the bill in April, and once the BID’s bank account is set, the BID will receive 75% of $1.3 million dollars (the BID’s budget), and 50% of the FY 2013’s Annual Budget by July 2012.

After all the considerations and discussions, the motion to approve the Chinatown District Management Association’s fiscal year as July 1 to June 30; and start the DMA assessment billing on October 1, 2011, passed unanimously.

Eddy Eng also suggested using a special occasion to announce the billing to the community and in a positive way.

Acknowledgment of Chinatown Partnership

Wellington reported that the Chinatown partnership has been paying for all the BID’s expenses since July of 2011 and is now in a cash flow situation. The Partnership already laid-out more than $200,000 dollars for the BID and cannot sustain forever in this fashion.

David Louie acknowledges all the works the Partnership’s board has done for the BID and suggested a donation or reimbursement to the Partnership for the expenses they had incurred once the BID receives its funding.

Motion to approve the reimbursement to the Chinatown Partnership of necessary and verifiable expenses related to the BID from July 1, 2011 until the BID receives its own funding passed unanimously.

 CDMA Interim Board Members Present:

Jimmy Cheng, United Fujianese American Association

Kenneth Cheng, Fukien American Association

Nolan Cheng, Law Offices ofNolan Cheng

Peter Cheng, Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation

Priscilla Cheung, eRxCityCorporation

Stephen Cheung, D.H. Realty & Management

Anthony P. Colombini, Esq., Chu and Partners

Eddy Eng, Small Business Services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office

Frank F. Gee, Gee Poy Kuo Association

Dr. Wilson Ko, Multispecialty Physician Group

Philip Lam, Green City Realty

Meng Lao, representing Jack Eng, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

Peter Lau, Confucius Pharmacy

David J. Louie, David J. Louie,Inc.

Dr. Chun Ka Luk and Bernice Luk, Broadway Chinatown Realty

Gabe B. Mui, the American Legion Lt. B.R. Kimlau Memorial Post 1291

John Pasquale, PEP Realty

Michael Salzhauer, BenjaminPartners

Sio Wai Sang, Golden Jade Jewelry

William Su, Grand Hotel

Matt D. Viggiano, CouncilMember Margaret S. Chin’s office

Tony C. Wong, Wong & Co., CPA’s

Wellman Wu, Kam Man Food, Inc.

Jimmy Yan, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office

Chih-Ping Yu, Lin Sing Association

Other Class E Representatives:

Mary Cooley, Senator Daniel Squadron’s office

Karen He, Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver’s office

John K. Leo, Community Board #3

Michael Levine, Community Board #1

Iris Quinones, Hon. Nydia Velazquez

P.O. Nicky Teo, NYPD 7th Precinct

P.O. Sue Too, NYPD Community Affairs Bureau

Antony Wong, Community Board #2

Xiao Min Zhao, Council Member Margaret S. Chin’s office

Chinatown Partnership

Wellington Chen

Shu Mei Guan Chow Lamgen Leon

Tony Wong

Chinatown Property Owners with AALDEF declare victory over illegally imposed retroactive tax

Chinatown BID Interim Board minutes with Politician's representatives listed, 
Board member's names and suggested period to start taxing property owners.
CLICK HERE
"In September, the City Council passed the Chinatown BID law and the mayor also signed off of it, but it did not get final approvals from the State Comptroller until January, 2012, spokesperson Merideth Weber said. The amount to be charged for the fiscal year will be around $500,000 instead of $900,000 and property owners will be notified of the assessment being charged and how credit will be applied for those that did pay the fees, she said."   - the Village Voice,  Sam Levin


"[Wellington] Chen called the issue a "technicality," dismissing AALDEF's characterization of the BID fees as being "illegal."

"This is an accounting issue," Chen said. "It does not warrant wasting time and energy."

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120409/lower-east-side-east-village/city-refund-300k-chinatown-property-owners#ixzz1rn141L7U

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, in their analysis of the B.I.D. law, concluded that the B.I.D. cannot impose BID taxes on property owners PRIOR to the BID becoming a legal entity.
They also concluded that the BID was not formed at the time Mayor Bloomberg signed the BID into law ( apparently a popular belief among BID Board members and even its Exec. Dir.)  in Sept. 2011, but rather when it was signed by the State Comptroller and then finalized by Small Business Services in Jan. 31 2012.

According to the minutes provided by the Chinatown BID interim Board, Eddie Eng of Small Business Services advises the BID Board they have two choices in which to start the "funding" of the BID, either July 2011, or October 2011. The BID board supposedly voted unanimously to do the later, although this recently has been questioned by some on the BID Board itself.
MINUTES:

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Minutes of the Chinatown District Management Association (CDMA – aka BID) Meeting

February 2, 2012

4:00 – 5:30 PM

The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

62 Mott Street

New York NY 10013

CDMA Interim Board Members Present:

Jimmy Cheng, United Fujianese American Association

Kenneth Cheng, Fukien American Association

Nolan Cheng, Law Offices of Nolan Cheng

Peter Cheng, Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation

Priscilla Cheung, eRxCity Corporation

Stephen Cheung, D.H. Realty & Management

Anthony P. Colombini, Esq., Chu and Partners

Eddy Eng, Small Business Services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office

Frank F. Gee, Gee Poy Kuo Association

Dr. Wilson Ko, Multispecialty Physician Group

Philip Lam, Green City Realty

Meng Lao, representing Jack Eng, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

Peter Lau, Confucius Pharmacy

David J. Louie, David J. Louie, Inc.

Dr. Chun Ka Luk and Bernice Luk, Broadway Chinatown Realty

Gabe B. Mui, the American Legion Lt. B.R. Kimlau Memorial Post 1291

John Pasquale, PEP Realty

Michael Salzhauer, Benjamin Partners

Sio Wai Sang, Golden Jade Jewelry

William Su, Grand Hotel

Matt D. Viggiano, Council Member Margaret S. Chin’s office

Tony C. Wong, Wong & Co., CPA’s

Wellman Wu, Kam Man Food, Inc.

Jimmy Yan, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office

Chih-Ping Yu, Lin Sing Association

Other Class E Representatives:

Mary Cooley, Senator Daniel Squadron’s office

Karen He, Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver’s office

John K. Leo, Community Board #3

Michael Levine, Community Board #1

Iris Quinones, Hon. Nydia Velazquez

P.O. Nicky Teo, NYPD 7

th

Precinct

P.O. Sue Too, NYPD Community Affairs Bureau

Antony Wong, Community Board #2

Xiao Min Zhao, Council Member Margaret S. Chin’s office

Chinatown Partnership

Wellington Chen

Shu Mei Guan Chow

Lamgen Leon

Tony Wong

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The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m.

David Louie welcomed everyone and started the meeting off with a blessing performed by Tony C. Wong.

Members of the Interim Chinatown BID Board introduced themselves, and Mr. Louie asked everyone to

review the minutes from the last meeting that was already posted on the Chinatown BID’s website within

three days of the BID’s January meeting.

Clarification was made in that the Interim Board members listed on the minutes do not represent the

complete board, but just the members that were present at the last meeting.

Michael Salzhauer questioned the procedures of posting the minutes without the review and approval of the

board first as it is typically done. Both Mr. Louie and Wellington explained that they already posed this

question to the office of Council Member Chin, and the response was that it was the City Council’s ruling.

However, Council Member Chin’s representative, Matt Viggiano, will ask the City Council to review

whether to allow posting of the minutes within three business days after the Board’s approval as the standard

operating procedure.

Motion to approve the minutes of January 5, 2012 passed unanimously.

Eddy Eng reminded everyone that the BID needs to work on the Incorporation papers, the by-laws and the

Executive Committee needs to sign an agreement with the Chinatown Partnership, unless the BID hire an

Executive Director. He also reminded that the incorporation documents will need an organization name.

Wellington emphasized based on outreach feedbacks that the (real) final BID’s name needs to be diverse and

not offend or leave out anyone or sectors or industries, but we need a name for incorporation purpose for

now, and there will be a DBA under the official name similar to other BIDs.

After discussions on whether to choose either a cleaner or a lengthier name, the name of “CHINATOWN

DISTRICT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.” with a 15 to 9 vote was selected over “Chinatown

Business Improvement District Management Association, Inc.”

The By-laws Committee has been working very hard on the by-laws and will have a preliminary draft soon.

Presented for review was the “Draft Committee Survey” based on the preliminary feedback from the

previous meeting. Michael Levine asked the different between “Program Service Committee” and “Program

Development Committee”. Wellington explained that the latter one is basically the same as fundraising and

marketing. All these committees need to work alongside with the Chinatown Partnership as tandem.

Motion to change the “Program Development Committee” to “Fundraising and Marketing Committee”

passed unanimously.

Eddy Eng agreed to Co-Chair with Frank Gee the Fundraising and Marketing Committee. Peter Cheng also

announced that he would like to join and Chair the Nomination Committee.

Motion to approve all the Committees chairs as indicated in the “Draft Committee Survey” results pending

their acceptance passed unanimously.

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Treasurer Report

Tony Wong reported that the board needs to decide on the fiscal year and the billing date for the BID.

There are two options: 1) start the billing in July 1, 2011, when Chinatown Partnership started paying the

expenses for the BID; or 2) October 1, 2011 when the BID was officially approved and the Partnership

extended the service to the entire BID’s service area.

Eddy Eng mentioned that once the BID decided on the billing date, the property owners will receive the bill

in April, and once the BID’s bank account is set, the BID will receive 75% of $1.3 million dollars (the BID’s

budget), and 50% of the FY 2013’s Annual Budget by July 2012.

After all the considerations and discussions, the motion to approve the Chinatown District Management

Association’s fiscal year as July 1 to June 30; and start the DMA assessment billing on October 1, 2011,

passed unanimously.

Eddy Eng also suggested using a special occasion to announce the billing to the community and in a positive

way.

Acknowledgment of Chinatown Partnership

Wellington reported that the Chinatown partnership has been paying for all the BID’s expenses since July of

2011 and is now in a cash flow situation. The Partnership already laid-out more than $200,000 dollars for the

BID and cannot sustain forever in this fashion.

David Louie acknowledges all the works the Partnership’s board has done for the BID and suggested a

donation or reimbursement to the Partnership for the expenses they had incurred once the BID receives its

funding.

Motion to approve the reimbursement to the Chinatown Partnership of necessary and verifiable expenses

related to the BID from July 1, 2011 until the BID receives its own funding passed unanimously.

The interim Chinatown Business Improvement District Board of Directors includes these representatives:

-Alice Cancel, Comptroller John C. Liu's office

-Pauline Yu, Mayor's Community Assistant Unit

-Eddy Eng, Small Business Servies, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office

-Elizabeth DeLeon, Small Business Services

-Michael Melamed, Small Business Services

-Matt D Viggiano, Council Member Margaret S. Chin's office

-Xiao Min Zhao, Council Member Margaret S. Chin's office

-Jimmy Yan, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office

-Mary Cooley, Senator Daniel Squadron's Office

-Karen He, Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver's office

-John K Leo, Community Board # 3

-Michael Levine, Community Board # 1

-Iris Quinones, Hon. Nydia Velazquez

-P.O. Nicky Teo, NYPD 7th Precinct

-P.O. Sue Too, NYPD Community Affairs Bureau

-Antony Wong, Community Board #2

Once Trashed by Cyclists and Skateboarders Kim Lau Square is Now in Full Bloom Thanks to Chinatown Volunteers

            Local residents around Kim Lau Square have been working hard to reclaim their once peaceful park from menacing skateboarders and trick cyclists for the past several years. Volunteers Nancy Linday and Jeanie Chin, both residents of a nearby residential building led the effort in organizing nearly a dozen people to beautify and protect the Square. They hope the new plants will prevent the skaters from using planters as ramps, and create a more appropriate use of open space for locals and tourists to enjoy. The addition of more park benches, intentionally placed in the exact spot where skateboarders illegally cemented over the hand laid cobble stones to smooth surface so they could use it as a ramp, have curtailed the skateboarders use of Kim Lau square significantly. Residents worked closely with elected officials and the Parks Dept. to place the benches in the exact spots that would eliminate skateboard jumping and cycling.

Kim Lau Square planters before volunteers planted bulbs provided free of charge by 

Partnership For Parks

photo: CCRC  (click to enlarge photo)  Kim Lau Square planters April 2012, in full bloom.

 The benches were installed by the Parks Department after a tremendous amount of community advocacy and political will. 

photo: CCRC  (Click to enlarge photo)

Today the square is in full bloom thanks to the volunteers who, in an effort to preserve the beauty of Kim Lau Square, part of Chatham Square, joined together for a day of gardening and cleaning back in  November, 2011. 

photo: CCRC (click to enlarge)

Sing Tao Newspaper (click to enlarge photo)

They planted  various bulbs (all provided free of charge) over the course of a few hours with the guidance of Partnership For Parks, who provided tools, gloves and expertise to the novice garden volunteers.

Kim Lau Square today , photo CCRC (click to enlarge)

Kim Lau Square last August, photo: Downtown Express

Last August Downtown Express reported on the rogue cyclists and skateboarders trashing Kim Lau Square, which is home to the memorial arch dedicated to Ben Kim Lau and veterans of Chinese American decent.

C.C.R.C.'s volunteers and friends spent considerable time documenting the nearly complete take over the Square by obnoxious skateboarders and trick cyclists using the area as their private playground. 
Today the space is used by musicians, tourists and residents who can relax without the threat of a bicycle hitting them, or a skateboarder slamming into them.