By DAVID CRUZ

Joe Thompson sat at the Rainbow Diner, his regular 24-hour eatery, ordering “the usual” black cup of coffee. Normally, it’s a quick stop before his daily walkthrough along the White Plains Road Business Improvement District, where he serves as its executive director.

It’s a walk reminiscent of the days when he was a beat cop in the 1970s, weeding out vagrants while also spotting any eyesores. This time it’s trash and graffiti-laden shutters that he spots along the BID, taking mental notes of any infractions that can hurt the commercial strip.

But Thompson veered off his regular Wednesday morning routine, walking instead around the corner and to a new supermarket at a site that was once a pornography theater. He saluted the new owner, Rafael Montes, an entrepreneur taking a chance on the BID.

“Now that’s a new addition,” said Thompson. “That’s a big addition.”

New Stores, New Image
And with that, the White Plains Road BID of today is not the White Plains Road BID of yesterday. It’s a good thing as far as Thompson’s concerned. To the neighborhood’s credit, the borough’s smallest BID has garnered attention from big chains such as Verizon, TD Bank, and Planet Fitness. Its name recognition counterbalances with small businesses ingrained in the community, such as BX Sports, Good & Natural, and Creston Optical, offering shoppers a balance between shopping big and shopping small.

But a half-dozen, low-end stores in the BID have lately been boarded, a signal that rents are gradually increasing.

The Vitality of Community
But Thompson delves into the trend deeper. He sees it as a sign of an overall healthy neighborhood, drawing parallels to the relationship between a neighborhood and its line of stores.

“You can tell the neighborhood and the income bracket of the neighborhood just by looking at the store,” said Thompson, adding that income values have indeed risen in the area.

His thoughts on the community are fitting. While he’s not lobbying politicians for more Christmas lights or ordering illegal street vendors to get lost, Thompson also serves as the president of the 49th Precinct Community Council and is a member of Community Board 11, taking the pulse of the neighborhood from a civic angle.

Roughly 88 businesses canvas the blue collar neighborhood of White Plains Road, between Pelham Parkway South and Brady Avenue—the BID’s borders. Before forming in 1994, the BID was known by many names, including the Pelham Parkway Merchants Association, Pelham Parkway Local Development Corporation and later the White Plains Road District Management Association.

A spectrum of backgrounds, including the largest Albanian population in the city, have added to the flavor of the area.  They’ve raised families, assimilating enough to open nearby brick and mortars.

And the chance is a vote of confidence for the Pelham Parkway commercial corridor, one where its downward trend has faded to make way for a more vibrant strip free of “3 for $10” T-shirt operations. Thompson compares the movement to that of a roller coaster. And this time the BID is riding to the top.

“It hasn’t reached where it was,” he said, “but it’s going in that direction.”

The trend is bolstered by a low crime rate, a nexus of transportation alternatives, and its proximity to neighboring cultural institutions, such as the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo.

Foreseeing the Future
Thompson appears to be thinking ahead. He’s added plenty of items to his wish list—surveillance cameras for the corridor to deter taggers, removal of rusty tree grates, and cleaner store awnings.

Because BIDs rely heavily on property tax assessments imposed on the district’s property owners, the White Plains Road BID’s assessments have remained largely limited given the small size of the district. But the BID could very well double its size should they annex the neighboring Lydig Avenue shopping strip, a corridor comprised virtually of all small businesses such as 99 cent stores, fruit markets, a Key Food Supermarket, and dry cleaners.

The move would increase the BID’s capital, earmarked for perks that include sanitation, graffiti removal and advertising services. Thompson remained mum on any effort, simply confirming that the BID is weighing the idea.

Still, whether the BID’s board of directors pursues the Lydig Avenue option is not a deal breaker to the success of the district. The metrics of low crime, transportation access and quality stores can certainly encourage more businesses.

“Come back here in five years and you’re going to see a huge difference,” said Thompson.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.