BROOKLINE, MA — If it seems there are more empty storefronts around town, that's because the town's storefront vacancy rate is higher now than it was during the 2008 recession.
According to the annual storefront vacancy survey this fall, 11.9 percent of storefronts were vacant, up from 10 percent the year before. By way of comparison, the town's vacancy rate at the height of the 2008 recession was around 7 percent.
"It is the highest that Brookline's vacancy rate has been in over a decade and perhaps in recent memory," Economic Development and Long-Term Planner Meredith Mooney told the Select Board last week.
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De Blasio Announces Extension of Open Storefronts Program | The Forum Newsgroup
"Open Storefronts has given business owners an easy way to maximize their space and keep customers safe as they shop. And by introducing restaurants into the program, we're giving local eateries more ways than ever to keep their communities vibrant," Mayor de Blasio said.
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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced the Open Storefronts program, which permits storefront businesses to use a portion of their sidewalk to display merchandise, sell goods, complete transactions, and provide queuing areas, will be extended through Sept. 30, 2021. The mayor announced the program will also allow businesses to sell pre-packaged food on sidewalks, and allow restaurants to use sidewalks for take-out orders.
Building maintenance code ires local business owners | News, Sports, Jobs - Morning Journal
LISBON — Count local barber Brian Davis among business owners angry over being targeted under the building maintenance code.
Davis, who operates Brian’s Barbershop on West Lincoln Way, told the Journal he received a letter Wednesday from the village zoning inspector advising him his building was in violation of the building maintenance code. First passed in 2018, it requires property owners in the downtown business district to maintain their building facades and, if the storefront is vacant, make some attempt to find a tenant or sell the building.
Storefront style | News, Sports, Jobs - Shepherdstown Chronicle
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Mayor De Blasio Extends NYC’s ‘Open Storefronts’ Program Through September 2021
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Struggling businesses in New York City are being offered another chance to expand their footprint.
For Ann Cantrell, the owner of Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store in Brooklyn , the pandemic has changed the way they do business. So, when the city announced the Open Storefronts program in late October, she was on board.
“It was such a great option to have. We were able to connect with customers and not worry about capacity issues as much,” Cantrell told CBS2’s Kevin Rincon.
Lucerne Hotel, Vacant Storefronts, COVID: 2020 UWS Year In Review | Upper West Side, NY Patch
UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — It was a year that started reasonably typical — familiar topics like community board meetings, Riverside park expansions, and questions over why the city hadn't seen any snow yet.
This strange phenomenon called the "coronavirus" was not yet at the forefront of Upper West Siders' minds.
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A once-in-a-century pandemic, a reckoning over race and policing, massive economic disruptions, and a contentious presidential race all made 2020 a year Upper West Siders and the world will not soon forget.
Torrington woman shifts careers due to COVID, opens fudge shop
TORRINGTON — After a 20-year career in the hotel industry was put on an abrupt hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kristy Barto decided to put her chocolate-making hobby to use and has started selling the sweets.
The Nutmeg Fudge Company, which occupied a pop-up store at 11 Main St. since November, will move in March to a permanent location at 20 E. Main St. It will move into the space previously occupied by Hatfield & Co Jewelers, which recently closed.
City Looking for Artists to Create Temporary Art Installations in Vacant Storefronts about WeHo
Walking or driving through the commercial areas of West Hollywood, it's impossible not to notice all the vacant stores with For Lease signs in them.
The City of West Hollywood is attempting to beautify those empty store fronts and also bring attention to properties that are for rent by creating temporary art exhibitions in those store windows via a program called Windows of WeHo (WoW).
The WoW program hopes to have full-scale window installations or other inventive storefront art exhibitions in vacant stores all across town by late spring. That's also about the time that it is hoped enough people will be vaccinated and an economic recovery can truly get underway.
Happening on Twitter
Tom Brady's sprawling Brookline mansion has been sold https://t.co/Bch07P10RM BostonGlobe (from Boston, MA) Fri Jan 01 18:57:48 +0000 2021
At approximately 4:15 pm fire at 16 Hamilton Road in Brookline on the 3rd floor .A second alarm has been ordered. https://t.co/NrVW9Ahh91 BostonFire (from Boston, Massachusetts) Mon Dec 28 21:43:40 +0000 2020
Thick black smoke fills the sky as Boston and Brookline Fire battle the blaze. https://t.co/0PkZUMkSOR BostonFire (from Boston, Massachusetts) Mon Dec 28 21:55:08 +0000 2020
My heart is with the friends, families and colleagues of Shannon Lowney and Leanne Nichols, and all the health cent… https://t.co/rjCL8FOSUO MassAGO (from Massachusetts) Wed Dec 30 19:00:01 +0000 2020
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