New Business Acceleration Team

Updated: Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

New restaurants, bars, bakeries and butcher shops may be eligible for a new, streamlined program from the New Business Acceleration Team (NBAT)

New restaurants, bars, bakeries and butcher shops may be eligible for a new, streamlined program from the New Business Acceleration Team (NBAT). This program will make it possible for entrepreneurs to open their doors more quickly and help businesses get the answers and services they need. With approximately 3,200 new restaurants opening annually, New York City restaurants are a visible and valuable part of the City’s neighborhoods that employ over 260,000 people.

As part of the program, NBAT works with qualifying businesses to schedule and coordinate most required inspections. Such inspections include, but are not limited to, those conducted by the New York City Fire Department, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Buildings, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

+1 212 788 6722 tel +1 212 788 6834 fax

NEW BUSINESS ACCELERATION TEAM

THE IDEAL PARTICIPANT:

1. Restaurants, bars, bakeries or butcher shops seating 50 people or less

2. Qualifying bars must serve food.

3. The applicant should not be performing heavy alteration work to their space.

WHAT TO DO AND EXPECT:

1. If your business qualifies for the program, an introductory meeting will be scheduled, preferably at your site, to review permit and license requirements.

2. After work has been completed and requirements satisfied, you can contact NBAT to request an inspection which will be conducted within one week.

3. If your business passes its inspection, your business will be ready to open. If your business does not pass its inspection, you will be notified immediately of what issues must be corrected and a re-inspection date assigned.

BUSINESS OWNERS INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE NBAT PROGRAM CAN CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT NBAT@NBAT.NYC.GOV OR CALL 3-1-1 AND ASK FOR NEW BUSINESS ACCELERATION TEAM OR NBAT.

+1 212 788 6722 tel +1 212 788 6834 fax

1 Centre Street, Room 1012N New York, NY 10007

Pull: Music to your ears…and eyes

Updated: Monday, June 28th, 2010

Ever wonder where the catchy jingles for iPhone, MTV and Gatorade commercials are created?

In Hudson Square, of course!

Our district is the proud home of PULL, a full-service music production company founded by executive producer Scott Brittingham and composer Mitch Davis.  Together this two-man team composes, records and produces original music for film, television, and recording artists.

Over the course of the decade PULL has been making music at 68 King Street in Hudson Square, while watching the neighborhood evolve.  “I think the biggest stand out so far has been the overall improvement of the sidewalks with the addition of trees and more weekend foot traffic,” Scott commented.

The co-founders consider creativity to be the driving force behind their company, making the Hudson Square community a perfect fit for PULL.  Scott and Mitch knew from the beginning that their neighboring advertising agencies, editing companies and public relations firms would play a crucial role in the development and strength of PULL.  It is amongst these forward-thinking companies that PULL continues to produce music for their roster of big-name clients including VH1, AT&T and Reeses – to name a few.

Five Questions with Beggars Group

Updated: Monday, June 28th, 2010

The Beggars Group, which includes XL Recordings, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records and 4AD, is one of the world’s largest and most respected label groups, and is completely independent. In 1976 Martin Mills founded Beggars Banquet, the original flagship label. The debut release was a single by a punk band called “The Lurkers,” and subsequent releases by Gary Numan helped put the label on the map. Over the years, many of the world’s finest labels have joined the fold, and the groups’ artists, such as the New Pornographers, MIA, The Big Pink, Jarvis Cocker, Vampire Weekend, Cat Power, the morning benders and Blonde Redhead, have achieved both commercial success and wide critical acclaim.  This year The Beggars Group US has enjoyed incredible success with Vampire Weekend’s recent album, Contra debuting at an unprecedented (for an indie label) #1 followed by the National’s latest, High Violet entering the charts it’s first week at #3.

Q:   How has the company evolved over the years?

A:  Located at 304 Hudson Street, we moved to Hudson Square in 2007.  We have gone from an office of eight people in Soho nine years ago to an office of 36 currently (plus we recently opened a Los Angeles office with three people).

Q: Where do you see Beggar’s Group in 10 years and how will Hudson Square play a part in this growth?

A: We see ourselves in the same space but with additional sq. footage, perhaps adding employees or expanding our warehouse capacity. Sky is the limit.

Q: How does Hudson Square contribute to your creative business and future plans?

A: Well, we do a ALOT of lunchtime and after work brainstorming sessions at the EAR INN. Seriously, we appreciate the location as it’s close enough to downtown and the clubs where our bands play and near other creative companies that we deal with daily. It is removed enough to not have to deal with the insanity that is Soho or the East Village. Also, the office is perfectly located for transportation options when we need to get ourselves uptown for a meeting or event. Our bands and managers love how accessible our office is to visit and how conveniently located it is for downtown hanging.

Q: With Hudson Square beginning to stand out as its own area, what are you most excited to see happen here?

A: We’d be excited to see even more creative companies move into the area. It would be great if more services opened up like more lunch options, maybe a parking lot of food trucks. How incredible would Calexico burrito or Mud Truck in Hudson Square be? It would be great to see more bike racks so more people can arrive to work in the neighborhood by bike.

Q: If you had to describe Hudson Square to someone unfamiliar with the area what would you say?

A: Ever-evolving, far-west neighborhood situated between West Village and Tribeca filled with great creative companies and growing cooler by the day.

Q: Describe some of the new and interesting projects that are coming out of your office

A: We are working with bands from all over the world but we are very excited about many of our New York bands that have released amazing album this year (The New Pornographers) or have one coming up this year (Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, Blonde Redhead, The Morning Benders, The National, Interpol,  Ratatat).  We get to have them stop by the office regularly, go out for afterwork drinks in the hood, etc

Meet the neighbors…

Updated: Friday, April 2nd, 2010

The NYU-Poly Incubator found its home here in the district at 160 Varick Street in August 2009.  The city’s only clean-technology-oriented incubator provides space and start-up capital to nearly 100 entrepreneurs in fields ranging from e-finance to clean energy research looking to jump start their businesses in an environment constantly generating new ideas and support.

Some of the companies who call the Incubator and Hudson Square home include:

• Ecological, LLC; Transformational agent for sustainability.  Ecological monitors, assesses, and improves sustainability performance across real estate portfolios.
• Torch Films NYC; Global fund management firm for film, production, and distribution
• Buzzr; Website building platform allowing non-technical individuals to build sophisticated sites that are deeply integrated with social media
• Nude Bar; Undergarment brand providing women of color with garment options

HR Breakfast

Updated: Monday, March 22nd, 2010

On March 3, the Human Resources staff from twenty of the area’s biggest firms met over breakfast in the Edelman offices at 250 Hudson Street to talk about their visions for the future of Hudson Square.  In attendance were representatives from local businesses WNYC, Edelman, Ehrenkrantz Echstut & Kuhn, Atlantic Philanthropies, Euro RSCG, Project Renewal, Porter Novelli, and Getty Images among others, as well as representatives from Horizon Media and Everyday Health, who will be newcomers to the neighborhood within the next year.   Food was provided by Hudson Square’s own Deb of, well, Deb’s at 200 Varick.

The morning was a great success.   People were excited to meet each other and to say hello to those they already knew.  Everyone agreed that the HR folks are a great conduit for us to spread the word about what’s going on in the neighborhood.  Some great ideas emerged and we’ll be getting back to the group and posting new programs on our website as we follow up.