Lower East Side Partnership holds annual meeting

The Lower East Side Partnership is celebrating 30 years of improving the neighborhood and the quality of life for businesses, residents, and visitors alike.   

At its 2023 annual meeting at Essex Pearl, a seafood restaurant inside the Market Line, on Sept. 26, the not-for-profit economic and community development organization gave its members a review of fiscal year 2023 and a look at what lies ahead. 

Tim Laughlin, president of the Lower East Side Partnership, led through the meeting, which also included the approval of bylaw amendments and the annual election of the board of directors. 

Laughlin pointed out that the Lower East Side Partnership’s concept was “unique in the business improvement district world.”

The organization provides marketing and promotions for businesses and sanitation, beautification, and public space improvements. The focus on residential quality of life, Laughlin said, set the stage for economic growth and vitality throughout the community. 

Laughlin said the sanitation team picked up over 20,000 trash bags in fiscal year 2023 and removed nearly 3,500 graffiti and 3,000 stickers.

“If you walk around the neighborhood, you’ll know stickers and graffiti are not your friends if you are a sanitation worker in our community,” Laughlin said. “And it’s really a credit to our team to try our best to keep up with the unique nature of the Lower East Side in that regard.” 

An uptick in crime, graffiti and homelessness

David Zarin, a member of the board of directors, said the Lower East Side has seen an uptick in crime, homelessness,  and graffiti since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The amount of crime, the amount of visible homelessness, the amount of graffiti has exploded,” Zarin, whose family has owned Zarin Fabrics on Allen Street for 87 years, said.

Vanessa Jones-Hall, NYPD community ambassador for Patrol Borough Manhattan South, said the NYPD was looking into how to best “combat” graffiti. 

“It’s something…