According to the United Auto Merchants Association (UAMA), a nonprofit trade group, between 35 and 40 auto and auto-related businesses on Jerome Avenue have been displaced since the city’s 2018 rezoning of the corridor, and around 150 still operate.
As part of the 2018 Jerome Avenue rezoning deal, city officials committed $1.5 million in financial assistance for area merchants, intended to help relocate existing businesses that would be displaced. But officials have yet to issue any such grants, a City Limits investigation found.
Bronx Councilmember Vanessa Gibson introduced a bill to protect auto shops from bad leases, a measure that could be useful in the event of a rezoning.
The Pratt Center for Community Development argues that Mayor de Blasio’s proposed rezonings could displace auto-repair shops—a vital source of employment in immigrant communities.
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