The 47th Street Business Improvement District (BID) annual public meeting was held on Monday July 19th, and was attended by a few dozen members of the local diamond district community.

Keynote speaker John Liu (NYC Comptroller) explained that the 47th St. BID is one of the city's smallest BIDs geographically, yet it contributes an outsized proportion of the city's economy. "It is estimated that 95% of jewelry imported into the USA makes its way through this district," said Liu, adding that this provides employment to 25,000 people in roughly 3,000 businesses.

At the meeting several improvements were forthcoming: BID President Harvey Nagin announced that new security cameras would be installed on 47th Street within the next two months. These cameras were necessary for the safety of pedestrians as well as shopkeepers and would assist law enforcement greatly.

Executive Director Michael Grumet explained that the BID was formed in 1997 after an Economic Impact Survey was done on the Diamond District in 1992. However, since 1992 there has been no subsequent Economic Impact Survey done for the District to provide the city with accurate and updated data regarding the importance of the Diamond District to the economy. Grumet announced that approval was just given last week to conduct and fund a new Impact Survey. Such a project had not been done for almost 20 years due to the $100,000 cost - which is being sponsored in full by the Empire State Development Corporation (The New York City Office which promotes economic development).

Additionally, appreciation awards were presented to Bill DeBlasio (NYC Public Advocate), Anthony Weiner (US Congressman) and Leon Fonfa (NYC Small Business Services) for their assistance to the Diamond District.