2026 Annual Meeting
The BID and its board of directors cordially invite you to our 2026 Annual Meeting
Learn about the progress of our projects and updates of what we have accomplished this past year and what we have planned for this coming year.
RSVP will close at 8am on Wednesday November 4th
If you are a Commercial Property Owner, Property Manager, Property Representative, Commercial Tenant or Resident within the BID boundaries of West 96th -West 110th Street along Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, please make sure to register to become a BID Member. Those who are not registered will not be able to vote.
Board Members Running for Election/ReElection
Class A (Property Owner):
David Mackenna 991 Amsterdam Avenue
Ana Juarbe is a resident and shareholder of Harambee Housing Development Funding Corporation. From 1986 to 1988 as a member of Harambee, Ana's family was part of HPD’s Homesteading Program which required participation in the construction of her apartment and the common areas. Despite the difficult work she is grateful for the program and has been living there since 1988.
Previous work has allowed her to collaborate with many community groups and families providing information about healthcare coverage and other programs. She looks forward to sharing her experience and skills with the Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District Board.
Robin Baez
Manhattan Valley Development Corp.
Robin Baez has served as the Executive Director of Manhattan Valley Development Corporation (MVDC) and Manhattan Valley Management Company, Inc. since 2015. Since its founding in 1968, MVDC has developed over 1300 units of affordable housing in the Manhattan Valley community, and MVMC currently manages nearly 800 units of that affordable housing in the Manhattan Valley community. Prior to coming to MVDC, Robin was a Paralegal for MVDC’s attorney, Martin McCarthy, for 22 years before he retired in 2015. Robin grew up on the Upper West Side and resided in the Manhattan Valley community for 21 years before relocating to New Jersey. She has served on the BID’s Board of Directors since 2015.
Class B (Commercial Tenent):
Victor Martinez
985 Amsterdam Avenue
Jennifer is a local community member, cultural worker (with El Taller Latino Americano), and artist who has lived on Amsterdam Avenue since 2005 and raised her son here. Since the early 2010s, her academic, cultural, and artistic projects have largely centered on the Bloomingdale/Manhattan Valley neighborhood. Jennifer’s work has allowed her to partner closely with the Columbus-Amsterdam BID, presenting art, music, and workshops (with El Taller) during Bloomingdale Family Days (a pre-COVID tradition) and recently during Open Streets, in addition to the large-scale Good Neighbors installation at Anibal Aviles Playground, and the Bloomingdale Medallions project.
Jennifer’s roots in this neighborhood run deep. The apartment she lives in was purchased by her husband, Bernardo Palombo, in 1986 from his brother, Jorge Palombo - the original Sweat Equity Homesteader for the building. Jorge worked at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) at that time (1976-1984), helping low-income and working-class New Yorkers become homeowners during the worst part of New York City’s fiscal crisis. Their building, 985 Amsterdam, was part of a historic group of five Amsterdam Avenue buildings: 985 (Merengue Gaucho), 987 (Nation Builders), 989 (La Lucha), 991 (Harambee), and 993 (Roaring Thunder) that were all brought into UHAB’s Sweat Equity program at the same time.
It would be an honor for Jennifer to bring her deep neighborhood ties, creative perspective, and commitment to community sustainability to the next level by serving on the Board of Directors of the Columbus-Amsterdam BID.