By Gus Saltonstall
The Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District (BID) has existed in the neighborhood since 1987, serving as a community organization that looks to lend a helping hand when it comes to local beautification, public safety, sanitation, increased commercial activity, and more.
The BID, which stretches along Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues from West 96th to 110th streets, has been headed by Peter Arndtsen since 1998.
Arndtsen is a bit of an Upper West Side staple. Over the years, neighbors might spot him putting out barricades for the BID’s Open Streets program, or participating in his role on the Upper West Side’s Community Board 7, or helping to lead the 20th Precinct’s community sessions.
Arndtsen retired at the end of 2023 after 28 years as executive director of the Columbus Amsterdam BID.
Stepping in to succeed Arndtsen? Daniel Bernstein.
Bernstein enters the job with his own wealth of experience leading BIDs across the city. He has been a small business owner, loves playing pool, and has a new-found appreciation for the Thai food in the Manhattan Valley area.
West Side Rag interviewed Bernstein about his new position in the neighborhood, and what he sees as the future of the BID.
WSR: Peter was the longtime leader of the BID and is an entrenched figure in the community. Will he be helping in your transition into the job?
Daniel Bernstein: Those are large shoes to fill. One thing I find helpful is that we’re overlapping. He’s retiring at the end of the year, and I know him prior to this — so I think that helps. Peter is the mayor of the neighborhood, when he walks around there are people that wave at him even if they don’t know his name, or he doesn’t know theirs, because they recognize him.
Peter lives in the neighborhood. He is going to stay involved. I definitely don’t see Peter going away. And, one thing I’ve found helpful, I’ve met lots of people in this neighborhood that have been extremely welcoming and inviting — a lot more so than the other neighborhoods I’ve worked in.
Bernstein, who was born and raised in Manhattan, is not new to leading a Business Improvement District. He served in executive management positions at both the Fordham Road BID in the Bronx from 2005 to 2022, and at the Madison Avenue BID on the Upper East Side from 1996 to 2005.
WSR: What are your priorities for the Columbus Amsterdam BID in the coming year as you get acquainted with the job?
Daniel Bernstein: I’m going to be evaluating everything that is happening here. Things have been done a certain way for a long time, so I’m focused on coming in and evaluating. But, I do plan to add a lot more marketing programs and events for the members, which consist of both property owners and business owners.
I especially want to focus on promoting the businesses a little more in the coming year.
WSR: How do you think managing a BID on the Upper West Side will be different than your previous stops?
Daniel Bernstein: Here it is totally different. It is a tight-knit community where the residents are a lot more involved in the BID than at my previous jobs. I think a lot of that has to do with the Open Streets program that we do.
Fordham Road is extremely commercial, there are not many residents. Madison Avenue is a totally different neighborhood as well. It is a luxury shopping destination with lots of stores that are large, international retailers. Here, we have a mix of that, but here we have something very exciting, we have 160 different restaurants in the BID.
With my background as a small business owner, I want to work to promote the eateries much more than what we’re currently doing.
One thing I’ve learned from moving around and owning my own business on the Lower East Side is how to navigate the city. The city can be extremely confusing at times for small business owners, and my past helps me in terms of acting as a liaison for local businesses with the city. I know how to explain processes to them in terms they understand.
When it came to specific new initiatives for the BID, Bernstein listed creating a mapping system of the whole neighborhood, working to improve a local restaurant association by adding in more discounts, and doing a drive to boost the organization’s membership.
WSR: How much are you planning to work with other nearby BIDs and neighborhood groups, as well as expand on your successful Open Streets program?
Daniel Bernstein: I’ll be looking to work with other groups constantly. That’s actually a large part of what I’m trying to do. Our holiday party we partnered with Bloomingdale School of Music and a whole bunch of other local sponsors.
Our Open Street program is great at times, but there’s a period where it is kind of empty because we don’t have set activities. That’s something I have somebody working on, to set activities for the entire year, one of which will be ping pong tournaments. I’ve also been working a lot with the NYPD to put together a workshop with the restaurants in the BID to talk about crime protection because I don’t think we’ve done lots of that here.”
Bernstein grew up in Manhattan but currently lives in Cold Spring, New York, with his two kids, an English Bulldog named Bronx, and a cat called Tornado. He commutes daily into the Manhattan Valley neighborhood. He is also an avid pool player and a former NYPD auxiliary police officer.
WSR: So, what have been your favorite spots within and about the Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District?
Daniel Bernstein: I’m a big supporter of Spice, the Thai food spot. Thai Market is also really good. I grew up on the east side in East Harlem. I actually used to come over here a lot back in the day and it is totally different from what it was in the 1980s. One thing I love about this neighborhood is the tight- knit community. Locals know what the BID is, and that is compared to a lot of places where I was before where they didn’t know the local BID.
I find that extremely awesome.
You can find out more about the Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District on its website.
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Can we have you all expand down 72nd street? I think there’s a lot of value to putting that stretch into the same BID as Columbus.
Um – there is a BID that covers the area you are thinking of: https://www.columbusavenuebid.org. I don’t blame you for not knowing this, as they certainly don’t keep the area clean.
The Lincoln Square BID keeps our area nice and clean. But it doesn’t run up as high as 72.
The Lincoln Square BID does a fantastic job.
He doesn’t live in the city? Isn’t that odd?
I agree, it seeems odd that a BID would be led by someone not living in or owning a business in the BID (commuting daily into the BID for the purpose of a BID leader job does not count). Formerly living in NYC, recently discovering Thai food in the BID, and fondly remembering visiting the BID in the 1980s are not qualifications. He appears to be a professional BID leader. Is running a BID a paid profession/career track? What did he accomplish at the other BIDs? Why did he leave them? Did the BID members elect him, or how was he chosen? Please WSR shed some light on this curious profession and selection.
He was born and raised on the Upper East Side and moved to Cold Spring when he married and had children. So he has forty-eight years in Manhattan.
Thank you, Peter, for all you do. Always a pleasure to say hello to and catch up on local doings. All best to you and your family!
Good luck, Daniel!
Very informative! Hope the BID will continue and expand their support for the Open Streets program
” …or helping to lead the 20th Precinct’s community sessions.” The BID is in the 24 Precinct, which runs from the north side of 86 Street to 110 Street. The 20 Precinct runs from 59 Street to the south side of 86 Street.