This week we learned that Book Revue, Long Island's largest independent bookstore, and more importantly, a Huntington gem and institution, will soon be closing its doors forever.
The loss of Book Revue is yet another blow to Huntington families who are losing a cherished destination. After 17 months of Covid, we are now seeing "Vacancy" signs throughout our Main Streets. Each small business we lose feels like another lost piece of our identity and what makes Huntington such a special place to live.
It begs many questions -- mainly, where is the Town's small business strategy? The Town of Huntington received millions of dollars in federal aid from President Biden's relief bill. How are they using it to support Huntington's small businesses? How did it get to this point that a cherished business that draws revenue to Huntington from visitors across the region couldn't reach a compromise and continue to build its legacy? It's a symptom of a larger crisis: a lack of investment in our small businesses and a lack of strategic outreach in the community.
Letting an iconic Huntington institution fail does not demonstrate leadership.
As a candidate for Huntington Town Supervisor, I know we deserve better. That is why I have a five-point plan to support our small businesses and the community's desire to be co-designers in the future of our warm and cherished downtown.
I will immediately create a visioning process: a tour of business owners, listening to their needs in concert with our business improvement districts and chambers of commerce. The community is very concerned about losing an iconic institution to build more apartments that are unaffordable and take up already lacking parking spots. I would engage in a visioning process, revisiting the Town's master plan and looking at how to entice smart economic development that matches the character of Main Street and creates innovation for its future. Meetings with the community would be a key feature of this effort.
I will bring landlords from the towns' Main Streets together to talk about reenvisioning use of space and leases to match retail with food establishments and create a strategy to support retail's capacity to survive the Amazon/e-commerce universe.
I will work with philanthropy to bring technology grants to Main Street to develop shopping portals so that Huntington residents can shop online locally.
I will build a long-term downtown growth strategy that includes updating infrastructure and addressing the long needed parking solutions that have failed to be addressed and have worsened over the last few years.
I will recognize that remote operations changed the way people work and interact with the local economy and seek to identify flexible office space opportunities that meet emerging trends and support downtown businesses.
Huntington deserves a Main Street that builds memories and attracts visitors. We can't get there by closing our eyes and ignoring the challenges faced by our small businesses. If we aren't strategic and engaged, we will continue to lose the gems that make Huntington a destination.
We must use this moment to partner with our community and business leaders and support a small business strategy that builds on what makes Huntington such a special place and creates resiliency and innovation for our path forward.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Sanin
Candidate for Town Supervisor
