After years of organizing, the Throgs Neck Business Improvement District is officially up and running, and it has a new executive director at the helm.

The group held an unofficial meeting to kick off Bob Jaen's first official day on the job.

The new executive director of the Throgs Neck BID is committed to revitalizing the neighborhood and its more than 230 businesses.

“We want to get the vacant stores full, we want to get new businesses in there, we got a lot of different restaurants opening, a lot of new people coming into the neighborhood, and that's what we want to encourage, everybody to come back,” says chairman Anthony Bosso.

A goal that merchant leaders in the community had in mind when they set out to form the BID five years ago.

"I felt that it was essential to have a do over, a makeover," says Steve Kaufman, legal counsel for Throgs Neck BID.

Since the BID'S creation last June, Jaen was working behind the scenes alongside board members, before he was unanimously chosen for his new role last week.

The BID aims to bring more frequent cleaning to East Tremont Avenue, develop apps aimed at keeping businesses and customers safe and secure sponsorships from local shops to light up 20 trees along the stretch. He says they also hope to get new lights at a lower cost for the neighborhood's annual Christmas tree.

“We have to advertise, we have to give people outside a reason to come in and so part of the advertising is beautifying,” says Jaen.

On the agenda for the former president of the Throgs Neck Merchants Association and 40-year resident of the neighborhood is new street lights that should be installed in April, getting security cameras to watch over the area and finding a fix for the parking problem. 

“We want them to know that there's nothing we won't do, to make our neighborhood safer, a better place to bring your family. We're like a train now with no brakes,” says Jaen.