BEDC LAUNCHES "DESTINATION BROOKLYN":
FREE BROOKLYN REAL ESTATE & DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON WEB

BROOKLYN, NY-October 10, 2003-Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) is pleased to announce the creation of Destination Brooklyn, an interactive Web-based map that offers detailed real estate and demographic information for every property and neighborhood in Brooklyn. The map can be accessed at BEDC's Web site at www.BEDC.org.

"Destination Brooklyn will make it easier for companies to do business in Brooklyn by providing them with the information they need to locate or expand their operations in the borough," said Margaret Nelson, BEDC's director of Real Estate. "We believe that this Web site is an important economic development tool that will help drive investment and business and contribute to employment growth in all of Brooklyn's neighborhoods."

Ms. Nelson said BEDC created the Destination Brooklyn interactive map to address the inquiries the agency routinely receives from small businesses seeking real estate and zoning information about Brooklyn properties. The site does not list properties that are for sale or lease.

By entering in a Brooklyn address or tax lot number, Destination Brooklyn provides:
- Information about that Brooklyn property, including its owner, zoning designation, and block and lot number.
- A link to the New York City Department of Finance Web site, which provides more details about the property.
- Information about support services in the area surrounding the property, such as whether it is located in a Business Improvement District, Empire Zone, or Local Development Corporation area.
- Contact information for elected officials and community boards representing the property.

By zooming in to any Brooklyn neighborhood, Destination Brooklyn provides:
- The locations of business assistance organizations.
- Radius-based demographic data derived from the 2000 Census, including population, ethnicity, age, education level, and household income.
- Significant points of interest including subway lines, commercial corridors, major landmarks such as cultural institutions, and vacant land surrounding the property.

The benefits to small firms, start-ups, and even businesses located outside of Brooklyn include:
- Free access to demographic and real estate information, much of which has been compiled from publicly available local and federal government reports.
- Individualized, geographically-based real estate information.
- Easy to use site.
- Easy to interpret data.
- Information that is critical to making informed site decisions.

Destination Brooklyn has been funded with a planning grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. It was developed for BEDC by the Community Mapping Assistance Project (CMAP), which was created in 1997 as a venture of the New York Public Interest Research Group Fund, Inc., a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that is New York State's largest consumer, environmental and government reform organization. CMAP's mission is to strengthen nonprofit, philanthropic, and public service organizations by providing affordable access to computer mapping and other data visualization technologies. More information is available at www.nonprofitmaps.org. CMAP used ESRI and Microsoft software to create the online map, along with data provided in-kind from Space Track, Inc.

BEDC, a private, nonprofit organization, was established in 1979 to stimulate Brooklyn's economy and create job opportunities for the borough and its residents. BEDC has evolved into a multi-service, business-consulting agency, serving more than 1,000 clients annually and offering comprehensive economic development services.