Face it – not all shopping strips are created equal.

Some strips boast cleaner streets, increased parking, better lighting and beefed-up security patrols – giving shoppers a greater sense of safety, while merchants reap the benefits of increased sales.

Just what is their secret? The merchants belong to a "BID" – a Business Improvement District.

From Steinway Street in Astoria to "downtown" Flushing, Myrtle Avenue, Jackson Heights and Jamaica, merchants have adopted the BID concept – an alliance of local businesses that agree to voluntarily raise their taxes and, using the surplus funds, develop a package of amenities that make the area a more desirable place to shop.

The first BID in the metropolitan area was brought about by Carlisle Towers, who, as executive director of the Jamaica Development Corporation, conceived a "Special Assessment District" in a strip of stores at 165th Street in Jamaica.

The time was the mid-1970s, and indoor malls were rapidly appearing in communities all over the country. Merchants who operate in the malls pay rent for space – and an additional charge for security, sanitation and other amenities.

Towers teamed up with Don Moore, then executive director of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Association, to determine how the "mall concept" could be adapted to outdoor shopping strips.

The pair found some of their answers in Minneapolis – where the first and only organized outdoor shopping strip was alive, and flourishing. Towers and Moore visited Nicolette Hall Towers, and headed back to Queens with an idea – which, once redesigned to fit the needs of stores citywide, caught on like wildfire.

The next challenge faced by Towers and Moore was formidable. New York State law required permission from Albany for any group seeking to levy additional taxes – such as those required for participation in the BID process. The pair cut through legislative red tape and shortly obtained special permission to develop the 165th Street Mall Association.

The idea caught on with politicians, and before long the State Assembly and State Senate passed a blanket law that made the development of Special Assessment Districts – or BIDS – much easier to achieve.

There are seven Business Improvement Districts in Queens, privately funded, not-for-profit corporations that levy the taxes, above the standard municipal taxes, on local businesses. To develop a BID, a majority of local merchants must agree on the additional taxes.

The monies are channeled to a new corporation that manages the area, seeing to it that security, sanitation, lighting, etc., are improved and maintained along the strip. The funds are also used to promote the area through print and TV ads; holiday lights and decorations; and graffiti removal.

The record shows that shopping strips where BIDS are in place are more stable – there is less turnover of shops and retail stores. In addition, business is booming along the strips, where the changes have made a considerable difference.

Critics argue that the BIDS give the city a way out of providing essential services to the shopping strips.

Not so, say merchants who believe the BID concept allows them to take matters into their own hands. Such privatization works, merchants said, keeping local shoppers shopping locally, and drawing others to an area for specialized services.