A small team of city ambassadors or guides could begin fanning out across downtown Rochester by early fall.
The planned afternoon and evening service is the latest demonstration of what a special downtown taxing district might do. These so-called business improvement districts can supplement municipal investment with added plantings, maintenance, events and more.
Ambassadors are, by some accounts, the most important of these added services, providing a welcome, friendly face, and greater sense of safety. Similar programs exist in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, San Francisco, Portland, Maine, Athens and Georgia, to name a few.
Officials liken the ambassadors to a roaming concierge service, assigned to specific areas or zones, such as around hotels and the convention center, around Main Street and the Riverway, and major attractions like the Strong National Museum of Play, where Steve Dubnik is president and CEO.
"This is not a private security force, it's not intended to be,” Dubnik said. “It is someone to provide greeting, wayfinding, promotions, guidance for parking and other things.”
The idea of a private security team rousting the homeless and others deemed undesirable from the Center City has been one of the main fears of critics opposed to a Business Improvement District, or BID.
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Dubnik also is board chairman of the nonprofit Rochester Downtown Development Corp., or RDDC, which is backing the idea. Planning for the BID continues with officials yet to map out the boundaries, survey property owners to determine their support, and determine what added services or functions it might support downtown.
A recent meeting before the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency board was joined by major downtown developers like Andy Gallina and Ken Glazer.
RDDC would oversee the program, and contract with an outside agency to hire and train the ambassadors. The public-private undertaking would be a one-year demonstration project, relying heavily on the city and county for funding.
Mayor Malik Evans is supportive and is expected to ask City Council approval to help fund the effort in the coming weeks. COMIDA already pledged $300,000 toward the estimated $600,000 budget needed to operate.
There is urgency in moving ahead, Gallina told the COMIDA board, adding that he hopes to see the downtown ambassadors on the street in 60 days.
Officials say the downtown workforce is half what it was before the pandemic, as many continue to opt for working from home. Pedestrian traffic is down 30%. But the Museum of Play just opened a major expansion, and is actively marketing to Toronto, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Constellation Brands’ headquarters is expected to open in spring 2024.
“With all the things that are happening in the city, the positive things, we expect those numbers to continue to increase,” Dubnik said of visitors, residents and workers. “And we want to make sure we're prepared to welcome them and help people learn how to get around.”
BID proponents have sought to distance this ambassador effort from an earlier program, discontinued in 2015, that employed retired and off-duty police officers. The “red shirts,” as they were known, provided a hospitality function with a security edge. Officials stress this group will call police if they see a need, but that is not their focus.
“A program like this, we feel would really add to kind of a ‘boots on the ground’ customer service base that we're kind of lacking at this point,” said James Brown, executive director for the downtown convention center.
Speaking to the county economic development board, he also referenced all the “great things that are happening downtown.”
“But folks, we shouldn't fool ourselves,” he continued. “We have a number of challenges, mainly perception driven. ... I believe those can be fixed in part by this ambassador program. Again, first line of defense sort of speak, people are greeting, wayfinding, helping people get services, and interacting with people on the street. I think that vitality will help.”
