A growing coalition of community organizations, small business owners, city officials and neighborhood champions are launching a two-day “Shop Local” event called Rally Downtown (www.rallydowntown.org) on Dec 7-8. The purpose of the program is to get folks to support local NYC Small Businesses still hurting from Sandy and create a shop local program that is easily replicated in other neighborhoods in NYC.
Rally Downtown is anchored by two big initiatives, one of which is sponsored by our friends at FoodtoEat.com.
On Dec 7th, there will be a Foursquare NYC Small Businesses scavenger hunt across lower Manhattan. When people arrive at each business, they’ll check in with Foursquare and complete unique tasks at each shop. Click here to sign up for the Foursquare Scavenger Hunt, which is free.
On Dec 8th, get ready to “crawl” again. Neighborhood restaurant, bar and family-friendly shopping “crawls” are being sponsored by FoodtoEat.com. Participating venues will offer unique activities and incentives ranging from discounts and food pairings to children’s activities. There are 6 different food crawls taking place. Tickets are $10, and all proceeds from tickets and raffles for the crawls will be pooled and distributed among participating vendors at the end of the day.
Rally Downtown is the kick off for Startup New York (http://www.startupnewyork.org), a non-profit coalition that exists entirely to support the small business community post-Sandy. Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy in New York City, and StartUp New York is dedicated to helping businesses throughout the five boroughs get back on their feet and succeed.
