Empowering Flushing Business Owners and Workers with Self-Defense Skills: The New Initiative by the Flushing BID

Business owners and workers in Flushing are feeling increasingly unsafe due to rising crime rates in the area. To address this issue, the Flushing Business Improvement District (BID) has launched a new program offering free self-defense classes to business owners and employees in zip codes 11354 and 11355. The classes will run from April 3 through June 5, and participants can sign up on the Flushing BID website by signing a waiver.

The classes will be taught by a professional martial artist specializing in Taekwondo at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel Ballroom. Participants will learn essential self-defense techniques focusing on kicking, grabbing, and de-escalation strategies for real-life situations. The initiative aims to address commercial retail theft and homeless disturbances that have made many shop owners feel unsafe. Concerns about police response times have led to the importance of equipping small business owners with self-defense skills.

Dian Song Yu, executive director of the Flushing BID, hopes that these classes will bring comfort to participants and empower them to protect themselves if necessary. Not all businesses have the resources to hire security guards, especially smaller shops. The Flushing BID hopes that this program will make all businesses in downtown Flushing feel safer and more secure by providing essential self-defense training. By giving business owners and employees the tools they need to protect themselves in the face of rising crime rates, the BID aims to make downtown Flushing a safer place for everyone.