New Local Currency Emerges: The Brooklyn Torch
BY Jeff Wilkins
NY DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, August 12th 2009
Artists in northern Brooklyn are coming together to create their own cash in hopes of uniting the community and encouraging shoppers to spend locally.
The new funny money, the Brooklyn Torch, is slated to hit the neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick sometime this fall.
"We want people to be excited," said artist Mary Jeys, 30, who dreamed up the Greenpoint greenbacks. "This medium of exchange has more to do with meeting people and feeling that you're connected to a community versus a monetary system."
The Torch would be available for Brooklyn residents by an exchange program. The initial exchange rate between dollars and Torches will be one to one. Businesses might provide incentives for shoppers to spend money locally, ultimately raising the Torch's value.
Jeys and a seven-person committee of Brooklyn artists, calling themselves the Brooklyn Torch Project, have worked all summer selling local businesses on the idea of community cash.
"I think it's an awesome idea," said Melanie Campbell, owner of Asia Dog, which sells gourmet hot dogs at bars in Williamsburg. "I like the idea that it raises this sense of community in the big city. We are definitely intrigued."
It's legal to print your own money in the U.S. as long as you don't re-create or deface the dollar, according to the Treasury Department. The Torch would be subject to the same taxes as the dollar.
"It's not some form of tax evasion," said Jeys. "It's way to create a community exchange and make sure money won't leave the area."
Similar currency programs have succeeded elsewhere in the country in cities like Ithaca, N.Y. and Madison, Wisconsin. Ithaca's hometown currency, the Ithaca Hour, started in 1991 and is now accepted by more than 500 businesses.
Thanks to our Founding Members
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We partner with Survey Gizmo for our online surveys.
