Save Our Small Businesses
Almost everyone has a favorite local store or restaurant in our neighborhood. For some, it might be the corner bodega that only closed the day of the #BodegaStrike. Others the hole-in-the wall serving spicy tacos or piping-hot momos. The independent bookstore. I love going to work every day above the local pharmacy that sells everything-but-the-kitchen-sink and goes all out with seasonal window displays.
But these days it seems like there are a lot more empty storefront windows than decorated ones. Skyrocketing rents, competition from online retailers and chain stores, and rising costs are hurting small businesses, leaving mom-and-pop shops that make up the best of our neighborhoods struggling to stay afloat.
This week, I joined Council Member Stephen Levin and a great coalition of small businesses, artists, and community groups to introduce legislation to curb the skyrocketing costs of commercial rents.
Sign the petition to build support for this critical legislation.
New York City is experiencing a commercial affordability crisis. Between 2007 and 2017, the vacancy rate doubled across New York City, with many neighborhoods seeing nearly 20% of their storefronts become empty. At the same time, retail rents rose an average of 22% citywide, with some neighborhoods seeing more than 50% rent increase on average. We cannot continue to watch rising rents either push out local businesses or make goods too expensive to be affordable to the communities they serve.
The Commercial Rent Stabilization Act will establish basic rights for commercial tenants, so the businesses that are a vital part of our neighborhoods can continue to serve our communities and thrive.
The bill will create a Commercial Rent Guidelines Board, like the board for rent stabilized tenants, to set annual rental amount rates and provide oversight and tenant protection (with the ability to set rates citywide with flexibility for neighborhoods as is needed). It will apply to all commercial spaces below a certain square footage (10,000 sf for retail and office, 25,000 sf for manufacturing), establishing a rent-regulated market for small businesses.
The loss of independently-owned small businesses is a crisis in neighborhoods all across the city, not only in Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn. Starting a neighborhood small business is a long-standing path of entrepreneurship in immigrant and communities of color, and families put their hopes, dreams, and life savings into them. When we lose these small businesses, we lose the diversity of our communities, and we further marginalize those who are often cut out of economic opportunities.
Losing the independently-owned small businesses that we love, one after another, tears at the fabric of our communities. Add your name to help keep beloved local stores and restaurants in business.