Support Small Businesses, Today at City Hall

Ever walk by those many empty storefronts, or past the multitude of metastizing chainstores, and wonder what can be done to preserve and protect our small businesses? Today there is a hearing at City Hall by New York City Council Committee on Small Business jointly with the Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises regarding promoting retail diversity and preserving neighborhood character. Before that, on the steps of City Hall there will be a press conference by a city-wide coalition of stakeholders calling for a public hearing and vote on the Small Business Jobs Survival Act Intro 402 (SBJSA), a bill which GVSHP supports.  The public can speak at the hearing, or watch it livestream here.

In anticipation of our testifying at the hearing today, we believe there are a multitude of strategies put forward by shop owners and advocates which should be considered. Our own Business of the Month program seeks to promote local small independent businesses in Greenwich Village, NoHo and the East Village by nomination from the public. Nominate your favorite one here!

Formula retail or big box chain stores can in some cases pose a threat to retail diversity and to small independent businesses. These small businesses not only add character and a variety of services and products to neighborhoods, but keep more revenue local. One unfortunate example we highlighted recently was the latest Starbucks in an NYU-owned property pushing out a small sandwich and coffee shop. We believe that measures which would limit, discourage, or outright prohibit chain or formula retail in certain areas merit consideration. For instance, the East Village Community Coalition released an excellent report which GVSHP assisted with analyzing the spread of formula retail or chain stores in the East Village.

The report offered several sound suggestions for ways to prevent the overconcentration of chains of formula retail in neighborhoods like the East Village, which benefit so much from and derive so much of their identity from their unique, independent businesses. But these recommendations could be implemented in other parts of the city as well, and include limiting chains to major commercial thoroughfares, requiring special permits for certain kinds of chains, regulating maximum square footage and combining of storefronts, returning to residential use grandfathered non-conforming uses when they are vacant for a period of time, or a ban in certain areas.

While zoning incentives are important to consider, without consideration of commercial lease renewal protections, it won’t be enough. One approach to the vexing challenge of rent gouging and refusal to renew a lease would be the Small Business Jobs Survival Act.  The Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) is a bill that has been introduced in the NYC City Council that would give commercial tenants three specific rights:

1. A minimum 10-year lease with the right to renewal, so they can better plan for the future of their business.
2. Equal negotiation terms when it comes time to renew their lease with recourse to binding arbitration by a 3rd party if fair terms can not be found.
3. Restrictions to prevent landlords from passing their property taxes on to small business owners.

Supported by a majority of council members, a hearing and vote specifically on that bill should occur. To many the commercial lease renewal process is more of a shakedown than a fair negotiation. The bill could better level the playing field for small businesses dealing with difficult and unyielding landlords. Our city’s neighborhoods are struggling to hold on to their character-defining, job-producing, entrepreneur-driven small business. We need legislation and zoning measures as soon as possible to protect them from unfair competition and price gouging landlords. We hope today’s hearing will bring us to serious consideration of and a vote on such measures.