Bill To Aid NYC Merchants Has Unlikely Foe

NEW YORK — A City Council bill aimed at keeping local shops afloat has found an ironic enemy: A Manhattan business group that says it represents many small merchants.

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce worries the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, a years-old proposal now slated for a Monday committee hearing, would have "unintended consequences" that could hurt businesses rather than help them, said the group's president and CEO, Jessica Walker.

"Absolutely small businesses need our help right now, but I think that there’s a confusion about what the major issues indeed are," Walker said Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored in its current form by Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan), would give businesses rights in commercial lease renewals, allow for arbitration in renewal negotiations and prohibit landlord retaliation.

First proposed more than three decades ago, the legislation aims to staunch the bleeding of small shops from the city's storefronts by helping businesses get fairer lease terms. It's been referred to as commercial rent control, though its supporters dispute that characterization.

But the measure could discourage landlords from giving leases to small-business tenants and force business owners to put time and resources they may not have toward the bill's arbitration process, Walker said. Her organization has about 1,400 dues-paying members, she said, more than three-quarters of whom are small businesses.

A survey of the Manhattan Chamber's membership showed small businesses are more concerned about high taxes, competition and the burden of government regulations than rents, Walker said. Getting more customers in the door could also help "mitigate" their cost concerns, she said.

"One of my frustrations is that we’re on this one-track mindset here, and there are a lot of other issues that are not being addressed, and small businesses are suffering as a result," Walker said.

The Council should instead look at helping businesses buy their spaces or offer incentives for including affordable commercial space in new developments through the zoning process, Walker said.

Landlords are also likely to fight the Small Business Jobs Survival Act. But lawmakers stood by it as a way to aid mom-and-pop stores at risk of being driven out by high rents and massive corporate chains.

"As the income inequality gap widens, we must ensure our small businesses continue to thrive and operate their bodegas, retail shops and bookstores in the city," Rodriguez said in a statement.

The Council's Committee on Small Business will hold a hearing on the Small Business Jobs Survival Act at 1 p.m. Monday in the Council chambers at City Hall.

(Lead image: A store for rent is seen in the West Village in October 2018. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)