NYC's Long-Empty Stores Would Be Listed Under New Bill

NEW YORK — A Manhattan lawmaker wants to create a list of the long-empty stores that have plagued commercial corridors around New York City. City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal introduced a bill Wednesday that would establish a city registry of all storefront property that has been vacant for at least three months.

Doing so would give lawmakers a clearer picture of commercial vacancies across the city, a problem that has so far been tough to quantify on a large scale, the Democratic lawmaker said.

"It’s hard to make policy based on, sort of, 'I feel like there are a lot of vacancies,'" Rosenthal said Thursday. "With this information we can track it over time."

Rosenthal's bill would require property owners to register any storefront once it has been vacant for 90 straight days. The registration would identify the property's location, the date it became vacant and the reasons for the vacancy, among other details, according to the bill.

The Department of Small Business Services would have to keep a searchable database online of all registred properties, the bill says. And owners could face a $1,000 fine for each week they fail to register.

While Rosenthal and other elected officials have done localized studies of commercial vacancies, she said there's a need for a broader look at the issue. The 90-day trigger for registration would help the city sort regular business turnover from extended vacancies, according to Rosenthal.

"My thought is, let’s just get the city to get some basic information available to us as policymakers so we can think smart about what the next steps could be," Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal's bill is one of nine slated for a Monday hearing before the Council's Committee on Small Business. Another measure she sponsors would require the Small Business Services Department to create a public database of commercial properties in the city.

A bill sponsored by Councilwoman Carlina Rivera would require the department to evaluate the state of storefront businesses in each community district at least once every five years. And one backed by Councilman Mark Levine would require the city to provide legal help to small business tenants who face eviction.

The proposals will be heard following the recent closures of beloved businesses around the city, from the West Village's Cornelia Street Cafe to the Williamsburg mini-movie theater Videology. The city's number of chain stores even dropped in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade, a report found.

The Council has shown an appetite to throw small businesses a lifeline. The Small Business Jobs Survival Act, a decades-old proposal to establish protections for commercial tenants, got its first hearing since 2009 this past October.