New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed two pieces of legislation into law today, both of which aim to help boost the revival of small businesses throughout the city that have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Adams was joined by Kevin Kim, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services, Preston Niblack, Commissioner of Department of Finance as well as Councilmember Julie Menin to announce and sign the bills.
“Today, our whole hearing is signing on two important bills that help our small businesses in working New Yorkers,” said Mayor Adams in a statement Oct. 18. “For too long, the boulder of bureaucracy has gotten in the way of working New Yorkers and small business owners, of endless red tape, complicated processes, and agencies’ silos have made it harder for New Yorkers to open and operate small businesses. And COVID-19 has only made it even harder.”
Speaking on the significance of both Intro. 116 and Intro. 383, Mayor Adams emphasized how these two new laws will lift a significant amount of stress off the shoulders of small business owners.
“Business owners have enough to worry about, and we are giving them some relief by lifting the bureaucratic burden off their shoulders,” said Mayor Adams on Tuesday. “We are giving them all the tools they need in one accessible location. This is something we talked about over and over again. We heard this from business owners repeatedly. The challenges and difficulties of navigating government just to get their businesses open — we’re removing those challenges. Small business, we say over and over again, they’re the lifeblood of our city, and they’re driving our recovery.”
City Councilmember Julie Menin was also at the bill signings, expresses her excitement at the new opportunities and accessibility the new bills will grant small business owners with the new comprehensive portal.
“So Intro. 116, as the mayor says, creates a one stop shop portal,” said Councilmember Menin on Tuesday. “I campaigned on this issue when I was running for City Council. I’m a former small business owner. I used to own a restaurant and catering business that was located not that far from here. And I can tell you firsthand how difficult it is to navigate city bureaucracy. If you want to open up a restaurant in New York City, you’re literally dealing with twenty different separate applications, eight different city agencies. Well, no longer will that be a case. With this one stop shop portal, we’re literally consolidating every single city agency into one portal, one app, in eleven different languages.”
Fellow City Councilmember Gale Brewer also praised the City Council and in particular Councilmember Menin for prioritizing this legislation.
“The bill signed today will report vital information to assess the proliferation of commercial vacancies, including whether ground floor or commercial properties are vacant, owner or commercial tenant occupied, and the expiration date on the lease,” said Councilmember Brewer on Tuesday. “This will give more data for better decisions. This bill also improves the timeliness of when data is collected and shared by the city. This bill is a win for our communities, and will help us bring back those vital small businesses to our beloved commercial corridors.”
