Dear John,

Commercial rents have been rising across the city for years, straining small businesses and leaving our neighborhoods with vacant storefronts. As with many other challenges facing our city, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing problems into crises.

Now, with restaurants operating at limited capacity with outdoor seating, stores restricted to 50% occupancy, and people staying home more, ordering online, and spending less, many of our beloved small businesses will simply not be able to weather this crisis and recover without addressing the commercial rent crisis. Too many have closed already.

That's why I’m proposing, together with colleagues in the City Council and State Legislature, a new program of “Small Business Recovery Leases” that will secure longer-term rental stability and affordability for small businesses, and tax relief for their property owners.

Read about the program in the Daily News here.

Surveys from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and the New York Hospitality Alliance show that fewer than 20% of commercial tenants have been able to negotiate some kind of rent relief with their landlords, and nearly 83% of restaurants were not able to pay full rent last month.

The goal of this program is to make it easier for landlords to offer rent relief to commercial tenants, and to lock in more affordable rents for the years to come. I’m pleased to say that the idea came from a Zoom a couple months back with a group of 20 women small-business owners, who operate some of the great small businesses around Brooklyn.

Here’s how it would work: The Small Business Recovery Lease program would offer property tax abatements as an incentive to commercial landlords to negotiate with their tenants to settle unpaid back rent through mutual agreement (via some combination of rent forgiveness, a one-time payment or adjusted monthly repayment plan, or payments shifted to the end of the lease) and enter into a new long-term lease with limits on rent increases. It would be a win-win for tenants and landlords, offering immediate resolution of unpaid rent and a stable long term lease at an affordable rate, offset by a long-term property tax benefit to owners.

Help us build support for this program. Share your story of how recovery leases could help your business or the small businesses you love.

The first step to make this happen is passing “authorizing legislation” in Albany that would allow New York City to set up such a program. On Monday, Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou introduced state authorizing legislation. Meanwhile, I’m working with my colleague Councilmember Keith Powers, economists, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and New York Hospitality Alliance, and a bunch of great small business owners in and beyond our district to design city legislation.

This proposal will help address the burdens facing small businesses during this crisis, but more and longer-term help is needed. For very small businesses in our district, interest-free loans are still available through the Hebrew Free Loan Society (details here). I still believe we need commercial rent control, a vacancy tax, and other measures to stabilize commercial rents in the long term, far beyond the COVID crisis.

Small businesses bring jobs, vibrancy, and creativity to our neighborhoods. In other parts of the country, most of what they have are chains and strip malls. We are extraordinarily lucky to live in communities where we can walk to shops and restaurants owned by our neighbors. If we want to keep it that way, we have to step up for them now.

Brad

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Updates and Resources
Upcoming Events

Updates and Resources

Latest Virus Data: There were 235 new cases identified yesterday, and 6 more New Yorkers died from the virus over the weekend. We have lost 23,634 people in NYC from the virus, and 230,458 total cases have been identified in the city. Currently, the 7-day rolling average percent of tests that came back positive remains low, 0.9% as of yesterday.
Schools Update: Teachers, principals, school aides and lunch workers have called for a delay in sending children to in person classes. Schools are supposed to start sharing information about schedules for in person schooling this week, but many details about how in person and remote learning will be staffed, among other questions are still not fully answered.
More Reopenings: Museums and other art and cultural institutions will be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity starting August 24th. Gyms were just given guidance to reopen at 33% capacity starting also August 24. Bowling alleys are allowed to reopen today at 50% capacity.
Evictions Suspended til Oct. 1: The courts have extended the full moratorium on evictions until October 1, a welcome relief for many tenants. Housing court is still slowly reopening though, and new cases can be filed. Here is a helpful FAQ on the current status of evictions and housing court proceedings.
Unemployment Benefits Extended: While the federal addition of $600 in unemployment benefits has expired, many New Yorkers are still eligible for extended unemployment benefits. Traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits are now extended for up to 59 weeks and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits are now extended for up to 46 weeks. To continue receiving these benefits, it is important to recertify your claim every week. Contact our office or your state representative if you have trouble claiming benefits.
Zero interest loans still available: We are still taking applications for the zero interest loan for small businesses and independent contractors in District 39. Application information is available here.
Repurposing bags: We are still collecting Fresh Direct and other reusable bags for use by emergency food providers. You can drop bags off at the following sites and times.
- Park Slope: 256 13th St, M-F, 9 AM to 6 PM
- Cobble Hill: 359 Henry St, Mon-Wed, 9 AM to 6 PM
- Kensington: 3 Avenue C, Saturdays at 4 PM

Upcoming Events

Thursday, August 20, 5:45 PM to 8:00 PM: Census Phonebank. Sign up here.

The Trump administration is cutting short the time for canvassing for Census responses, but NYC is still really behind and facing the risk that communities of color will be seriously under counted. Join us to call New Yorkers in neighborhoods with low response rates to make sure everyone is counted.