The New York City Council Committee on Small Business, chaired by Councilmember Shanel Thomas-Henry, held a hearing on Monday, June 8, 2026, at 1:00 PM in Hearing Room 1 at 250 Broadway. The committee discussed three bills and one resolution aimed at supporting small businesses: Int. 0799 (establishing a support fund for businesses affected by roadway construction), Int. 0910 (repealing retroactive security grille visibility requirements), T2026-2025 (coordinating inspections to accelerate business openings), and Res. 0328 (calling on the state for a tax credit for infrastructure-disrupted businesses). All four items were laid over after testimony and discussion.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the New York City Council Committee on Small Business. Please place your phone on Sign It or Vibrate Mode anytime during this hearing. Do not approach the days. Chair, we are ready to begin. This hearing is now called to order. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Councilmember Chanel Thomas Henry, Chair of the Committee on Small Business. Thank you for joining today's small business hearing. I've been traveling across the city speaking with business owners, and top of mind is outdated regulations and daily disruptions. With the goal of meeting entrepreneurs where they are and being responsive to their unique challenges, this hearing will focus on discussing three bills and a resolution that do just that. These include Introduction 799 from Council Member Salam, Introduction 910 from Councilmember Stevens, a preconsidered introduction from Councilmember Zwang, and Resolution 328 from Councilmember Salaam as well. I'd like to thank my council colleagues, representatives from the administration, and members of the public for being here, as well as members of the public participating remotely. Small businesses are the lifeline of New York City. They provide us with the diversity of experiences and are the first line of defense for preserving and celebrating the unique cultures that make us great. Beyond this, they help shore up our middle class by acting as engines of economic mobility, especially for our immigrant and minority communities who don't always find the means to enter and stay in the traditional workforce. Despite this, the city has fallen short in its support of our beloved small businesses. Becoming an entrepreneur isn't easy. Many would-be business owners never end up starting because they must navigate so much of the regulatory process alone. Coupled by the lack of access to capital to start their business and pay the workforce to put it into operation and grow. This journey becomes a daunting experience, and roughly 20% fail in the first year. Even when businesses finally get off the ground, many of them continue to operate on razor-thin margins. Is exists to help support these pioneers. They help entrepreneurs navigate and adhere to regulations and provide them with funding streams when needed. In today's hearing, we will discuss introduction 799 and a pre-considered introduction in resolution 328. Similarly, Councilmember Salaam's resolution 328 would ask the state of New York to provide a tax credit to business owners impacted by infrastructure construction. Councilmember Salaam's legislative measures would help ensure that we are not letting our businesses suffer in silence from actions taken by the city. Introduction 910 from Councilmember Stevens would repeal the requirement in local law 75 that all businesses must have 70% see-through security grills by July 1st. Instead, they would only be required to buy that specific security grill when obtaining a replacement. The Department of Buildings would also be required to perform outreach in the following six months to educate business owners of this requirement. This bill will also help ensure small businesses are not unfairly penalized by a law that they were never informed about in time. Councilmember Zwang is here today and will like to speak to us about her preconsidered introduction. This bill would require the mayor to establish a program to coordinate inspections and plan reviews among city agencies to speed up the time it takes to open a business. Councilmember Zwang's bill would help make things a little bit easier for entrepreneurs. The legislation that we hear today will not address all the systematic issues burdening our small businesses. But it is a start and it is timely. I look forward to hearing testimony from the Department of Small Business Services and hearing their positions on these bills. I similarly look forward to hearing from small businesses and advocates on today's legislation. I want to thank Tyler Walls and Rebecca Barillia from Central Staff for putting their putting the work together for this hearing, as well as my own staff, Franklin Richards, Sierra Smith, and Derek Slaughter, and anyone working in the background to help this make this hearing possible. I will now turn it over to Councilmember Salam to provide an opening statement on his bill. Thank you, Chair Thomas Henry. And thank you to the members of this committee for for hearing these two items today, including all the other bills as well. My bills um introduction 799 establishes a roadway construction small business support fund and resolution 328. The companion measure calls on the state legislature to pass and the governor to sign legislation providing a tax credit to businesses negatively affected by infrastructure construction. I represent Central Harlem, a district built on the backs of small business owners, the barber who has cut three generations of hair on the same block, the restaurant where neighbors gather, the bodega that knows your name. These businesses are not just not just commerce, they are the fabric of our communities. But here's the hard truth. When the city tears up a street to repair infrastructure beneath it, and we know that that work is necessary to keep our city running. The small businesses on that block often pay the price. Foot traffic disappears, deliveries cannot get through.