Quiet down, quiet down.

We are going to be starting shortly.

Good afternoon, and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing from the Committee on Small Business.

At this point, I'd like to remind everyone to silence her electronic devices, and at no point is anyone to approach the dais.

If you would like to sign up to testify in person and have not filled out a form yet, the forums are located outside in the hallway with the Sergeant Arms.

Chair, we're ready to begin thank you.

This hearing is called to order.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am Councilmember Chanel Thomas Henry, Chair of the Committee on Small Business, and thank you for joining today's hearing.

While traveling across the city to speak with small business owners, the one thing that kept coming up in these conversations is how hard it is for them to stay in this city and grow.

With the goal of supporting our small businesses and keeping them in our community, this hearing will focus on discussing four bills.

These are Introduction 90 from Councilmember Brewer, Introduction 408 from Councilmember Riley, Introduction 578 from Councilmember Gutierrez, and Introduction 874 from Councilmember Maloney.

We are losing our small businesses fast.

Last year, more businesses closed in New York State than opened.

Those businesses closed because we have made it too difficult for them to remain open.

The rising cost of rent in the city displaces not only our residents, but our businesses.

This is a travesty because small businesses are the foundation of our city.

They make it distinct and they give it character.

They help define the neighborhoods they serve and can even become important social centers where people gather and interact in public, like barbershops and coffee shops.

Staying in business is no easy feat when small businesses are forced to navigate complex and expensive commercial lease agreements while also trying to find enough funds to continue to keep their business in operation.

In New York City, the Department of Small Business Services exists to help support these business owners.

They help business owners navigate and adhere to regulations and provide them with funding streams when needed.

The bills that we are hearing today would further allow SBS to fulfill its mission by centralizing tools to address the real and unique challenges our entrepreneurs face.

Councilmember Brewer's bill would help ensure that our small businesses could negotiate with their commercial landlords freely and without fear of losing their business in the process.

Introduction 408 from Councilmember Riley would help promote small businesses by establishing a program to pair small business owners with local social media influencers to help market their business.

This bill would help ensure that our businesses are getting the promotional investment that they need to continue to operate in their communities.

Introduction 578 from Council Member Gutierrez would reform our industrial business zone boundary commission.

Her bill reforms the commission to make it less controlled by city agencies and more responsive to the community.

The bill also makes it harder to remove or shrink IBZs.

Councilmember Gutierrez bill would help ensure that our manufacturing businesses can continue to thrive in this city.

And finally, introduction 874 from Councilmember Maloney would establish a legacy business program.

This bill would allow long-standing small businesses with community ties in the neighborhood to apply for funding and other assistance to keep them open in operation.

Councilmember Maloney's bill would help preserve vital community landwork landmarks and ensure that they remain open.

The legislation that we will hear today will help make our city more competitive by keeping our small businesses right here where they are.

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 Borrillo from Central Staff for their hard work in putting this hearing together, as well as my own staff, Franklin Richards, Sierra Smith, Derek Slaughter, and everyone working in the background to help make this hearing possible.

I would like to mention that I am joined by my colleagues, Councilmember Brewer, Councilmember Maloney, Councilmember Santos, and Councilmember Morano.

At this time, I will now turn it over to Councilmember Brewer to provide opening remarks.

Thank you very much, Chair Thomas Henry.

Um thank you for including this bill, uh intro 90, the storefront business bill of rights on today's agenda.

I've been working on this issue since 1980.

I just want to let you know.

Building on years of advocating for mom and pop stores as Manhattan Borough President.

That wasn't that long ago, but it was of 10 or so years ago.

I convened a task force made up of small business owners, commercial tenants, and landlords to identify recommendations and proposals that would prevent small business owners from being priced out of the city just because this is such a difficult issue to come up with solutions and get stakeholders to be supportive.

Months of substantive policy discussion focused on city fines and fees, unaffordable rent, scaffolding, construction, long-term vacancies, financing, and transitioning online businesses to brick and mortar storefronts.

This storefront business bill of rights, intro 90, emerged from the task force's report, small business big impact that we put together.

This report seeks to establish important protections for small business owners and improve communication between building and business owners.

A consistent message emerged.

Many small businesses enter lease agreements without access to essential information.

Then they face sudden rent hikes, ambiguous lease terms, and a lack of predictability in renewal negotiations.

This lack of transparency and communication contributes to instability in the commercial market and business closures in our neighborhoods, neither of which benefits business owners or property owners.

Intro 90 responds to those concerns by setting clear standards for commercial lease transparency and renewal, creating a more stable environment for small businesses to thrive and plan into the future.

These are the key provisions.

One, a written lease requirement for any storefront tenancy longer than one year, ensuring clear and documented terms for all parties.

I will say that in many cases it's a handshake.

A handshake may be fine until the rent goes up, and then you have nothing to base it on.

Number two, lease renewal protections, including the required 100 and day, 120-day notice of non-renewal.

I can't tell you how many times I know this pizza store.