TRY TRY AGAIN: SMALL BUSINESS SURVIVAL ACT

On April 14th, the Small Business Survival Act was introduced again in the New York City Council and was referred again to the Committee on Small Business. The bill (Int. 0154-2010) would establish a small business lease program that would create an environment for fair negotiations between landlords and commercial tenants during the lease renewal process. The ultimate goal is lease terms that both the landlord and the tenant consider reasonable. Our Councilmember, Brad Lander, is one of the sponsors of the bill.

For background information on the Small Business Survival Act, type "small business survival act" in the Search box on this blog.

SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES!

CANCELED: RALLY AND CALL TO SAVE NYC'S SMALL BUSINESSES

The rally that was scheduled to be held on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday, December 9th, in support of the Small Business Survival Act has been canceled, due to the setback described on this blog.

DEATH OF THE SMALL BUSINESS SURVIVAL ACT

Over the past few weeks, several New York City Council members who had supported the Small Business Survival Act decided to withdraw their support. As a result, the Coalition to Save Small Businesses has asked New York City Council Member Robert Jackson to withdraw his motion to discharge the bill from the Small Business Committee, which would have allowed the full Council to vote on the bill.

Crain's New York Business explained in Rough Road for commercial rent control, in its December 3rd edition, the politics behind the death of the bill, saying that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn "opposes the motion, and presumably would not look kindly on members who vote for it. Quinn, if she remains speaker, will soon be handing out prized committee chairmanships."

As always,

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS!

RALLY AND CALL TO SAVE NYC'S SMALL BUSINESSES

Wednesday, December 9th, noon

You have two opportunities to help the small businesses in your neighborhood survive: call your City Council Member, and participate in a rally before the City Council votes next Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on a bill that can help our city's small businesses stay afloat.

That bill, the Small Business Survival Act, would establish arbitration and mediation procedures between landlords and commercial tenants. It is NOT rent control, despite the claims of the bill's opponents! The influence of real estate interests has prevented the bill from moving forward.

Council Member Robert Jackson will ask the full City Council to vote on discharging the Small Business Survival Act from the Small Business Committee so that the City Council can finally vote on it. The bill has been lying stagnant in the Small Business Committee since this past June's committee hearing.

The last time a vote was held to discharge a bill was in 1989--for the same bill!

Having the bill discharged by the committee challenges the committee's chairperson, David Yassky, and the Speaker, Christine Quinn, but it is the only way to get a vote.

The chairperson and the Speaker have united to prevent a vote, leaving Jackson to either let the bill expire on December 31st--when all pending legislation expires and the process has to be started all over again--or make a motion to discharge. He chose the latter.

At the hearing in June, almost everyone who testified was in favor of the bill. They stated that

• a crisis existed for the city's small businesses,
• without the protection of this bill, thousands of small businesses would be forced to close,
• jobs would be lost, and
• the extortion of the mostly immigrant owners would continue.

Only the Mayor's representative spoke in opposition. Thirty-one Council Members were sponsoring the bill, including ALL of the members of the Small Business Committee, with the exception of Yassky. He testified that

• he would take some action to stop the loss of small businesses,
• the Survival bill seemed like the best choice, and
• unless someone came up with a better solution, he would support it.

Soon after the hearing, Yassky became a sponsor.

But no vote has been held. Yassky decided to would leave it for the next chairperson. At the same time, the Speaker's office said the bill would be found unconstitutional by a court, and the Speaker would not allow a vote.

However, a team of legal experts led by Attorney Sherri Donovan (who wrote the bill twenty years ago and successfully defended it before the City Council at a special hearing) updated the case law on the bill and presented it to the Speaker's council. It was Ms. Donovan's finding that the bill was legal.

Jackson went back to Yassky and again asked for a vote. This time, Yassky said that it was up to the Speaker to DIRECT him to vote on the bill, even though

• the majority of the City Council wanted the bill passed,
• Yassky had held a public hearing without any opposition to the bill and strong support from the business community,
• the entire Small Business Committee was sponsoring the bill, including Yassky himself, and
  
• Yassky had made a promise to small businesses that he would take action to save them.
  

Yassky would not vote on the Survival bill unless ORDERED to by the Speaker!

The Speaker's staff would not work with Jackson to modify the bill to their liking. Instead, they presented two proposed new bills to Jackson and the Small Business Coalition.

The first bill proposed by the staff would make it a misdemeanor for a landlord to extort funds from a tenant and make it easier for a tenant to report a landlord. Store owners with no lease renewal rights would have to call the police to arrest landlords who demanded extortion money under the table! But without any rights or protection, tenants will be afraid to report their landlords for fear of losing their businesses when their leases expired.

The second bill proposed that when a commercial lease came up for renewal, a city agency would produce a list of arbitration agencies and data on vacancies and read the rights of tenants (New York City has none). Neither proposal gave any rights to tenants or made claims on landlords. It did not change the status quo.

Jackson decided to file a motion to discharge the bill from the Small Business Committee and let the full City Council stand up in public and state "yes" or "no" about supporting small businesses in our city.

Help get a YES vote on the Small Business Survival Act.

Phone your City Council Member and tell him or her to save small businesses by voting YES on the Small Business Survival Act. Spread the word to co-workers, family, and friends to phone. To get the phone number of your City Council Member, go to http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml, type in your street address, choose a borough, and click "Find My Council Member."

And go to the rally on the steps of City Hall on the day of the vote (Wednesday, December 9th) at noon!

Information provided by Steve Null of The Coalition to Save Small Businesses.

CALL OR E-MAIL TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES SURVIVE!

From The Coalition to Save Small Businesses:

The Coalition to Save Small Businesses urges everyone to help end the crisis faced by New York City's small businesses. Join the phone and e-mail campaign directed at New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

If the Small Business Survival Act isn't voted on during the last City Council meeting of the year (December 21st), the bill will automatically die. It will have to be submitted all over again in 2010.

Until the bill gets passed, thousands of hard-working small business owners will continue to pay unreasonably high rent and continue to pay money to the landlord under the table in order to get their leases renewed. And New York City will continue to lose successful small businesses and tens of thousands of desperately needed jobs.

What can you do to help get the Small Business Survival Act passed this year?

Beginning Monday (tomorrow), from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Call Speaker Quinn's City Hall office to "demand that the Small Business Survival Act be immediately voted out of the Small Business Committee and voted on by the full city council."

Repeat the calls on Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 11a.m.

Ask everyone who cares about the future of our city to get involved. Only public pressure will lead the City Council’s leadership to do the right thing and end the crisis. Regulating property owners who donate to politicians and have influence over them won’t happen without public pressure.

Speaker Quinn’s telephone number: (212) 788-7210

Fax: (212) 788-7207

E-mail: Cquinn@council.nyc.gov

This is the last chance this year to get a vote on this bill. The Mayor and Speaker Quinn have stalled and formed worthless programs that they claim will assist small businesses in the hopes their actions and words will draw attention away from the crisis and the Small Business Survival Act. A real solution is needed to save small businesses and jobs.

Please see http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/10/slip-me-cash-to-renew-your-lease.html for more information about the Small Business Survival Act.

SLIP ME CASH TO RENEW YOUR LEASE

For years, commercial landlords have been demanding cash "under the table" from their tenants in exchange for renewing their leases.

"These fees, which merchants are expected to pay on top of rent in order to renew their leases, are common" in ethnic communities. The Asociacion de Bodegueros de los Estados Unidos, a national association of Hispanic merchants, reports that "one in three merchants in New York City must pay these fees."

"A survey confirmed what immigrant owners already knew: It's almost routine for landlords to demand 'cash money' under the table to negotiate a new lease."

KARMABrooklyn supports the Small Business Survival Act. Outrageously high rent hikes, in addition to the extorted cash, mean that "An estimated 48,000 Hispanic small businesses will close in five years without the protection of the Small Business Survival Act." "Nearly 60 percent of the city's small businesses are owned by women - and they will not survive without the Small Business Survival Act."