Van Bramer: NYC needs commercial rent control

Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. Photo courtesy of Van Bramer.

By Jimmy Van Bramer

Special to the Eagle

Every so often, my husband and I stock up on items at Natural Frontier Market in Long Island City, just a few blocks away from our Sunnyside neighborhood. The owners— Sonam and Nima Lama who opened the store in 1995 after immigrating from Tibet— are long time fixtures of the community. But maybe not for long: the landlord has raised their rent from $10,000 to $22,000 a month. That’s a whopping 110% increase and it should be illegal.

The Lamas are not alone. Immigrant owners make up almost 50% of New York’s 83,000 small businesses, which employ half the city’s entire workforce and contribute $195 billion to the bottom line. But fast rising rents are putting them out of business and decimating whole communities now dotted with empty store-fronts. According to the city comptroller, vacant commercial space has doubled over a decade, up to 11.8 million square feet in 2017. Here in Queens the vacancy rate in immigrant rich Elmhurst is 15%: three times higher than during the 2007 recession. That’s neighborhood boutiques, cafes, and markets just gone, and the American dream with it.

For those still lucky enough to be in business, it’s an uphill battle. Sixty-eight percent of small business owners in Jackson Heights said they were overburdened by their current rent, and 38% listed the length of their lease or losing their lease as a top concern. On average commercial rents have risen by 22% across the city. 

So who benefits? Sterile national chain vendors like banks, convenience stores, and pharmacies which can pay exorbitant rents. Who loses? Whole communities.

That’s why I’m pushing to pass Council Member Stephen Levin’s commercial rent control bill in the New York City Council. Here’s how it works: the city will create a Commercial Rent Guidelines Board that would regulate commercial rents just like the Rent Guidelines Board does for apartment rents. Any retail spaces at or less than 10,000 square feet, manufacturing spaces 25,000 square feet, and professional services or other office spaces of 10,000 square feet will be under its purview. The Board will determine rent increases by factoring in commercial real estate taxes, sewer and water rates, and gross operating and maintenance costs. Landlords won’t have unilateral control to inflate rents however high they want.

Making sure small businesses can thrive isn’t just about protecting our local economy, saving jobs, and preserving the culture and community that make Queens such a rich place to live. It’s about the immigrant family in Corona running a dry cleaner to save money to pay for their child’s college education. It’s about the Flushing Chinese restaurant owner who once worked as a fry cook and pinched every penny to open up her own place. It’s about a father and son baking team whose American dream is to serve fresh bread from Bayside to Forest Hills.

This matters, because of the multiplier effect. For every $100 spent at a local business 68 of those dollars go back into the community through procurement, charitable giving, labor and other investments. Chain stores only recirculate about 13% of their revenue, compared to 48% for local businesses. We simply can’t afford to sell out the mom and pop shops for big box stores and services that threaten to homogenize every corner of Queens. 

It’s time to pass commercial rent control now.

Jimmy Van Bramer is a councilmember and a candidate for Queens borough president.