Speaker Johnson, save mom and pop shops by bringing the Small Business Jobs Survival Act to a vote

By Kirsten Theodos

Back in 2008, New York City small businesses faced a crisis to survive due to skyrocketing rents and the unfair lease renewal process. Councilmember Robert Jackson introduced a bill called the Jobs Survival Act to stop the closings of mom and pop businesses and save jobs. The bill would give all commercial tenants the right to a long-term lease renewal, the right to equally negotiate fair lease terms and the right to an arbitration process if a mutual agreement could not be reached.

On Aug. 11, 2009 on the steps of City Hall, a group of lawmakers called for an emergency vote on the bill. Then Councilmember and Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio had a statement read calling for an “immediate vote in committee so the full council could quickly vote to pass the Jobs Survival Act and begin saving small businesses." The bill was fiercely opposed by the powerful real estate lobby, the Real Estate Board of NY, because it would regulate landlords. During the hearing on the Jobs Survival Act in 2009, the Small Business Committee unanimously selected it as the best solution to save small businesses and many councilmembers became sponsors. The Jobs Survival Act had the support of 32 sponsors but the Speaker's legal team blocked the vote, disingenuously claiming the bill had "legal problems" even though the Council had already conducted a special hearing on the legality of the original bill in 1988 and found it to be constitutional. Once all legality issues of the bill were resolved, a vote was taken by the Economic Development Committee.

Eleven years later, the small business crisis in NYC has worsened.

Vacant storefronts in every neighborhood confirm this reality. During this period, city courts issued warrants to evict over 50,000 businesses and yet not a single piece of legislation has come out of City Hall addressing the root cause of stores closing — the unfair lease renewal process.

For the eighth time, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) was introduced in City Council and in October 2018 had its twelfth hearing.

At the hearing, REBNY came out once again in full force against the bill. Speaker Corey Johnson made it clear that our small businesses faced a crisis to survive and committed to making the necessary changes to the SBJSA and move it to a vote once and for all.  Unfortunately, almost two years later, not a single amendment has been presented to change the bill.

Though the majority of the Small Business Committee have sponsored the SBJSA, as well as the majority of the City Council, the bill remains bottled up in committee, prohibiting it from advancing to a full council vote.

Are we to believe this is history organically repeating itself? Or does the fact that REBNY worked with the Council to oppose the SBJSA have something to do with the bill being blocked from a vote, once again denying justice to small business owners? How many crises do our small businesses have to face before they are allowed a vote at City Hall? 

In an unforeseen trajectory, COVID-19 has exacerbated business closings that were already happening every time their leases expire.

Only immediate government intervention can save mom and pop. Speaker Johnson must call for an emergency vote on the SBJSA just like he did for the Chokehold Ban.

If City Hall continues to bow down to REBNY and block the SBJSA from being voted on, the outcome will be disastrous for our economy, democracy and society. An immediate emergency vote on the SBJSA is needed to stabilize our struggling small businesses and begin the rebuilding process for our number one job- and revenue-generators.

It's time for our “progressive” lawmakers to abandon their empty current day “justice and rights for all” rhetoric and restore economic justice and rights for all commercial tenants by voting on and passing the SBJSA.

Kirsten Theodos is a Co-Founder of TakeBackNYC. Follow her on Twitter: @kirstentheodos