Chamber testifies on storefront lease and legacy business bills

September 16, 2026 - Manhattan Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jessica Walker testified today before the New York City Council Committee on Small Business, weighing in on three bills that would shape how storefront businesses lease space, stay in their neighborhoods, and reach customers.

The hearing covered Int. 90 (Council Member Gale Brewer), which would create a "Storefront Business Bill of Rights"; Int. 874 (Council Member Virginia Maloney), which would establish a Legacy Business Registry and Preservation Fund; and Int. 408 (Council Member Kevin Riley), which would pilot a program matching small businesses with social media content creators.

Int. 90: Support for disclosure and written leases, but not the mandatory extension

MCC urged the Committee to pass the core protections in Int. 90 — a required written lease, clear disclosures about the space a tenant is signing for, and model leases published in multiple languages — calling them "simple, overdue protections."

But the Chamber opposed the bill's mandatory one-year lease extension at a capped rent. "It's too small to save a struggling business and just large enough to change how every landlord in the city underwrites a lease," Walker told the Committee. When ending a tenancy becomes harder, she said, owners get more selective about starting one — larger deposits, personal guarantees, and a preference for tenants with strong balance sheets. "The first-time and immigrant-owned businesses we work with every day are the ones who can't clear that bar."

Walker pointed to a deeper problem: tenants arrive at renewal with no credible way to leave, because relocating in Manhattan means a year of dark rent, a permit gauntlet, and lost customers. MCC's forthcoming research brief will show that storefronts stay empty for years, not months, for the same reasons. "Make it possible to open a store in ninety days instead of a year," she said, "and every tenant in the borough walks into a renewal with real alternatives."

Int. 874: Strong support for the Legacy Business Preservation Fund

MCC strongly supports Int. 874, which would fund grants to property owners who offer ten-year leases to legacy businesses at risk of displacement. "It's not a mandate — it's the deal both sides will sign," Walker said.

Int. 408: Support for the content-creator pilot

The Chamber also backed Int. 408. Small businesses consistently tell MCC that marketing is where they feel most outgunned, and a content-creator matching pilot is a low-cost idea worth testing. MCC has run a similar program and has seen it work.