Chamber statement on Mayor Mamdani’s new “OPEN for Small Business” initiative

July 20, 2026

Statement from Jessica Walker, President and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce on the launch of OPEN for Small Business, Mayor Mamdani's package of more than 50 regulatory reforms to cut red tape for the roughly 180,000 small businesses that anchor New York City's economy.

"For years, small businesses have learned that in New York, the city usually shows up with a fine, not a hand. OPEN for Small Business starts to change that — and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce welcomes it.

Fifty reforms is a real number. When a barbershop needs three permits to do one job, the problem was never the barber — it was the paperwork. Fixes like that, multiplied across the city, mean shops spend less time in line and more time open. The smartest piece of this plan is the permanent working group it establishes. That's what separates a good launch from lasting change: reform built into how the city works, not a headline it moves on from.

Fifty is a strong start on a list of six thousand. The Manhattan Chamber tracks the health of Manhattan's storefronts block by block, and we'll keep bringing that data — and our members' hardest problems — to the table however we can be useful. We're ready to roll up our sleeves and partner with the Mayor's office to put these reforms to work."