The Manhattan Storefront Business Coalition 💪

Crain's New York Business · Op-Ed

To help small businesses, our leaders must listen first

By Patrick Hall & Deborah Koenigsberger

To the newly elected officials for New York City: congratulations. You're assuming leadership at a time when our city — and its business community — is facing more than its fair share of challenges. In the face of inflation, the onset of unprecedented tariffs, and economic volatility.

We write not as lobbyists, not as CEOs of major corporations, but as storefront business owners who drive the local economy and employ thousands of workers across NYC. We're the people sweeping the sidewalk in the morning, signing paychecks at night, and trying to keep our doors open in between.

Here's what we want you to understand: small business owners are often praised in speeches as the "backbone of the economy," but too often we are not listened to before new laws, regulations, and mandates are passed. We're busy running our businesses, managing our teams, and serving our customers; and unlike large corporations that have an abundance of lawyers and accountants on staff, we don't have the time or resources to advocate for ourselves.

Running a small storefront isn't just a business — it's a juggling act. We are the CEO, the HR manager, the bookkeeper, and the janitor all in one. When a new rule comes down from the Mayor's office or City Council, there's no compliance department to handle it. It's us, late at night, trying to decode regulations and paperwork, hoping we won't get hit with a fine that could wipe out our week's payroll, praying we don't get sued for not complying with a law we don't even know exists.

Our margins are thin, and our reality is fragile. During COVID, many of us were forced to close our doors while larger companies kept operating. We furloughed staff, survived on SBA loans, and did what we could to survive. For those of us who made it, we're facing rising rents, property taxes, and insurance costs as we struggle to repay the very loans that were meant to help us survive, but we have little or no access to the abatements, subsidies, and incentive programs that big businesses rely on.

We don't oppose regulation; we simply ask that you consider us before you legislate. A one-size-fits-all rule that makes sense for a Midtown bank branch can be impossible for a 500-square-foot neighborhood pizza shop. When storefronts close — as they do across Lower Manhattan, where vacancy rates now hover above 20% — our city doesn't just lose businesses. It loses the eyes on the street, the character of our neighborhoods, the very fabric of community life.

So as you prepare to take on your new roles in January, here's what we'd ask you to consider:

We don't want special treatment. We just want a city that values the contributions of its small storefronts as much as it values its largest developments.

New York is defined by grit, hustle, resilience, and creativity — and no one embodies that more than its small business owners. We're not asking you to save us. We're asking you to finally see us, hear us, and build policies with us, not just around us.

Patrick Hall and Deborah Koenigsberger are co-chairs of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce's Storefront Business Coalition.

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