Small businesses in New York City that struggled before the COVID-19 pandemic have arrived at the brink of permanent closure with no relief in sight for them or their landlords.
Business owners have been pleading for relief. But the city said the problem is too big and help must come from the federal government, Politico reported.
Many businesses have missed rent payments for months and have few options to help them pay them off. Others worry that their businesses cannot come back fast enough to stay afloat. That could spell trouble for up to 3 million jobs in the small business sector.
A recent survey of building owners revealed that more than 60 percent of retail tenants on the ground floor did not pay May rent. That has led into building owners’ struggles to pay the mortgage and property taxes.
Small business struggle is nothing new, and neither is confusion on how to help.
“There is no silver bullet,” former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told Politico. She worked on various small business-related initiatives during her time in the Council. “It’s a great issue to be rhetorical on and it’ll get you cheers. It’s a harder issue to follow up on.”
City leaders say that they need a bailout from the Trump administration, which does not appear to be in any kind of hurry to help the city.
“The scale of this crisis simply requires the resources of the federal government,” Jonnel Doris, commissioner of the city’s Department of Small Business Services, said at a recent City Council hearing, Politico reported.
The rent is piling up for many of these businesses, and that may be the biggest challenge for business owners. Even if they can open their doors, it takes time to make up months of rent and get out of the financial danger zone, even if they can’t be evicted, Politico reported.
Small businesses lack the political clout and organization to work as a combined front on the issue. They've organized within their racial or ethnic groups, or their industries, for common goals. That's often geographic, Neal Kwatra, a Democratic advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and labor groups, told Politico.
"Those groups are pretty effective in their own districts, their own neighborhoods," he told Politico. "I think the challenge is where you have a citywide impact like this and all of them are affected."
Before any relief comes, many of the small businesses may close. Some already have done so, or expect it.
Samudra Restaurant owner Jagdish Shetty hasn't had money to pay rent for his Jackson Heights location since the shutdown began.
“A lot of people used to come here, people used to come from all over. Now, nobody comes,” he told Politico. “But you still have to pay rent. They’re not lowering the rent or anything, so I’m going to have to close the restaurant.”
