As New York City comes out of coronavirus lockdown, many small business owners say they are not sure if they will financially be able to reopen, Politico reports.
Tenants have missed months of rent payments and some are not sure they will ever recoup enough money to repay their debts. From mom-and-pop shops to bars, the small business sector provides more than 3 million jobs.
"Everyone loves small businesses," New York City Council Member Brad Lander told Politico. "It's the kind of thing that rhetorically brings right and left together, but it hasn't converted into effective political power or leverage."
City officials have told business owners to ask the federal government for help.
"The scale of this crisis simply requires the resources of the federal government," said Jonnel Doris, commissioner of the city's Department of Small Business Services, during a recent City Council hearing.
"While we continue to hope that much of that need be met by the federal government . . . hope isn't a plan," Council Member Daniel Dromm said at the same hearing.
So far there has not been any response from the Trump administration on how to help small business owners stay afloat, according to Politico.
Local officials have tried to put creative approaches in place by opening streets up for restaurant service and to reverse funding cuts to a lease assistance program. But there is no large-scale plan to help businesses that will likely permanently shutter without financial aid.
A recent survey of building owners reported 64% of ground-floor retail tenants did not pay rent in May. They say the missing payments will impact their ability to make mortgage payments and pay property tax bills.
Some business leaders have asked for property tax reductions for landlords in exchange for commercial tenant relief. But the state faces a steep budget shortfall of its own.
"Even though there's a moratorium for eviction proceedings, the rent bill is really accumulating," Randy Peers, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce told Politico. "This is going to be the big challenge, because even if you open your doors in the next few weeks, that's three months worth of rent, that in itself can put businesses out of business."
A recent survey from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce indicated 46% of businesses missed their May rent payments. A similar survey from the hospitality alliance found 87% of bars and restaurants did not have the money to pay rent last month.
"We are definitely going to lose a lot of them, regardless of how much we do, because some were on thin ice during an era of prosperity," said Kathryn Wylde, head of the pro-business Partnership for New York City, about small businesses. "They are not going to survive, no matter what anybody does."
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