Image of current districts under the FRESH program. One of the Mayor’s proposed zoning amendments will expand the FRESH program in outer boroughs. Image Credit: NYC DCP
The zoning proposals include allowing gyms and spas to open as-of-right. On March 9, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced several proposed zoning changes to support small businesses, create more groceries stores and improve accessibility across the city. The zoning proposals will enter the public review process later this year. (more…)
NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer. Image credit: Office of the New York City Comptroller
Eighty-five percent of the survey respondents expect to go out of business within six months. On July 10, 2020, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released a comprehensive analysis of the economic hardships minority and women-owned enterprises (M/WBEs) are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the survey findings, Comptroller Stringer announced new accountability measures to ensure the City is meeting its M/WBE goals. (more…)
David Gruber, Chair of Manhattan Community Board 2.
It is time to start a real conversation about a small store retail rent stabilization program.
Many neighborhoods , not only in Manhattan, but also in other high use commercial districts in all the boroughs are being shred apart as small Mom and Pop’s just cannot fight back the tide of the enormous run up of commercial retail rents in recent years. (more…)
February 26, 2013 meeting of food manufacturers. Image Courtesy: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Work space, affordable insurance, and information access among chief concerns of small Brooklyn food and beverage manufacturers. On February 26, 2013, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Council Member Stephen Levin hosted an event for local food and beverage manufacturing businesses at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The organizers sought to give Brooklyn entrepreneurs a chance to raise issues related to starting and growing a successful food-based small business. Organizers hoped to take the ideas generated from the event and help make Brooklyn a top food manufacturing industry location. Over 70 attendees participated in the event, which also provided small businesses an opportunity to network and showcase their products. Attendees sat at 10-person tables and were encouraged to talk through the common pitfalls and problems of starting and maintaining a food manufacturing business in Brooklyn, as well as brainstorm solutions. Attendees were instructed to present the highlights of the small group sessions with the rest of the room at the end of the meeting.
Attendees represented a wide variety of experience and products, such as Salty Road, a salt water taffy maker; The Brooklyn Kitchen, a Williamsburg kitchen supply store and educational facility; Industry City Distillery, a Sunset Park vodka distillery; and the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford-Stuyvesant, an organization focused on the economic and social advancement of the Bed-Stuy community.
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Council Member Marjorie Velazquez speaks at the Subcommittee hearing for the Bruckner Sites Rezoning application. Image Credit: City Council.
Located in a low-density area with few affordable homes, the four proposed apartment buildings would require a controversial rezoning. On September 7, 2022, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing to discuss a proposed rezoning in Throggs Neck, Bronx. If the rezoning is approved by the City Council, developer Throggs Neck Associates, LLC will construct four mixed-use apartment buildings at four different sites off the Bruckner Expressway. The project area is bordered by Bruckner Expressway to the south, Crosby Avenue to the east, Balcom Avenue to the west, and Meyers Street to the north. (more…)
