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As you may have read, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA), which seeks to protect small businesses against massive rent hikes, had its public hearing before City Council on Monday.
Per Vanishing New York: The SBJSA gives existing commercial tenants several basic rights, including: 1. the right to renew the lease, 2. a minimum 10-year extension, and 3. equal rights to negotiate a fair rent, with third-party arbitration if an agreement between tenant and landlord cannot be reached.
In 1986, then-City Council member Ruth Messinger first introduced a version of SBJSA, though it never came to a vote. In 2009, the bill came up for discussion at the City Council committee level, but then-speaker Christine Quinn declined to bring it to a full vote, as Curbed noted.
City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez introduced the latest SBJSA.
Here's a rundown of coverage on the eight-hour hearing:
• SBJSA Hearing (
Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
• John Banks Clashes With Corey Johnson Over Commercial Rent Bill at Marathon Hearing (
The Real Deal)
• Small Business 'Survival' Bill Debated at City Council Hearing (
amNewYork)
• What Can NYC Do To Stop Small Businesses From Dying Out? (
Gothamist)
• De Blasio Administration Opposes Commercial Rent Control Bill (
The Post)
• Commercial Rent Bill Not ‘Silver Bullet’: Council Speaker (
Commercial Observer)
• City Council Debates Small-Biz Bill at Heated Hearing (
Curbed)
• Landlords, Activists Clash as City Council Mulls Small Business Jobs Survival Act (
Bedford & Bowery)
• Speak to Speaker Johnson (
The Brian Lehrer Show)
• What Restaurants Need to Know About the Bill Trying to Save Mom-and-Pops from Rent Hikes (
Eater)
• NYC Council Hearing Exposes Opposition to Commercial Tenants’ Rights, Impacting Artists and Galleries (
Hyperallergic)
And Jeremiah Moss talks more about the SBJSA in this EVG podcast from the summer.
