Report: Another city plan in the works to address NYC's retail vacancy crisis

[The former Bar Virage on 2nd at 7th]

A story to watch... and a story discussed around here.

Per Gothamist yesterday:

In an attempt to address the staggering number of empty storefronts across New York City, a Brooklyn City Council member [Stephen Levin] plans to introduce a landmark bill next week that would seek to regulate commercial rents.

How staggering? As NYC comptroller Scott Stringer's office recently reported, vacant retail space in the city nearly doubled these past 10 years, up to 11.8 million square feet in 2017 from 5.6 million square feet in 2007. During that time, Stringer's research found that retail rents rose by 22 percent on average across the city.

Which brings up: Whatever happened to the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which has been around since 1986 ... and after some high-profile support in November 2017, has languished in Council limbo for the past year...?

News roundup: At the SBJSA hearing Monday

[Image via Facebook]

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.

Rally for the Small Business Jobs Survival Act tomorrow at City Hall

As Jeremiah Moss wrote:

The Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) is the best way we currently have to slow down the loss of our small businesses and the scourge of high-rent blight that is killing our streetscapes.

Recently, City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriquez reintroduced the SBJSA. Corey Johnson, the new speaker of the City Council, has pledged to give the bill a public hearing, and we hope it will go up for a vote and pass in full force.

Find more background here. The rally starts tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10 a.m. at City Hall.