BY SHARON WOOLUMS | Since the forum “A Community Call to Action: A Solution for Saving Small Businesses,” held at Judson Church on March 5 after a heavy snowstorm, so much excitement and activity has been generated, it’s been hard to keep up with all the developments.
Numerous newspapers have subsequently run front-page articles about the crisis of small businesses and calls to save them. The Villager, which led the city with the first published article, starting in June 2013 — continuing with my half-dozen other articles through January 2015 — was the first New York City community newspaper to call for a vote on the Small Business Jobs Survival Act.
The Villager’s March 12, 2015, editorial calling for democracy and a vote on the S.B.J.S.A. brought the first public outcry from the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, Steven Spinola.
Spinola’s statements in The Villager’s March 26, 2015, issue explained why REBNY is so concerned about blocking a vote on the S.B.J.S.A.
As The Villager then explained: “In general, as REBNY members see it, the S.B.J.S.A. would put way too much power in the hands of retail tenants.”
Meanwhile, the spiraling-out-of-control rents are spreading citywide and the public is “mad as hell” that nothing is being done. This public outcry recently produced not one but two proposed bills, one introduced in Albany, plus Borough President Gale Brewer’s proposal for voluntary mediation and a one-year extension, to be introduced in the City Council.
Regrettably, both of these bills were written by the real estate lobby, both give no rights to the small business owners and both ensure the status quo.
Now the public must make their voices heard even more loudly and call for a vote on the S.B.J.S.A., and a stop to the landlords’ bills. Many new city councilmembers have signed onto the S.B.J.S.A. since the recent push for it ramped up in The Villager and elsewhere.
In the meantime, activist groups have sprung into action and started to get the word out. Block associations and community boards are discussing the bills, and bloggers are now taking on the issue, as well. Other forums are being planned, one in Brooklyn on June 4. Several political clubs in Lower Manhattan have written resolutions in support of the S.B.J.S.A.
But it was the Village Independent Democrats, which co-sponsored the first community forum with The Villager, that has taken the lead in fighting for the passage of the S.B.J.S.A. and saving the businesses in the Village. V.I.D. kicked off its two-weekend petition drive to save our businesses this past Saturday at the Bedford-Barrow-Commerce Fair.
With small businesses closing each month, this may be the last opportunity for citizens to take action to save them. This is the last round of a 30-year fight where mom-and-pops have been knocked down many times and got back up. But to survive this final round, embattled local merchants need the public’s help on their side.
To help volunteer, contact Sharon Woolums at haroses19@yahoo.com or visit www.villageindependentdemocrats.org .
Woolums is a member, Village Independent Democrats
