Today, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced major progress in the administration’s work to make it easier and less expensive to open and operate a small business in New York City. Since the start of the administration, the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) has helped more than 3,000 small businesses obtain licenses and navigate licensing and permitting — including 97 businesses opening their doors for the first time.
SBS has more than doubled its New York City Business Express Service Team (NYC BEST), adding 17 new Small Business Advocates to help owners navigate City requirements and avoid costly fines and fees. The agency has also recommended more than 50 reforms to eliminate outdated permits, redundant paperwork and unnecessary fines. SBS also advocated for the law that made outdoor dining on City streets permanent and year-round.
Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su and SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya recently convened the first quarterly meeting of City agencies under Executive Order 18, which Mayor Mamdani signed to speed up licensing and permitting reforms and improve how City agencies work with small business owners.
“Small business owners already work long hours on thin margins. They should not have to spend those hours navigating City bureaucracy or paying fines that have nothing to do with making their business better,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Our job is to make City government easier to deal with. That means cutting unnecessary paperwork, eliminating outdated rules and making it more affordable for working people to open a business in New York City.”
“If you own a small business in this city, you should be able to get a straight answer from the City, no matter which agency you call,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “Today we brought together the agencies small business owners deal with most to fix problems that cross agency lines, keep the Mayor’s reforms on schedule and make City government work better for the people who power our local economy.”
Since the start of the Mamdani administration, SBS has:
- Helped more than 3,000 small businesses obtain licenses and navigate permitting through NYC BEST, including 97 that opened for the first time.
- Hired 17 new business advisors, more than doubling the NYC BEST team to 30, and trained every advisor on the requirements of key enforcement agencies.
- Recommended more than 50 reforms to eliminate outdated permits, redundant paperwork and unnecessary fines for small businesses.
- Advocated for the passage of Int. 0655, which made outdoor dining on City roadways permanent and year-round.
- Provided more than $8.4 million in grants to community-based organizations serving more than 20,000 small businesses across the five boroughs.
- Delivered the updated Business Owner Bill of Rights directly to more than 4,000 small businesses.
- Deployed SBS’s Mobile Unit at 40 events, reaching more than 1,300 New Yorkers.
“When Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 18, his direction was clear: eliminate outdated regulations and make City government work for New York City’s small businesses,” said SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya. “Our advocates hear from small business owners every day about what gets in their way, and today we brought those problems to the agencies that can fix them. Thank you to Mayor Mamdani, Deputy Mayor Su, and our sister agencies for working with us to make it easier to start and grow a business here.”
“We are working harder than ever to keep our employees paid and our doors open, while navigating city agencies that each see only their own requirements — and tell us they can help us comply, but cannot change the laws,” said Patrick Hall of Elan Flowers. “This task force gives me hope that those agencies will bring together what they are hearing from owners, share their data and get that combined picture to the policymakers and legislators who can act on it before another well-intended requirement adds costs — in money and time — we simply cannot absorb. Independent storefronts help make New York’s neighborhoods places people want to live, visit and do business, but we cannot keep absorbing these burdens with a fraction of the staff and capital available to the corporations and international chains opening flagships beside us.”
City Hall will continue working with City agencies to advance reforms recommended under Executive Order 18 and by the Committee on Government Efficiency (COGE), with the goal of reducing unnecessary burdens and making City government more responsive to small business owners.
Featured image credit: DepositPhotos.com
