A Shameful Half Truth!
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From the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation: WE DON’T GIVE UP —AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU! Help us keep up the fight to preserve our neighborhoods.
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The truth is, that they did give up long ago on the Greenwich Village, East Village and NoHo mom and pop business owners. They also never really fought hard on behalf of the loyal customers who loved their favorite mom and pop businesses and wanted someone to do something to save them when their leases expired and they were at the mercy of their landlords.
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Recently we received an email from Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. A plea to, “Help Us Save David’s Shoe and Watch Repair, 460 Hudson Street!” David’s Shoe and Watch Repair at 460 Hudson Street (at Barrow Street) is a 40+ year-old...may come to a crashing halt if a proposed 90% increase in the store’s rent goes through when the lease expires at the end of June. We’re spreading the word and working with friends and neighbors to try to get David’s landlord to reconsider and let David’s Shoe and Watch Repair stay.
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Their call was to “write the store’s landlord urging him to let David stay.”
This plea is somewhat disingenuous for two reasons. Firstly, because it knowingly gives David and his loyal customers a false hope of surviving by the pathway of only pleading with the landlord. This call for community action continues to put the future of every business owner like David into only the hands of the landlord, a mostly long proven desperately failed last chance action.
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Secondly, they purposely omit the best and only real public action needed to save David and other merchants. This long overdue action from an angry community lead by the community’s advocates is a united call for politicians to finally make a priority to pass legislation to stop the closing of good businesses like David’s when their leases expire. Over the many years, how many "David’s" were forced to close while local lawmakers made no real effort to save them? When will the Village advocates give a real voice to their merchants and loyal customers? A united voice speaking for the will of the people demanding lawmakers commit to stopping the destruction of the backbone of the local economy.
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Will the public finally have had enough of losing their favorite established businesses and hold their lawmakers accountable for doing absolutely nothing to give David and others the rights needed to at least have a fighting chance to survive and make a reasonable profit when their leases expire?
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What call for public action to save David should have Greenwich Preservation made?
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The long history of local merchants forced to close when their leases expired, while lawmakers remain silent and turn their heads, proves that for the long run, and for the majority of owners, a predictable bad outcome for David and others is certain when only the landlord continues to have all the rights in the commercial lease renewal process. This one sided commercial lease renewal process in NYC has for over a decade been the “root cause” destroying good businesses like David’s. This destruction of the American Dream for owners will continue in the future until local lawmakers decide to pass legislation to regulate this destructive and grossly unfair process!
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Andrew Berman, as well as all the staff of GVSHP, has seen repeatedly over the years many other good small business owners who faced the same fate as David, of having no rights while dealing with a greedy landlord. Is this public call to petition the landlord really the best opportunity to save David? Or meant to distract and cover up the failure of local politicians to take any notable actions to address the real “root cause” of their good businesses forced to close when their leases expired across every community in NYC.
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Village Preservation knows for an absolute certainty that the only real long term solution to save David, and all the other good businesses when their leases expire, and who are willing and able to pay a reasonable rent with fair lease terms, is to give David the right to renew a long term lease. The same renewal rights that residential rent stabilized apartment owners now have. Also, legislation that would protect David’s investment by leveling the playing field for David and others in negotiating fair lease terms. A fair commercial lease renewal process can only be accomplished through legislation that gives tenants like David both the right to renew their leases and an arbitration process with proven fair guidelines when mutual agreement cannot be reached. There is no other real option to save even one business owner without the fair regulation of the commercial lease renewal process.
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David and other merchants likely are not aware that until Jan. 2022, a pending bill had existed for decades in the City Council. The Small Business Jobs Survival Act, Jobs Survival Act, would give all business owners the right to renew 10 year leases and equal rights to negotiate fair lease terms with an independent arbitration process to encourage compromises and assure fair rents. A decade long unresolved citywide small business crisis led to a citywide “empty store blight,” which was followed by the most challenging struggle for business owners to survive the covid crisis, yet few business owners were ever aware of the real lifeline (Jobs Survival Act) to give merchants a fighting chance to survive or make a reasonable profit. Why?
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This blatant discrimination and denial of economic justice for small business owners is the outcome of a lobby controlled City Council. A lobby controlled economic policy that has put in grave jeopardy the survival of every business owner like David, when their leases expire and that they have no rights.
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The Village Preservation, and other community advocate groups, were aware of this law and had at times publicly supported it. But that inconsistent frail support has proven of little value to move this critical lifeline to a vote, even when the majority of Council Members sponsored it. Why? The Village Preservation team has built a deserving record of passionately fighting successfully for their community. They have been successful by building and having strong political capital with their local lawmakers.
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Unfortunately for David, and all local business owners, and for the integrity of many community advocates, the most powerful city lobby in America, the real estate lobby, REBNY, controls these same local lawmakers. Beginning with former Speaker Quinn, all the local lawmakers benefiting from the lobby’s funding or being politically empowered have eagerly pledged loyalty to REBNY above the welfare and survival of their own local merchants and their workers. Even above the slow destruction of the spirit, character and energy of the most iconic neighborhood in America. Sadly for David and other merchants, that loyalty to REBNY remains the case today.
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Not only did these lawmakers: Quinn, Johnson, Rivera, Brewer, Chin, Hoylman, and Bottcher refuse to fight for their merchant’s rights and justice, even during a growing crisis, by demanding a vote on the Jobs Survival Act, but they all played key roles in the collusion with the lobby to stop any vote on the bill, eventually killing the bill.
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Therefore, it will depend upon the Village Preservation and other local community advocates/ activities to be the lone voice in the Village area for their merchants and workers. A voice to call for economic justice and rights for the merchants facing a crisis to survive when their leases expired. A difficult choice to make for any organization whose political support has been totally corrupted by REBNY.
The moral bankruptcy of the Village lawmakers by REBNY resulted in the merchants being viewed as “collateral damage” and expendable to the political ambitions of career politicians and many self serving government funded organizations not willing to risk their own financial futures for the futures of mom and pop owners. David and other merchants were the victims of the choice made by many advocates to remain silent to the rigging in plain sight at City Hall to stop a vote on the Jobs Survival Act.
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There would be no effort whatsoever from the Village organizations to put pressure on local lawmakers to “do the right thing” and pass real legislation to restore the American Dream for merchants like David.
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To give David, and other merchants, the best chance to remain in business, who should have Andrew Berman organized? Also, what message should be given to the most influential lawmakers who can take real action that matters? Andrew should have organized every true progressive advocate/activist, along with every organization which serves the Village community in some manner. The message would be the same one that former Small Business Committee Chairman David Yassky gave to his Committee Members at a hearing on the Jobs Survival Act, “there is no option to do nothing ….or our mom and pop businesses will disappear.” Long established merchants cannot compete with deep pocket big banks and large chains bidding up skyrocket rents on main streets. At the end of the hearing Yassky and every member of the Committee became sponsors of the Jobs Survival Act, making 32 sponsors and certain easy passage when voted on.
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Would then Speaker Quinn stop good government from working? Stop her own City Council from doing their mandated role? Yes! She would collude with the real estate lobby, REBNY to cook up a bogus legal roadblock to stop any vote on the Jobs Survival Act. Her actions would end up throwing hundreds of Village businesses under the bus.
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Would the true progressive community advocates and organizations unite to plead with Quinn to allow good government to work in her Council? To appeal to her to at least amend the Jobs Survival Act to satisfy any "alleged" legal issues and move it to a vote, like what would happen with any other legislation. Total silence from the Village advocates for the next 9 plus years! The dire prediction from Chairman Yassky, of doing nothing would result in the disappearance of many mom and pop merchants, came true. The empty storefronts on every main street prove his prediction.
The Village advocates and progressive activists would get another chance in Oct. 2018 to call for legislation giving their merchants the rights they needed to remain open and profitable.
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After a decade of disingenuous political rhetoric and political theater touting that our small businesses were the backbone of the economy…foundation of our community, etc., while thousands of good businesses were forced to close and empty storefronts replaced vibrant businesses, the truth of who really cared about local business owner’s rights and future would be publicly exposed. That truth of who had the moral obligation, ethics, political will and courage to stand up to REBNY and their political lackeys, and instead stand on the side of the desperate merchants would be clearly shown at a public hearing.
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This exposure took place on Oct 22, 2018 at a public hearing on the Jobs Survival Act. The closing of long established businesses, sometimes iconic businesses, and the insane rent increases that caused the “empty store blight” citywide, forced a Council hearing on the only real legislation to stop the closings.
The Jobs Survival Act was the oldest legislation in the Council, introduced in June, 1986. For over 3 decades it has been amended seven times making it the fairest, most legally sound, and simplest commercial lease renewal process possible. It had 11 prior honest hearings in the Council of which the small business advocates easily won each hearing. Most importantly was the reality that the overwhelming majority of small business owners enthusiastically called for this bill’s rights needed to protect their businesses and worker’s jobs when their leases expired.
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The real estate lobby knew if another honest hearing were ever held in the Council, and the true small business advocate’s voices were allowed to make their strong case for an immediate vote on the bill to end the city’s small business crisis caused by REBNY’s member landlords, it would easily be passed into law.
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The powerful REBNY would never allow the Council, which they heavily invested in at election time, to pass legislation that regulated their landlord members in the commercial lease renewal process. Prior to the hearing what followed was the most disgraceful anti-democracy acts of a government that was following the scheme of REBNY to stop a vote on the Jobs Survival Act.
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For those truly sincere community advocates and organizations that had a real empathy for the dire plight faced by their small business owners they were in the perfect district for their voices to be heard. Councilwoman Rivera was a member of the Small Business Committee and sponsor of the Jobs Survival Act. Speaker Johnson pledged a “vigorous hearing” and before becoming Speaker was a very proud sponsor of the bill calling for its passage.
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Villager OP ED Oct.19, 2017
BY COREY JOHNSON
Sadly, our mom-and-pop stores are in crisis. Unchecked real estate speculation, skyrocketing rents, fines, competition from deep-pocketed corporate chains and online shopping are putting unprecedented pressure on small businesses. Many landlords are opting to let their storefronts sit vacant, holding out for exorbitant rents. We cannot allow this trend to continue. Government has a responsibility to take action before it’s too late.
I am a proud co-sponsor of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which would give tenants a right to lease renewal, a right to arbitration by a third party if fair terms cannot be reached, and restrictions to prevent landlords from passing their property taxes on to small business owners. The importance of these measures cannot be overstated. This bill would give mom-and-pops a fighting chance.
The true community advocates could call upon their history of goodwill with these key lawmakers (Johnson and Rivera) to be a strong voice for rights and justice for their merchants. All giving the same simple message that this hearing offered the best, and likely last, opportunity for real legislation that would finally give the rights needed to the merchants to stop the closings of good businesses and end the city’s small business crisis. It is not an overstatement to claim that the fate of every business owner’s future and profitability would rest with the outcome of this hearing. How many, if any, local community groups or advocates called upon Johnson and Rivera to at least give the mom and pop owners a fair honest hearing? From the outcome of this hearing, none!
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Speaker Johnson kept his promise and gave a hearing on the Jobs Survival Act. But what good is a hearing when he abdicated the oversight responsible of the Small Business Committee to a lobby? Without debate, this hearing would be the most anti democracy lobby orchestrated sham hearing ever held in the City Council. This link* details why the authors of the Jobs Survival Act were shut out of any planning of the hearing. The refusal of the pro real estate owner Chairman Gjonaj to meet with the authors and advocates of the bill to plan the hearing, along with the Speaker’s team hand picking the speakers for the small business owners, forced for the first in 12 hearings a call to boycott this sham hearing.
* https://www.savenycjobs.com/call-for-boycott-sham-hearing
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Only the lobby’s false narrative and goals would be highlighted at this hearing. A who’s who of big real estate, fake lobby shills, pro developer Chambers, property owner controlled BIDS, lobby controlled SBS and government funded NFP would all mimic REBNY’s talking points. REBNY’s goal was to stop any call for a vote on the Jobs Survival Act. Then to create a chorus of “red herring” testimony that the bill must first be amended to omit any protections of Fortune 500 type companies. No testimony was ever given promoting another real solution to stop the closings of businesses in NYC. Nor were any rational arguments given against the bill. Claiming arbitration was a burden on small business owners is ridiculous in NYC with $300-$400 plus an hour attorneys in the never ending pro landlord courts.
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Typical of the Village advocates speaking at this hearing came from Andrew Berman. Berman, “Our organization previously testified at the September 2016 joint hearing held by this committee on promoting retail diversity and preserving neighborhood character where a number of compelling initiatives were discussed.” This was another sham hearing to distract away from the Jobs Survival Act with a bunch of worthless initiatives that had nothing to do with the “root cause” of good businesses closing, which everyone knew was the commercial lease renewal process. Furthermore, when a group of community activists rose to testify on behalf of the Jobs Survival Act they were told by the Chairman that there would be NO mention of that bill at this hearing.
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Berman, “ While zoning incentives and vacancy penalties are important to consider, without consideration of commercial lease renewal protections, these alone won’t be enough.” His statement had no place at this hearing. For over 3 decades REBNY has tried to give credibility to their cooked up substitute legislation and initiatives for the Jobs Survival Act. Zoning has nothing to do with commercial lease renewals! It only deals with new leases and only specific neighborhood streets and specific business types. Zoning would not save one business.
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Vacancy penalties is another lobby cooked up distraction away from the only real solution, Jobs Survival Act. How illogical, that a landlord would kick out a long time tenant paying $10K plus a month and leave the store empty for sometimes years. Yet, a fine would force him to keep the business open. Again, all the distraction lobby inspired initiatives have nothing to do with stopping the closings of good businesses when their leases expire. NO, Andrew they are not important to consider! The Jobs Survival Act and its goal is to prevent good businesses from closing in the first place.
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Berman, “One vital approach to the vexing challenge of rent gouging and refusal to renewal leases is the Small Business Jobs Survival Act.” Again wrong, Andrew’s statement of “one vital approach” is misleading. There is no other vital approach to stop the closing of businesses when their lease expires except the rights given in the Jobs Survival Act. For the past decades the lobby’s talking points for lawmakers to hide behind has included: the Jobs Survival Act is “not the silver bullet..only the first step.. and more studies needed to confirm.” The bill has had 11 previous hearings and been updated and amended seven times to make the regulation of the commercial lease renewal process: the fairest, most legally sound, simplest, least costly to merchants, and most efficient to encourage compromises and fair rents.
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Andrew was right though and greatly appreciated for his statement, “this hearing should lead to a vote to approve this much-needed measure.”
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But Speaker Johnson had another outcome for this hearing and it was not a vote on the Jobs Survival Act. Even though no previous Speaker had ever attended any of the past 11 hearings, nor even issued any written statements or comments, Speaker Johnson ruled over this hearing the entire time to assure that the lobby’s goal was achieved. He repeatedly pledged throughout the hearing, “the Jobs Survival Act must first be amended and only then voted on.”
REBNY’s scheme, under the disguise to amend the bill, was to water down the bill after the hearing so that it gave no real rights to the merchants and kept the status quo for the landlords. This scheme blew up when the bill’s prime sponsor, CM Rodriguez backed out and refused to water down his bill.
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What happened next at City Hall concerning the future of the Jobs Survival Act and the actions of the Democratic leadership, as well as the actions of the Village’s community advocates, helps explain why merchants like David today are fighting to survive and will likely have no future in business.
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The conspiracy between Speaker Johnson’s Office and REBNY to rig the system to deny economic justice and rights to desperate small business owners will shatter the integrity of the Council.*
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The simple amendment of the Jobs Survival Act pledged by Johnson at the hearing would take about 2 hours. Being unopposed, this amendment dealt with only changing one paragraph in the scope of the bill. With the bill having had a hearing and with 28 sponsors, with no real objections to the bill, and no other real solutions ever offered, this simple amendment followed by a vote and easy passage, should have been taken by late Nov. 2018. If the Council leadership had followed their legislative mandate and passed the Jobs Survival Act, David (and all Village owners) would have their American Dream restored.
Instead, no vote would ever be taken because this was the worst case of a lobby corrupting the City Council and would occur in plain sight and unopposed by any self proclaimed progressive lawmaker or any community advocates or activists group.
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Speaker Johnson’s COS Erik Bottcher while working with a fake small business group, claimed he was working with a small business advocate to “tweak the Jobs Survival Act” before a vote. He and Johnson were lying to the public. He never had any intentions of amending the bill and moving it to a vote as he had promised. Instead, he was stalling any action on the bill, even with its 28 sponsors. The bills prime sponsor, Rodriguez told a reporter that he NEVER attended any meeting with the Speaker’s staff concerning the Jobs Survival Act. As its prime sponsor he would have to authorize any changes to the bill. The simple 2 hour amendment to the Jobs Survival Act never happened in 3 years! Why the pretending, false statements and stalling by Bottcher and Johnson?
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One year from the Oct. 2018 hearing on the Jobs Survival Act there was no amendment or call for a vote on the bill. Why no outcry from the Village advocates for the Council to move this critically needed bill to a vote and begin saving long established Village area businesses and jobs?
On Nov. 14, 2019 the answer came for the reason of the collusion with the lobby to stall any vote on the Jobs Survival Act.
Council Member Steven Levin introduced a lobby inspired bill, Commercial Rent Stabilization Act, CRS. Even though Levin was a sponsor of the Jobs Survival Act, waiting with 28 sponsors to be voted on, he promoted this shameful lobby status quo bill in the Council.
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In no government in America that practiced “good government” would this lobby inspired bill exist. The CRS bill was a mockery of democracy. The city’s Democratic leadership sanctioned a lobby to blatantly violate Council rules and take over the legal mandated role of the City Council, by creating the lobby's own legislation.
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Three key players directly involved in this successful conspiracy to stop a vote on the Jobs Survival Act and introduce a lobby inspired bill (CRS) were: Speaker Johnson, CM Rivera, and COS Bottcher, all supposed to be representing the best interests of the Village community.
The CRS bill was a desperate and unscrupulous act of a greedy lobby. Every progressive Council Member should be ashamed and embarrassed for remaining silent to this shameful fiasco. This sham bill was an insult to every desperate small business owner in our city.
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The Nov. 2019 introduction of the CRS bill should have generated the strongest protest of outrage from true community advocates against this sham bill. The true intent of these two bills could not be any more opposite or obvious.
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The CRS bill was a cleverly disguised bill that falsely claimed to protect owners from being rent gouged. The truth is the bill gives the business owners NO RIGHT TO RENEW their leases! NO RIGHTS in the negotiation process. Rent percentage rates can only go UP and never down from their 20 years of manipulated speculation levels. The true intent of the lobby’s bill was to keep the status quo favoring only the landlords in the commercial lease renewal process.
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The intent of the Jobs Survival Act was the exact opposite of the CRS bill. To give the business owner the rights needed in the commercial lease renewal process to negotiate fair lease terms that would allow a reasonable profit. Rights like the right to renew a 10-year lease, equal rights to negotiate fair lease terms, and an arbitration process based on a “case by case” situation to encourage compromises and assure fair rents.
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One thing is certain about these two different bills, every Village advocate/activist or organization with a mission to represent the best interests and welfare of the Village citizens, knew for an absolute certainty that the Jobs Survival Act was by far the superior bill to save Village businesses. If being honest, and with total confidence, all knew that 100% of their merchants would want the rights given in the Jobs Survival Act over keeping the status quo for their landlords. The same would be true for 100% of Villagers who would want their favorite mom and pop merchants to have these rights.
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What did Johnson, Rivera and Bottcher know about the Village’s community advocates/activists response to their collusion with REBNY going against all their merchants and the will of the people? How would they know that there would be no outcry from this betrayal of Village small business owners and their workers? That is easy, there were NONE!
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For the next two years at the City Council there would be no call for a hearing to compare these two bills. In fact, the merchants nor the public would ever be made aware of either bill. Instead, the continued lobby’s insincere orchestrated charade and political theater of worthless initiatives, studies and laws pretending to support small businesses would happen.
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What is even a more disgraceful act by Johnson and Rivera, and permitted by the Village advocates, is they refused to allow the Jobs Survival Act to have an honest hearing during the COVID crisis. The COVID crisis caused the greatest challenge to survive by our small business owners. Yet, the best lifeline to give them a better chance of survival was purposely bottled up in Committee, with its 28 sponsors.
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The Nov. 2019 introduction of the CRS bill also highlighted the special betrayal of CM Rivera.* She was a sponsor of the Jobs Survival Act and now she sponsored two bills at the same time. Which one was the better bill to save her Village merchants? Every lawmaker has a choice to make on behalf of their citizens and the vitality of their local economy. She made the choice on behalf of a lobby by sponsoring two bills. The CRS bill does not give the right to renew to the business owners and therefore would not save one single business unless the landlord wanted to keep them open. This reality of merchants having no right to renew their leases was the primary reason the lobby’s CRS bill never had a public hearing, it was indefensible for its sponsors. Why didn’t the Village advocates/activists call Rivera out for sponsoring the lobby’s status quo bill over the Jobs Survival Act? * https://www.savenycjobs.com/carlina-rivera-betrayal
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All pending bills expired on Dec. 31,2021 and would be resubmitted in the new City Council in 2022. For over 34 years the re-submission process was never an issue for the Jobs Survival Act. The bill had seven prime sponsors who easily resubmitted it into each new City Council. Due to term limits, Council rules would place the returning CM Rivera as the new co-sponsor of the bill along with CM Ayala. But for the first time in 3 decades the Jobs Survival Act would not be resubmitted in the Council! Why? Because CM Rivera and CM Ayala flipped and instead, they choose to resubmit the lobby’s CRS bill instead. It is one thing for lawmakers to scheme for REBNY to stop a vote on the Jobs Survival Act, dozens have done that over the decades. It is another thing to scheme with REBNY to KILL the Jobs Survival Act, only two have been successful: CM Rivera and CM Ayala.
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What would be the outcry of this despicable act of betrayal against the Village’s small business owners by CM Rivera? Total silence! On March 22, 2022 CM Rivera and CM Ayala resubmitted only the lobby’s CRS bill into the Council. Would she at least have the decency and ethics to call for a hearing so the true small business advocated could make their voices heard? No! The CRS bill would never be given a hearing in the City Council. Shameful, after falsely claiming this was the bill to “save” our small businesses from sky high rents.
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In fact, the REBNY shills: BIDS, Chambers, SBS, and fake funded business/NFP groups would keep the merchants and public in the dark of the very existence of the destructive CRS bill. Not only would this fake bill not save a single business owner but would make their crisis and struggle to survive much worse.
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In the recent new Council neither bill, Jobs Survival Act nor the CRS was resubmitted! For the first time in 36 years there would be NO legislation submitted to address the commercial lease renewal process! The Council has come full circle from the hearing in June 2009 when good government still worked and Chairman Yassky said, “there is no option to do nothing…the mom and pop stores will disappear.” To over the past decade with REBNY not allowing good government to work for mom and pop merchants. Yassky’s prediction came true and will continue to come true until the true progressive community advocates/ activist and community organization finally find their moral compasses and stand up to REBNY and their political cronies who they put into office to serve only big real estate.
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