Vanishing New York Backup

This article in the Guardian begins, "On a damp and humid Thursday afternoon Manhattan’s Union Square is looking sorry for itself. There’s 73,000 sq ft of empty retail space up for grabs at 44 Union Square in the now boarded up neo-Georgian landmark that was once Tammany Hall."  What it doesn't mention is the fact that several small mom-and-pop businesses were pushed out of the building in 2016 to make room for, undoubtedly, more chain and luxury businesses that would fit the class of workers intended for the building's high-tech makeover.      Frank's Wines & Liquors had been there for over 40 years. A deli went, along with a smoke shop and magazine shop. Also pushed out were the New York Film Academy and the Union Square Theater. It's unlikely that those high-tech workers are coming. And the chain stores probably aren't either, since they've now "abandoned" Manhattan after helping to destroy it.  It is deeply regrettable that the lea...

To slow the spread of coronavirus, New York is now on PAUSE , which includes the closure of all non-essential businesses. Essentials include grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, and restaurants and bars that serve delivery and take-out only. Bookstores, however, are not, even though they also have the capacity to serve delivery and curbside pickup with social distancing. Rebecca Fitting, co-owner of Brooklyn's Greenlight Bookstore, is leading the charge to get bookstores re-classified as essential and keep them open during PAUSE. She has sent a letter to Governor Cuomo, signed by several local bookstore owners, making the case for their necessity. At Greenlight, orders packaged for pick-up at the door "We are urgently asking that you recategorize bookstores across New York State as an essential service," the letter states. " In New York, both schools and libraries are closed and Amazon has announced they are de-prioritizing books and are...

For this weekend's #SaveNYC Quarantine Cash Mob, please support these small businesses from the safety and comfort of your home by ordering take-out or delivery. In Manhattan: Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery Get some delicious take-out from this "unassuming East Village bodega that also serves what is widely considered to be some of the city’s best home-style Pueblan cooking" ( NY Times ). 215 Avenue A In Brooklyn: Grand Canyon Offering take-out and delivery Grand Canyon reopened in 2018 by one of its longtime waiters. They have all the great diner food you'd expect along with an excellent selection of Mexican food. 143 Montague St. 347-889-6670 White Tiger Take out and delivery Pequena Take out and delivery Gonzalo “Victor” Carreto, one of the owners of Grand Canyon In Queens: Neir's Tavern Neir's is 190 years old, recently saved from a rent hike. They're offering take-out and curbside options. In the Bronx: Beatstro Tak...

Today's #SaveNYC Quarantined Cash Mob is at the Three Lives & Company book shop in Greenwich Village. Founded in 1978, Three Lives is a beloved part of Greenwich Village. Run by Toby Cox, the shop's entire staff is always available with an excellent book recommendation and conversation. During the COVID-19 crisis, Three Lives is offering free hand-delivery of books within the West Village, as well as shipping via UPS to anywhere in the country. You can also take a quick stroll by for curbside pickup. Get a new book for your weekend indoors. Call Three Lives at 212-741-2069 or send an email (info@threelives.com) to order your next read--and help keep " the perfect New York bookstore " alive. Troy and Toby, photo via Women's Room More Quarantined Cash Mobs: - Gem Spa - Here's a list of more businesses to support and more ways you can help New York's mom-and-pops, and their employees, stay afloat while we all stay home.

As New York's mom and pops have been forced to close for public safety, #SaveNYC is launching a "Quarantined Cash Mob." Each day (we hope) we will highlight a different small business in the city that you can support easily from home. Make a donation or buy a gift card. Order take-out or delivery from restaurants, cafes, bars, and shops. Take action and spread the word -- before we all emerge to find New York has vanished completely. Thank you Tommy Noonan of dcx for the design For the kick-off today we're starting with Gem Spa. Gem Spa has been on St. Mark's Place in the East Village since 1957, a favorite spot for rock stars, artists, poets, and everyday New Yorkers. Currently owned and operated by Parul Patel, Gem is best known for its delicious and celebrated egg creams. They have recently designed their own line of popular merchandise, including t-shirts, hats, and special edition artworks. Visit their online store to shop for merchandise. Mak...

The coronavirus shutdown has shuttered the restaurants, shops, and bars of New York City. Our independent mom and pops are struggling to survive--and they absolutely may not be here when the crisis is over. Imagine coming out of quarantine to find a totally vanished New York, all your favorite bookshops and restaurants, bars and cafes gone forever. This is your chance to take action and help save our vital and beloved spaces. This list is a place to start--and crowd source. Add your favorites in the comments--but be sure to include contact information and links that include info about ways to easily make donations or place orders from home. I will update this list as much as possible. As always, patronize your neighborhood places--order take-out or pick up, buy gift certificates, and make donations--you could choose one per day and keep them in rotation as part of your daily routine. Until our elected officials figure out it's time to pass legislation to protect small business...

This Saturday, September 14, at 12:00 noon, come spend some money at Gem Spa--and Instagram the shit out of it. At #SaveNYC , we are hosting a Cash Mob to help support this beloved and historic East Village business. Get some stuff--egg creams, pretzels, t-shirts, toothpaste!--and take your photo with a surprise work of guerrilla street art, as an acclaimed group of cultural activists and designers radically transform Gem into a dystopian vision for the new St. Mark’s Place. The event will take place from noon to about 2:00, rain or shine, but you can visit and spend your money any time. Gem Spa is located on St. Mark's Place at the corner of Second Avenue in the East Village. ( View the Facebook invite here .)

Since Amazon announced its controversial plan to move into Long Island City, Queens, New Yorkers have organized in force against the corporate tech giant. On Black Friday, a group called Amazons Against Amazon rallied on the steps of the NYPL Main Branch and marched to the Amazon bookstore on 34th Street, singing anti-Amazon carols while the NYPD guarded the store. Songs including "DeBlasio the Neoliberal Mayor," sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Countdown to Amazon HQ2, a.k.a. The 12 Days of Christmas. "Amazon got a buyout and gave to NYC: Skyrocketing rents, No more local bookstores, Tech bro invasions," among other undesirable gifts. More events and actions are being planned by multiple activist groups. Today, Amazons Against Amazon and the Queens Anti-Gentrification Project are calling for a Cyber Monday blackout of Amazon . Also today: Protect Queens: #NoAmazonNYC Nov. 26, 5:00 - 8:00pm Court Square, Long Island City, Q...

Yesterday was the SBJSA hearing before the City Council at City Hall. Thank you to everyone who showed up for the rally and the hearing itself, and thank you to Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council for giving this the time and space it deserves. At noon, a large crowd of about 100 SBJSA supporters gathered on the steps of City Hall for a rally and press conference. David Eisenbach, who is running for Public Advocate, led the rally at which several people spoke on behalf of the bill. At the same time, supporters of REBNY, the powerful real estate lobby that opposes the bill, streamed in. At the gates they received blue baseball caps printed with a white slogan making the claim that the SBJSA is commercial rent control. (It is not.) The optics on this had an unsettling effect. Later in the day, SBJSA supporter James Klein said during his testimony, "If New Yorkers have learned anything over the last two years, we have learned that when a mob shows up in colored hats, New...

Today's the day. Right now, we've got one weapon to fight the vanishing of New York and it's the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). If you've been following this blog, you know we've been fighting for this for years. Today, come to the rally and open public hearing at City Hall and let the City Council know: Enough is enough. Pass the SBJSA. 12:00 Rally & Press Conference 1:00 Public Hearing New York City Hall View the Facebook invites here and here . The SBJSA could have saved: The Lenox Lounge, Florent, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Big Nick's, Avignone pharmacy, St. Marks Bookshop, Colony Records, Bleecker Bob's, 8th Street Gray's Papaya, Bill's Gay 90s, The Stage Deli, Rocco's Ristorante, and so many more. But there's much left to save. If you can't be there today, here's what you can do: 1. Write and/or call your local Councilmembers--your messages go into the record--and tell them to pass the SBJSA: - Fill out...

As we near the October 22 public hearing for the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, I want to think critically about the use of the phrase "Shop Local." First, let me be clear, I am not critiquing the act of shopping locally, which is important and necessary. I am critiquing the use of the injunction "Shop Local" by city leaders, which I believe is sometimes weaponized against the real possibility of systemic change to help save small, local businesses in the city. It is, quite simply, a way to deflect blame from the system and onto the individual, stopping progressive change in its tracks. I was struck this summer by the appearance of this deflection at a town hall meeting with Mayor de Blasio and City Council Member Helen Rosenthal on the Upper West Side. When an audience member asked what can be done to stop New York's mom and pops from vanishing , the mayor said that, while he supports a vacancy tax to stop landlords from leaving storefronts empty, ...

Sick of watching the small businesses in your neighborhood vanish? Here's your chance to do something about it. Come to the #SaveNYC Happy Hour: - Wednesday, October 3, from 7:00 - 9:00PM - Dream Baby Cocktail Bar, 162 - 164 Avenue B, NYC: Extended happy hour for #SaveNYC = $4 for beer and well drinks, $2 off everything else. - View Facebook invite here At long last, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act is getting a hearing . Come celebrate, meet and mingle, and strategize next steps for this important event and beyond. Jeremiah Moss and others will be speaking on the importance of this historic bill. David Eisenbach, the anti-REBNY candidate for Public Advocate, will talk about his work and what we can do to get ready for the public hearing later in October. Speaker Corey Johson Pledging Support for Small Businesses (WNYC Brian Lehrer) from Wheelhouse Communications on Vimeo .

Back in 2015, Benny's Burritos shuttered on Avenue A after 27 years in business. The space is still empty, creating more high-rent blight , a plague that is swallowing hyper-gentrified neighborhoods across the city. Someone has a suggestion. A vacancy tax has been on my wish list for a few years now. Recently, Mayor de Blasio mentioned it on WNYC. He said: “I am very interested in fighting for a vacancy fee or a vacancy tax that would penalize landlords who leave their storefronts vacant for long periods of time in neighborhoods because they are looking for some top-dollar rent but they blight neighborhoods by doing it." Now the street is speaking.

Back in 2014, just before launching #SaveNYC , I put together a wish list for saving the city's mom and pops . The list included, among other things, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) and a vacancy tax on landlords who keep their commercial spaces empty, creating a problem known as high-rent blight. For years, activists have been pushing for the SBJSA and they've been pushing harder than ever in the past couple of years. The vacancy tax idea has also picked up steam. More and more New Yorkers are talking about the small business crisis and the real solutions that can stop it. Talk can lead to change. It seems we have arrived at a critical moment. Last week, Mayor de Blasio mentioned the vacancy tax for the first time. On WNYC he said, “I am very interested in fighting for a vacancy fee or a vacancy tax that would penalize landlords who leave their storefronts vacant for long periods of time in neighborhoods because they are looking for some top-dollar rent but...

The following is a press release from the Small Business Congress Candidates rally behind call to Freeze all Commercial Evictions Last Chance to Save Mom & Pop businesses on the road to extinction. Last Wednesday, on the steps of City Hall, independent-minded candidates running for office called for an Emergency Freeze of Evictions of All Commercial tenants. Lead by Mayoral candidate Sal Albanese, Public Advocate candidate David Eisenbach, and six council candidates, they claimed City Hall was not doing enough to pass legislation to protect small businesses from the sky-high rent increases forcing them to close in record numbers. Small Business Congress spokesperson Steven Barrison went further and accused the city’s leadership--Mayor de Blasio, Public Advocate James and Speaker Mark-Viverito--of joining big real estate in “rigging the system” to stop any legislation which gave rights to commercial owners to negotiate fair lease terms. Barrison stated: “the crisis facing ou...

For years, we've been watching the hyper-gentrified parts of town wither under the strain of what's become known as high-rent blight . The city is being hollowed out . Small businesses are vanishing--not because of random "market forces" or changing consumer trends, and not only because of online shopping, but because the rent is too damn high. The issue is finally getting traction in higher places. State Senator Brad Hoylman, a long-time advocate for small business, has published an in-depth report: " Bleaker on Bleecker: A Snapshot of High-Rent Blight in Greenwich Village and Chelsea ." Hoylman trying to save Cafe Edison, 2014. Photo: Peter Ajemian, twitter In the report: "Senator Hoylman’s office found numerous examples of high rent blight, where independent businesses are forced out because of 'exorbitantly high rent…being raised astronomically.' In case after case, landlords push out local businesses in order to hold out for luxu...

Tired of watching your local small businesses disappear? There are solutions. Tired of complaining about it while doing nothing? Here's your chance. Tonight, the Artist Studio Affordability Project is hosting a discussion and organizing meeting on the topic from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. at Jimmy’s 43, 43 East 7th Street in Manhattan. They write: "We have a commercial rent crisis in NYC. Bodegas, bookstores and hardware stores are closing. Working artists, dance troupes and musicians are leaving the city. And manufacturers are leaving our industrial zones, taking their good jobs with them. Why? High commercial rents, and no lease rights. Learn about some possible solutions, including one approach introduced in the City Council: The Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). The SBJSA would help all commercial lease holders in NYC, from mom & pop stores to artists to manufacturers. It offers an opportunity to restore economic equality to our business owners, save our art a...

As more and more mom and pops vanish from the face of New York City, people are getting sick of it, and the idea of saving them keeps coming up in the media. This past week, NY1's "In Focus" with Cheryl Wills had two segments on the subject. In the first ( watch here ), Wills talked with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich about the problem of chain stores in the city. As Brewer noted, "We don't live in a mall in the middle of Minnesota. We live in New York City." Of course, without real policy changes, like the Small Business Jobs Survival Act or commercial rent control, like we had from 1945 - 1963 , New York's looking an awful lot like a mall in Minnesota. And it will only get worse. In the second segment ( watch here ), Wills spoke with The Commissioner of the NYC Small Business Services, Gregg Bishop, and the President and CEO of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Mark Jaffe. Unfortunately,...