BIDs Call for Immediate Small Business Assistance

BIDs Call for Immediate Small Business Assistance

On Monday, July 20, 2020, the NYC BID Association - the umbrella group representing the city's 76 Business Improvement Districts - released a "call to action" directed to NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, and NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson. The statement offered a 9-point plan to give immediate relief to the business community:

  • 1. The mayor to appoint one senior City Hall official to oversee a multi-agency business recovery effort
  • 2. Rent and mortgage relief to small business
  • 3. Expansion of the Open Restaurants program to other storefront businesses
  • 4. Maintaining existing siting criteria for mobile street vendors and to quickly develop new enforcement protocols since the NYPD has been relieved of jurisdiction
  • 5. The streamlining of the State Liquor Authority’s procedures to allow for quicker approval of temporary and permanent permits
  • 6. Activation of sales tax exemptions to spur retail activity
  • 7. Easing requirements to allow non-profit organizations which want to establish open-air markets and pop-ups in city parks and open spaces
  • 8. Holding customers and patrons—not businesses--responsible for their actions
  • 9. Continuous review and revision of outdated and burdensome rules and laws

The full statement is available here:

Click below to read the press release:

The East Midtown Partnership is a member of the NYC BID Association. Partnership president Rob Byrnes serves on the organization's Board of Directors and is a former co-chair of the group.