City program helps 2,200 small businesses avoid over $22 million in nes and violations

BY OLIVIA BENSIMON

An initiative aimed at assisting the city’s small businesses cut through bureaucratic red tape has helped 2,200 small businesses save more than $22 million in nes and violations, city ocials announced at a news conference.

Since its launch by the city’s Department of Small Business Services in the fall of 2022, the NYC Business Express Service Team has provided one-on-one support to small businesses citywide on issues relating to proper licensing and permitting, along with other potential hurdles small-business owners might face as they open up shop.

“Working New Yorkers deserve their fair share, and we are lifting burdens o hardworking New Yorkers so they can get their businesses up and running, while simultaneously putting money back into their pockets,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

e city has regained almost 98% of its prepandemic private-sector jobs and is 11,000 jobs away from a full recovery, according to data from the state Department of Labor and the New York City Economic Development Corp.’s April economic snapshot. Food services and accommodation, one of the industries hardest hit by the onset of the pandemic, has recovered 91% of its jobs, the Labor Department said.

“One thing that unites all of our small businesses is frustrations over being nickel-and-dimed with nes and violations that could have easily been resolved with the systems, and saving more than $22 million is nothing to sneeze at,” said Queens Borough President Dono- van Richards alongside Adams and Commissioner Kevin Kim of the Small Business Service Department. “We all have a role to play in boosting our economy, and supporting our small businesses is something we can and all must do.”

Small Business Month

As the city continues on the road to recovery, it is launching NYC Small Business Month, which builds on the national weeklong celebration, Kim announced.

“ is is New York City, and ve days is just not enough to highlight our small businesses,” Kim said. In the next month, he said, SBS sta will bring events and services such as a nancing fair and a workforce development fair to communities across the ve boroughs to support the city’s small-business owners. e recent announcement celebrated the opening of a new bakery on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills: Leidylicious Cakes. Owner Leidy Cordera was able to open it with the support of the Business Express Service Team, which facilitated and expedited relevant documents. is month the City Council will vote on a bill introduced by City Council member Julie Menin, who chairs the council’s small business committee, that would codify the mayor’s executive order to lower nes in 40 categories. In October the mayor signed a bill to create an online portal that would provide small businesses with applications, permits, licenses, and related documentation and paperwork in one place.

“People say, ‘ e city’s coming back.’ And I say over and over again, ‘ e city is not coming back; the city is back,’ ” Adams said. ■

TO RESCUE THE DINER, the owner experimented with comedy shows and online sales.