VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4
RECONNECTING DOWNTOWN POST-SANDY
NOV. 28 - DEC. 5, 2012
Mayor announces new grant program for small businesses BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER
Photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Irina Kurdevanidze outside her restaurant, Acqua, at 21 Peck Slip.
Already up to their necks in debt, many of New York City’s small retailers and restaurateurs whose businesses were wrecked by Superstorm Sandy have been pleading for grants to help them reopen. On Saturday, Nov. 24, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Partnership for New York City are allocating $5.5 million dollars for a grant program to assist small businesses in all five boroughs. The Mayor’s Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that facilitates public-private partnerships throughout New York City, is contributing $5 million to the grant program, with the Partnership for New York City contributing the remainder. The Partnership is also a nonprofit organization whose 200 members are the C.E.O.s of New York City’s largest corporate, investment and entrepreneurial firms. The Partnership’s mission is to enlist the business community in efforts to advance the economy of New York City. The Partnership’s donation of $500,000 to the new grant program has been specifically earmarked for businesses in Lower Manhattan. They must be located south of Canal Street and have fewer than 100 employees. The maximum grant under the program for Sandy-afflicted small businesses will be $10,000.
SBA administrator Mills gets a Seaport earful BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER A constellation of City, State and federal elected officials gathered on Nov. 20 at Marco Pasanella’s South Street wine shop to welcome Karen Mills, the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, prior to showing her what Sandy did to the South Street Seaport. Pasanella’s store was one of the few places in the neighborhood where such a gathering could have been
held. Most Seaport stores are empty and boarded up. Pasanella managed to reopen because, as he said, his building is “primitive” without an elevator or a basement where fancier buildings kept their boilers and other equipment that Sandy smashed. Borough of Manhattan President Scott Stringer, who led off the remarks that preceded the tour, said he had recently spoken to President Barack Obama about some of the concerns of Lower Manhattan. “I men-
tioned some of the devastation I had seen at the Seaport and talked about all the small business owners whose lives are truly on the line,” Stringer said. “He said, ‘I’m going to bring resources and help to the Seaport.’” U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler, who has been banging the drums in Washington, D.C. for the Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Sandy relief efforts, confirmed the mesContinued on page 7
To be eligible, a business must have been displaced or closed by Superstorm Sandy for at least three weeks and must have applied for a low-interest loan through the City’s Emergency Loan Fund. This loan fund was launched with $10 million contributed by the City and by Goldman Sachs immediately after the storm retreated. An additional $5 million has just been committed to this loan fund by a consortium of New York financial institutions through the New York Bankers Association. The money is earmarked for small businesses that were damaged by flooding or power outages and is to be used for such expenses as working capital, repairs and equipment replacement. The loans are interest-free for six months and then carry an interest rate of 1 percent for up to 24 months. The grant to any one business will be no more than that business receives in loans, meaning that in order to receive the maximum grant of $10,000, a business must also have at least $10,000 in loans. The new grant program is designed to supplement loans, not to replace them completely. It will be administered by the New York Business Development Corporation and was developed in collaboration with the City’s Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). Continued on page 6
IN THIS ISSUE
LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FIRST PERSON . . . . . . . . 4 & 5 SCAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
now
Chelsea
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November 28 - December 5, 2012
Letters to the Editor To the editor: This “matching grant� news [from the Mayor’s Fund and the Partnership for New York City] is not so great for my situation as a retailer of a small business — The Salty Paw — on Historic Front Street. In order to qualify for a grant, you have to first apply for a loan from the City’s Emergency Loan Fund. As a small business that already operated lean, how will I be able to generate the additional income required to pay back a loan on top of my future day-to-day operating costs and overhead? I was just starting to make ends meet after five years of being open and making a small profit. Due to the residential vacancies in the neighborhood when I can reopen, my sales are going to be significantly lower. Yet, I will have the same operating costs and monthly expenses as when the South Street Seaport was flourishing. Plus, I will have been without real daily sales for several months and it will be a struggle to get back to where I once was. The occupants of the Historic Front Street storefronts have been told to vacate for three to six months so landlords can rebuild the mechanical and electrical infrastructure. Taking out a low-interest loan just does not help me now if I can’t rebuild at my original location — 38 Peck Slip — anytime soon. I simply would not be able to afford to repay a $25,000 loan for a very long time — low interest or not. As I figure out the future of The Salty
Paw and try and raise funds to reopen (I need about $50,000 to rebuild and $50,000 or more for inventory and equipment) we have joined the Seaport Animal Hospital for a few weeks at 80 Beekman St. (off Fulton Street) so we can regroup and reconnect with our clients who are still living in the neighborhood. It is a start. We may have also found an independent space in the neighborhood that will give us temporary space for a short-term, six-month lease until we can rebuild at 38 Peck Slip. We are starting our crowd-funding efforts to raise money for The Salty Paw on www. LuckyAnt.com. We are selling “dollar for dollar� gift certificates to help generate money now so we can rebuild bigger and better. People can choose to redeem these gift certificates or not when we reopen. They can be used toward grooming or retail...but every dollar counts for us now to try and keep my staff and business together. I am very emotionally attached to my old storefront, and it would be hard to swallow never returning. However, I need to do what I can do to keep my business going. Regardless, The Salty Paw will be back — hopefully sooner than later. You can check out our rebuilding updates and fundraising efforts at www.thesaltypaw.com. Amanda Byron Zink Owner, The Salty Paw
LOWER MANHATTAN:
BACK TO BUSINESS The Downtown Alliance recently announced a new grant program to support small retailers, restaurants, service SURYLGHUV DQG QRW IRU SURÀWV DIIHFWHG E\ +XUULFDQH 6DQG\ 7KH SURJUDP RIIHUV JUDQWV RI XS WR WR HOLJLEOH HQWLWLHV ORFDWHG LQ )ORRG =RQH $ VRXWK RI &KDPEHUV 6WUHHW *UDQW DSSOLFDWLRQV ZLOO EH DYDLODEOH RQ RU DERXW November 30, 2012. &RPSOHWHG DSSOLFDWLRQV ZLOO EH SURFHVVHG E\ DSSRLQWPHQW RQ D ÀUVW FRPH ÀUVW VHUYHG EDVLV To register and to receive information please visit www.downtownny.com/backtobusiness %URDGZD\ 6XLWH New York, NY 10271 www.DowntownNY.com
Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
The Salty Paw at 38 Peck Slip was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
To the editor: My name is Eve Luppino and I am part owner of Manhattan Plant Design Experts (Front Street) and SamSara Cafe (Water Street) along with my business partner, Pamela Renna. Our businesses are located around the corner from each other and were greatly affected by Sandy. We received more than eight feet of water in the lower levels of both businesses, which destroyed everything. Our horticultural design company (MPDE) had just received all of its holiday products the week before Sandy hit — trees, ornaments, poinsettias, wreaths, garlands, decorative cylinders, moss, etc. Plus our existing client’s holiday trees and ornaments are stored in our facility through the year, all of which were lost — not to mention computers, copiers, phones and Internet (which are still out). Verizon states we should be back up and running the first week of December. We needed to re-order and replace all products with a promise to our vendors that we would pay once we received proceeds from insurance and an SBA loan, which we now find out we don’t qualify for. If we don’t qualify for the loans then we don’t qualify for grants. We are very disheartened and disappointed. Our restaurant lost all of its stock including wines, liquor, food, sodas, dry goods, all equipment and refrigeration. Our ability to reopen is based on getting grants. Prior to Sandy we lived through one year of construction to rebuild the infrastructure to the Seaport area. This construction made all of us virtually invisible to potential clients. There are many other businesses in our immediate area that are in the same situation. In order for us to re-open our restaurant we need $30,000 in working capital and the same applies to MPDE to replace stock, computers, fixtures, flooring, etc. We were denied by our insurance carrier because they said the cause of flooding was due to the surge from the East River. It will be near impossible for us and many others to re-open without grants. Our lives and life savings will be gone forever. We need our government’s help. Eve Luppino Manhattan Plant Design Experts & SamSara Cafe
To the editor: We are, of course, grateful that the city is finally starting to offer some help now, after one month. The losses that we had at Acqua, our restaurant at 21 Peck Slip, are estimated at over $150,000. We were forced to take the NYC Small Business loan of $25,000 immediately in order to start rebuilding ASAP. But this loan, as well as the proposed $10,000 grant [from the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City], is only a fraction of the money we need in order to reopen. Because we are doing business in Zone A, we could not get flood insurance. That was not our fault. We lost inventory, most of our equipment, computers, our point of sale system, furniture, our wonderful, wooden floor, dry walls, power lines. Our only option now is to pile up the debt that will let us open soon and hope for the best. For many small business owners on Peck Slip and Front Street, their businesses are all they have. Acqua is all we have. We put all our savings in it. We pay diligently all city and state taxes, we make sure our employees are paid well and are happy. We even kept paying the sidewalk cafÊ fee of $4,000 a year even though there has been enormous, ugly construction right in front of us for over a year now. We are doing our part, the best we can. At the end, our profit margin is extremely slim and we are very close to losing even this small profit. Losing Acqua for us means losing our homes and our only income. Ours is one of the oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods in New York City. We need more substantial help from the government. We are definitely going to re-open very soon. It is the only way for us to save our business. We have to hope that customers will come to dine in a neighborhood torn to pieces by construction and hurricane damage. Small businesses on Peck Slip and Front Street are really counting on assistance from the government and the community. Irina Kurdevanidze Owner, Acqua Restaurant
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November 28 - December 5, 2012
TALK TO US! This is the fourth issue of NYC Reconnects. It is being published weekly, sometimes as an insert in NYC Community Media’s other newspapers (Downtown Express, The Villager, The East Villager, Chelsea Now and Gay City News) and sometimes as a stand-alone paper. We would like to hear from you. Send us your comments about this publication and ask questions related to Sandy. We’ll try to get answers. Letters to the Editor are always welcome. Send email to Terese@nycreconnects.com.
NYC Reconnects photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Karen Mills, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, at a press event on Nov. 20, where she viewed the damage to the South Street Seaport inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
Terese Loeb Kreuzer Associate Editor, NYC Reconnects
Editorial
SEASON OF MIRACLES
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Eve Luppino came close to losing more than her business when Sandy struck the South Street Seaport on Oct. 29. She nearly lost her life. Luppino is co-owner with Pamela Renna of Manhattan Plant Design Experts on Front Street and the SamSara Café on Water Street. As she tells the story of what happened that night, she and Renna were in SamSara when they heard the sound of running water coming from the lower level. They ran downstairs. “Water was coming in from everywhere,” Luppino said. “We turned off the main to the entire restaurant. By the time we got up to the street level, the water in front of the restaurant was four feet in the street.” Luppino lives above the Manhattan Plant store and with her partner, tried to head home. “All I needed to do was come out of the restaurant, make a right and go down Dover Street,” she said. When she got about a quarter of the way down the street, the water was just below her nose. “At that point, I had no idea what was under my feet,” she recalled. “I tripped over something and went totally under. I was pulled out of the water. My business partner was behind me. As I
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come out of the water, she goes under. The next thing we know is the surge. We get pushed halfway up Dover Street. It was horrible, absolutely horrible.” At that point in her story, she paused. “There were people around us. I’m not sure who pulled me out but all I know is that when I did come out of the water, I didn’t see that person. I know that my business partner couldn’t have pulled me out. I was lucky to live.” Who saved Luppino’s life? She doesn’t know. Maybe it was an angel. That’s what she thinks. “It wasn’t my time,” she reflected. “It’s going to be a tough one. You’re going to rebuild, but you’ll get there.” This is the season of miracles, which come in many forms. Even those who scoff at angels may recognize that sometimes human intercession can seem miraculous. Many of the Seaport merchants are going under as are businesses elsewhere in Lower Manhattan. Where will help come from? When Karen Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and several City, State and federal elected officials convened in Marco Pasanella’s South Street wine store on Nov. 20, they promised help. They are working on it with everything they can. Let the miracles begin. Terese Loeb Kreuzer Associate Editor, NYC Reconnects
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November 28 - December 5, 2012
FIRST PERSON safely stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn when Sandy came ashore. Burrow, Bretillot and their two children occupy the upper two floors of their house as a residence. The ground floor is used exclusively for business and the second floor doubles as a dining room and conference room. When Sandy struck, the children were staying in SoHo with friends. Burrow and Bretillot stayed with their house, a new structure, finished in 1998, which they bought in 2002. In Burrow’s words, this is what happened. — Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Clive Burrow’s Sandy Odyssey
Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Clive Burrow, chairman of New York TAB (Travel Advisory Bureau), a tourism marketing agency, in the garage of his townhouse on Beekman Street, where he lives and works.
It has been less than a month since Superstorm Sandy slammed into the South Street Seaport, but to residents and business owners it undoubtedly seems much longer. Clive Burrow, both a resident and a busi-
ness owner in the Seaport, had a front row seat for Sandy. He and his wife and business partner, Audrey Bretillot, live on Beekman Street in a four-story townhouse, which is also the office for their business, New York
TAB (travel advisory bureau), a membership organization that attracts visitors to New York City. New York TAB is the largest printer of New York City maps — some six million a year — which fortunately were
We had heard rumors that there was an evacuation order in the Seaport but we knew the house would be safe. With multiple stories, we knew we could go to an upper floor if we had to. We started preparing the house on Sunday. We were expecting maybe two feet of water so we emptied ground-level filing cabinets and lifted valuable furniture either upstairs to the second floor or put it on the desks in the office. We probably spent around 12 hours carrying things upstairs, organizing the files, moving the furniture and taping what we could with industrial-quality tape. By around 5 p.m. on Monday, we were finished. The storm surge happened Monday evening. From the second floor, we saw the water slowly coming up the street. We went downstairs to reinforce from inside the possible entry of water. We put a couple of sheets on the front door. And then the water started to speed up and climbed rapidly. It started pouring through the sides of the front door at 6
WE STAND WITH LOWER MANHATTAN Monday’s storm devastated Seaport homes and small businesses. We are learning what can be done to help our neighborhood. Visit our website for updates. newamsterdammarket.org
NEW AMSTERDAM MARKET
November 28 - December 5, 2012 inches, 12 inches, two feet. When the water inside reached three feet, I said to Audrey let’s go upstairs and drink, joking that it was an attempt to balance the osmotic pressure. It was resignation. We knew we couldn’t do anything about this. We weren’t scared. Our initial fear was that the winds would be extreme. That didn’t happen. It was a pussycat of a storm. We lost a few flower boxes. That’s all. We watched from the second floor and went one further floor up to the library where we chatted. We went to bed around 11:30 p.m. on the fourth floor. We didn’t feel that we had to protect ourselves except to make sure that all blinds were drawn just in case. I took one final look downstairs before going to bed. I saw the water at its height, at around 5 feet. At 3:30 a.m. I woke up and went down to see the five feet of water. It had drained completely out of the house. As far as I can tell, everyone in the neighborhood made the same mistake we did. It
practical things. We threw away the children’s bicycles, skating boards, riding helmets. We threw away the top drawer of a filing cabinet full of ruined financial files. We took photos to show the IRS that we weren’t being careless with them. We worked solidly until Thursday when I flew to England for work. Audrey followed on Friday. Audrey delayed her departure so she could liaise with our bookkeeper and look at our options. Some years ago, we (mortgage holders) were forced by the federal government to take out flood insurance if we were deemed to live in a potential flood zone. When we bought the house, we had normal insurance and it had an element for flood. I believe the flood insurance cost us around $300 a year. The federally mandated insurance put the price up to $3,000 a year. It’s through a separate insurance company that just deals in flood insurance. I believe they have a deal with the federal government to set the rates. The rub is that it doesn’t cover contents, just the building. The origi-
“Everyone in the neighborhood made the same mistake we did. It was optimism over analysis.” was optimism over analysis. Everybody prepared, but only for two to three feet of water. Some of the preparations made a lot of difference because we had moved things up a story. But everything downstairs was damaged. The desks on which we had put things floated. The washing machine and dryer floated. The washing machine fell over. Luckily we don’t have ground-floor windows. The stores on Fulton Street had debris smash their windows. The next morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. A refrigerator from Red restaurant on Fulton Street floated along Front and up Beekman to the corner of Water where it come to rest along with Red’s stainless steel counter top. It was interesting to see the corner cement-based lamppost on its side the next morning. That was indicative of the power of moving water. We had no electricity the next morning. The water went up to light-switch height and completely engulfed the electricity. The scanner, the fax machine, the telephone system were all destroyed. We had cellphone service but it wasn’t very good. We found that we could intermittently send texts. This went on for a few days. It was very frustrating. The next morning there were huge numbers of police all over the neighborhood. After a day or so, the other blue-and-white was Con Ed. We knew we had to start hosing everything down. We had a hose on the roof, where we have a garden. The water did not seem to be full of sewage. The smell was of oil product. We ended up throwing many things away — an antique barometer, an antique mirror and a lot more. The barometer had been in Audrey’s family for two or three generations, maybe more. The antique mirror had mold on it. We left the mirror on the wall. When we took the mirror down just two days later, we found mold growing on the back. We lost some precious things and some
nal flood insurance that we were all used to would have covered the contents. We’ve registered with FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and the SBA [Small Business Administration]. We heard from a neighbor that FEMA had been fast in providing a small grant for accommodations. It was around $2,900. We applied for that knowing that we couldn’t stay in the house without a boiler and would need accommodations. We guessed we were looking at between $50,000 and $200,000 worth of damage to the house. We didn’t know. It was a wild guess. The whole ground floor of the house is now completely empty. The old boiler is being thrown away. They’re hoping to put the new boiler in tomorrow. Loans are available for homeowners and businesses through the SBA and FEMA. For businesses, the interest is 4 percent. For homeowners, it’s 1.6 percent. But we very much do not enjoy being supplicants of the state. Although we have lost some money, the bureaucracy and the turmoil [of going after it] would outweigh our interest in getting back down to do our job. Our flood insurance company will pay for some of our losses. We’ve suffered business disruption. Advertising is a major source of revenue for us. Some of our clients aren’t advertising because they don’t have a business to advertise. But unlike many of the businesses down here, we are not selling a physical object in the Seaport and therein lies our silver lining. I have learned how in a flood zone the ground floor and the basement, if there is one, should be constructed with all surfaces washable and non-porous – stone, tile, metal. Boilers should be raised off the ground. Fuel storage tanks should either be very modern and completely sealed or should be elsewhere. Boilers and other infrastructure equipment in basements have crippled much of the Seaport.
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Sandy scams: Phony charities and price gouging PHONY CHARITIES Be sure that money you give to aid Sandy victims actually reaches those in need. The New York Department of State advises consumers to beware of unfamiliar organizations soliciting funds for victims in the aftermath of Sandy and in the rebuilding process. Scammers may seek to gain access to credit card numbers and bank accounts in order to commit identity theft. Unscrupulous charities may also seek donations, even though only a small percentage of the money, if any, will actually be used to assist victims. Past tragedies and natural disasters have demonstrated that some individuals fraudulently solicit contributions for a “good cause.” Similar scams occurred during other disasters such as the tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
To maximize your assistance: Contribute to known and verifiable charities. Beware of email requests, which may not really be from the organization named. It is safer to go to the website of the organization yourself and make your donation there. Beware of callers who want your money fast or use high-pressured tactics.
Avoid giving cash. Make checks out to the charity not to an individual. Ask if the donation is tax deductible. Guard against fake solicitations. Don’t disclose personal or financial information. Consumers who receive suspicious requests for donations or post-disaster services are encouraged to immediately report them to the DOS using the online Consumer Complaint Form at www.dos. ny.gov or by calling the toll-free hotline at (800) 697-1220. For more information on scam prevention and to view scam alerts, go to the DOS Division of Consumer Protection website (https:// www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection/)
PRICE GOUGING In Sandy’s wake, some businesses have raised their prices excessively on essential goods and services like drinking water, ice, groceries, fuel, towing, and car and home repairs. State law prohibits excessive increases in prices for essential goods and services during times of market disturbance, such as after a disaster. If you feel that you are being unfairly charged for goods or services such as drinking water, food, towing, or any other necessity, raise the issue of price
gouging with the provider. If that does not solve the problem, you can report the merchant to local law enforcement or the Attorney General. Consumers needing further help should contact the New York State Department of Financial Services’
New grant program Continued from page 1
Businesses that have already applied to the Emergency Loan Fund for a loan will be eligible to receive grants retroactively. Once a complete application is received and approved, the funds are disbursed within five to seven days. New York City’s Department of Small Business Services has been utilizing its NYC Business Solution Centers to coordinate with community-based organizations in severely afflicted areas to help businesses with the application process for loans. NYC Business Solution Centers will now also assist in grant applications for the newly announced program. For more information or to apply, business owners can call 311 and ask for NYC Business Solutions or go to www.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/.
Consumer Services Bureau at (800) 342-3736 which is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Disaster-related calls only should go to the disaster hotline at (800) 339-1759, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for as long as needed.
The Lower Manhattan NYC Business Solutions Center is at 79 John St. The phone number is (212) 618-8914. In addition to financial help, SBS has been providing logistical help to small businesses in severely impacted areas through its Business Outreach Team’s Emergency Response Unit. Its services include expediting re-inspection, application and permit processes; replacing lost or damaged City permits or paperwork; resolving issues with insurance by working with the New York State Insurance Department; accessing free legal services; and connecting businesses to tax abatements for reconstruction, utility rebates and other incentives. It is possible that funding for the new grant program may increase as the need for it is evaluated. Donors interested in supporting the program can go to www.nyc. gov/html/fund for more information about the fund and how to donate.
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November 28 - December 5, 2012
Mills gets Seaport earful Continued from page 1
sage that Stringer brought from Obama. “I’m glad we have a very sensitive federal government and an administration that is interested in helping and has the resources and the know-how,” Nadler said. He also said that the “fiscal cliff” that is threatening to hobble many federal programs with deep spending cuts on Dec. 31, 2012 would not affect FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) allocations. He said the money in the kitty was not sufficient but that what is there would not be taken away. New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick pointed out that although some businesses are up and running, they don’t have the foot traffic they need because the area is devastated. “There are places where there isn’t any phone service so there’s no credit card use,” she said. “For both businesses and residents, that is a critical problem — one that we faced after 9/11 when there was no credit card use for a long period of time.” New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that he welcomed the SBA and its loan programs but added that grant programs are equally necessary. Some businesses “are heavily in debt to begin with,” he said, “and to add debt in order for them to continue to operate and to make up
for some of the renovations that they have to do and the losses they have taken is an extreme burden that will not allow some of them to open and certainly will not allow some of them to qualify.” Addressing Karen Mills, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron said, “We know that what exists today isn’t going to be sufficient so we’re so glad you’re here to gather information.” Mills responded to these remarks by saying that she had been in the room when the Manhattan Borough President spoke to President Obama. She said that in coordination with FEMA, the SBA had “been on the ground” within days after the storm. “We are able to provide immediate assistance to small business owners in a number of forms,” she said. “First, if you have physical damage, do not wait for insurance.” She advised going to the SBA site – www.sba. gov – and filling out an application. “If you don’t have your paperwork because it’s been flooded, we can get your tax returns and with your permission put them into that application electronically,” she said. “And if you have trouble with that, we have a call center where someone will walk you through it and just a few blocks from here, we’ve opened a business recovery center and we have counselors who will sit down with you and walk you through the form and fill it out for you.” Mills said that even businesses that had not
had physical damage might qualify for SBA assistance. “We have an economic injury loan,” she said. “These are very low cost over a long period of time. Our counselors will look at your business plan and make a path forward.” Mills said that the SBA has already approved $20 million worth of loans for Superstorm Sandy issues, with a turnaround time of about 10 days.
“This is a long-term recovery,” she said. The president, Shaun Donovan [the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development], myself at the SBA — we are going to be here for the months and years ahead. We will stay the course and make sure that this area becomes as vital as it has been in the past and even more so.”
Free mobile credit card readers Just in time for holiday shopping, the Alliance for Downtown New York is putting mobile credit card readers in the hands of Lower Manhattan merchants whose telecommunications systems were shut down by Superstorm Sandy. Square Mobile Card Readers will allow storeowners to ring up sales as they wait for their landlines to be restored. The Downtown Alliance said affected businesses could also check with their cellular providers to learn about other temporary solutions. The free Square Mobile Card Readers enable anyone, anywhere to accept credit cards. They can be plugged into an iPhone, iPad or Android device. Square Register is the free app that serves as a full point-of-sale system for businesses to accept payments, track sales and manage their businesses
without a contract or additional fees. Businesses can sign up in minutes with Square to start accepting credit and debit card payments. The fee is 2.75 percent of the amount of each credit and debit card transaction. Funds are deposited into the business's bank account within one to two business days. This past Wednesday, Downtown Alliance staff members visited merchants south of Chambers Street to tell them about Square Mobile Readers and find out if they would like to sign up. For more information, businesses can also contact the Downtown Alliance’s coworking facility, the Hive at 55, to speak with Daria Siegel about the program. Siegel can be reached at (212) 835-2744 or dsiegel@downtownny.com.
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November 28 - December 5, 2012