Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
New biz bills don’t
fi x closings’ cause
Dysfunction
is over now
To The Editor:
Re “Cameras’ speedy
return” (editorial,
March 21):
There are few greater
examples of past
political dysfunction
in Albany than the ongoing
saga of our school
speed cameras, which
went dark last summer
due to Republican intransigence
in the state Legislature.
That era is over. Last week,
our Democratic majority voted
to dramatically expand New
York City’s speed camera program
to a total of 750 cameras,
putting the minds of anxious
parents, like myself, at ease.
New Yorkers should be
especially grateful to Assemblymember
Deborah Glick,
who championed this legislation
for years in the state
Assembly. Our city is a safer
place as a result.
Brad Hoylman
Hoylman is state senator, 27th
District
Ackers Awards
really rock
To The Editor:
Re “Acker Awards to honor
D’town’s avant-garde” (arts article,
March 21):
Clayton Patterson is grabbing
history by the horns in
honoring people who have
contributed to Downtown
culture and the arts. This induction
ceremony is like the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for
the underground heroes of the
Lower East Side. For those of
us who have operated largely
outside of academia and its
star-making machinery, this
recognition is critical.
I love our turf and was
thrilled to be have been included
last year and join the more
than 200 movers and shakers
representing our ’hood,
the worldwide Capital of Hip.
Congratulations to this year’s
winners! Thank you, Clayton,
thank you, LES, and thank
you, Villager.
Jeffrey C. Wright
COURTESY MARNI HALASA
Marni Halasa set up her
“Cemetery of Small Businesses”
outside a March
18 City Hall hearing on
several bills that she and
fellow activists say would
not solve the city’s small
business crisis.
It’s like our
own Oscars
To The Editor:
Re “Acker Awards to honor
D’town’s avant-garde” (arts article,
March 21):
I’ve been to a few of these
ceremonies and I recommend
attending them to anyone. I see
the Ackers as the New York
City art underground equivalent
of the Oscars, except it’s
the underground honoring its
own rather than market-driven
hype and politics of fashion determining
cultural accomplishment
and artistic contribution.
The Ackers are the real deal
and this year I’m up for one!
To other worthy creatives in
the NYC woodwork: Your
time will come. For the Acker
Awards, merit is not on the
order of worthiness or age, I
fi nd. Otherwise, how could
I get this award before someone
like, say, Al Diaz a.k.a.
SAMO? So, next year, Al, because
I’m nominating you.
Anyway, this promises to be
a lively event.
Linus Brant
Go, ‘puppy
mill’ bill!
To The Editor:
Re “Rosenthal unleashes bill
to shut ‘puppy mills’” (news
article, March 21):
This is so overdue. So many
dogs suffering so that the
heartless “millers” can
make money. It’s deeply
disturbing and oh so
wrong. Getting this bill
passed would be huge!
Andrea Foley
Omar wrist
slap was
weak
To The Editor:
Re “Maloney, pols, faith
leaders: End the hate” (news
article, March 21; in print in
Manhattan Express and online
on thevillager.com):
When Congresswoman Maloney
can stand up to Nancy
Pelosi and insist that she throw
Omar off the Foreign Relations
Committee, that’s when
it will be time to believe any of
Maloney’s anti-hate rhetoric.
Unless and until that happens,
everything she says about the
subject of anti-Semitism makes
her nothing more than a phony
baloney Maloney.
Rebecca Harary
Angels kept
block ‘safe’
To The Editor:
Re “Hells Angels ride off
from E. 3rd St. clubhouse”
(news article, March 13):
It seems to me that residents
seem to have forgotten
that this was the only place in
New York where there were no
problems during the blackouts
back in the 1970s and ’80s.
Who the hell would run the
risk of breaking into the wrong
house there?
Peter Ashton
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the Editor, 1 MetroTech North,
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reserves the right to edit letters
for space, grammar, clarity and
libel. Anonymous letters will
not be published.
BY SHARON WOOLUMS
On March 18, the City
Council’s Small Business
Committee held
a hearing on nine bills that
Mark Gjonaj, the committee’s
chairperson, claims would
help struggling small businesses.
This was the largest number
of bills submitted at any
one time to “help” small businesses.
Meanwhile, lawmakers
in all boroughs are hosting
forums and community
boards are holding meetings
to address “high-rent blight”
and the resultant empty
stores. Will something fi nally
be done for mom-and-pop
merchants facing a crisis to
survive — or is this just political
theater to appease an
angry public?
The priority must be to
stop the store closings before
focusing on new programs or
encouraging new businesses
to open. Last year, New York
City recorded 413 commercial
court evictions each month!
Because legal costs and shortterm
leases don’t justify the
expense, the majority of businesses
do not fi ght it out in
court, resulting in 1,200 to
1,300 closures each month.
If a new initiative works and
one business opens but three
close, that’s not progress! If
our government can’t address
the root cause of the closures
of successful long-established
businesses — what chance
will new businesses have
when their leases expire?
Prime sponsors of these
new bills were asked two
questions: “Do you consider
your bill a substitute for the
Small Business Jobs Survival
Act?” and “As a sponsor of
the S.B.J.S.A., will the introduction
of these bills cause
you to no longer support the
S.B.J.S.A.?”
All answered “No” to both,
except Chairperson Gjonaj,
who made it clear he is not
a sponsor of the S.B.J.S.A.
In what may come as a surprise
to Villagers, City Council
Speaker Corey Johnson,
once a proud sponsor of the
S.B.J.S.A., removed his name
from it before becoming
speaker.
Johnson made good on his
word that the Council would
hold a hearing on the longdelayed
bill — but it’s now
already six months since that
hearing occurred.
Councilmember Carlina
Rivera said she is looking forward
to these bills, and that
the S.B.J.S.A. is also being
considered for a full Council
vote as soon as possible.
Councilmember Helen
Rosenthal, though still a supporter,
said, “Its passage has
been delayed for years by the
Council’s strong concern that
S.B.J.S.A. would not survive a
legal challenge.”
Lease
renewals
are the key.
Indeed, in 2009, then-
Council Speaker Christine
Quinn blocked a vote on the
S.B.J.S.A. — which was sure
to pass — with a bogus legal
roadblock that was later proven
false.
Sung Soo Kim is New York
City’s leading small business
authority and drafter of the
S.B.J.S.A. Asked if he believed
any of these bills would really
“help” small businesses, Kim
said, “The absolute essential
component of any law to
stop the closing of businesses
is giving tenants the right to
renewal of the lease, without
which all proposals will fail.”
The S.B.J.S.A. would give
commercial tenants the right
to mediation, followed by, if
needed, binding arbitration
to negotiate fair lease-renewal
rents with their landlords.
At the June 2009 hearing
on the Jobs Survival Act —
which, with 32 sponsors, was
sure to pass — David Yassky,
then-chairperson of the Small
Business Committee, summed
up the crisis.
“I believe we absolutely
have to do something. Period,”
he said. “It’s not an option to
do nothing. … We cannot allow
them to be pushed to the
point of disappearance, which
is what is happening now.”
Schneps Media TVG March 28, 2019 13
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