Council passes Small Business Relief Bill
Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson at a press conference annoucing the passage of small business relief bills. Photo by Jason Cohen
BY JASON COHEN
Small business owners
were burdened with fi nes during
COVID-19. But recently
passed legislation will now
give them extended time to
pay the penalties back.
With 24,000 small businesses
in the Bronx facing
6,000 regulations from city
agencies, it is hard for any
small business to survive.
But, when the pandemic hit
last year many places were
staring at uncertain times.
Recognizing that small
businesses are the lifeblood of
the city’s economy, New York
City councilmembers Mark
Gjonaj, chair of the city Small
Business Committee, and
Vanessa Gibson, both Democrats,
grabbed the bull by the
horns and conducted a yearlong
examination of regulations.
Their review found 200
such regulations that do not
affect public health and as a
result sponsored legislation
— in the form of two bills —
addressing those in particular.
Currently, many agencies
do not have cure periods
for small business owners in
relation to remediating violations.
One would allow people
a grace period to remedy their
violations before triggering
penalties and the other bill
would create an amnesty period
for fi nes.
“We couldn’t just talk the
talk, we had to walk,” Gibson
said.
The bill, Intro.2233, which
passed the City Council
unanimously on June 17, will
permanently expand cure
options available to small
business owners, lowers existing
penalties, and waives certain
penalties for certain violations
relating to sanitation,
health, transportation, consumer
affairs, noise control
and buildings laws. By providing
permanent relief, the
bill addresses the draconian
inspections and penalties for
regulatory violations that
plagued small business owners
well before the pandemic.
The mayor has 30 days from
the date of passage to sign the
bill into law.
On June 18, Gibson was
joined by the Bronx Chamber
of Commerce, the 161st Street-
Business Improvement Districtand
localbusiness owners
to celebrate the passage of
the legislation.
“It was a year ago that our
borough faced the highest infections
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 10 ULY 16-22, 2021 BTR
of COVID-19,” Gibson
said. “Our businesses were
also severely impacted by this
pandemic and many experienced
a loss in revenue, having
to lay off their employees
and were forced to close their
doors with the uncertainty if
they would ever reopen.”
Gjonaj also sponsored Int.
2234, which would require
the Commissioner of Finance
to establish a temporary program
that would waive fi nes
by up to 75% that were issued
on or after March 7, 2020. And
any fi nes before March 7, 2020
retroactive to 2012 will be reduced
by 25%.
Now in 2021, the lawmakers
realized that small
businesses needed help to
successfully navigate a postpandemic
world. So, they
worked with the City Council
to fi nd ways to keep businesses
alive.
“We know this has not
been an easy time and this
will not solve every problem,
but for many minority owned
businesses and all of our
businesses, they felt the disproportionate
impact of COVID
19,” Gibson said. “These
bills are the fi rst step forward
for small businesses to have a
fi ghting chance in rebounding
from this public health
crisis.”
While this legislation will
help small businesses, some
weathered the storm during
COVID-19 due to the help of
business improvement districts.
Dr. Camelia Tepelus, executive
director of the Morris
Park BID, told the Bronx
Times that the BID worked
closely with most of the businesses
and when they received
warnings they were
able to remediate the issues
promptly. Ultimately, this
helped them avoid heavy
fi nes.Tepelus did commend
the lawmakers for stepping
up to the plate and helping
the struggling small
businesses.“But this legislation
is defi nitely helpful
to alleviate some of the burden,
because there were instances
when regulations
were changing so fast, that
businesses were barely able
to follow up,” she said.
However, according to the
Westchester Square Business
Improvement District,
the majority of the businesses
that were fi ned in that area
were fi ned by the state, not
city agencies.
One of those places was
Kirvens bar, 736 Lydig Ave.,
in Pelham Parkway. Marisa
Davis, owner of Kirvens, says
the new legislation is only
half addressing the problem.
She understands it will help
some businesses, but bars
were hammered by the state
Liquor Authority, SLA, during
COVID-19 and she wishes
state lawmakers would take
action.
Davis called this new legislation
“political stroking,”
as she feels the only agencies
that gave tickets out during
the pandemic were the SLA
and the NYC Department of
Buildings.More importantly,
Davis said, violations from
the SLA are extremely high
and hit her deep in the pockets.
She was fi ned for cracked
light sockets, extension cords
and out of date fi re extinguishers
during the pandemic
forcing her to make the decision
to relocate her business.
“The fi nes killed this city
and all the businesses in it,”
she said. “You can’t fi x a broken
plate and we are all shattered.
This city makes me angry.”