FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 3, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
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Pay it forward to
small businesses
this holiday season
BY SOPHIA KIM
Small businesses continue to feel the grind
of the pandemic and they’re pounding the
pavement for your support. Which is why it’s
more important than ever to shop small this
holiday season by supporting small businesses.
Th e pandemic has wiped out small businesses
and they need a lifeline. Washington has yet
to achieve a solution and to add to the uncertainty,
President Trump’s Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin asked the Federal Reserve to
return unused coronavirus funds for its emergency
lending programs by the end of the
year, cutting off much-needed liquidity from
businesses, including the Main Street Lending
Program, during a vulnerable economy.
Th at’s where you come in. Th is holiday season,
instead of buying from a big-box retailer,
support your local small business. Small
businesses are nimble engines of the economy.
In New York City, 98 percent of businesses
are small and they employ nearly 3 million
New Yorkers or half of the city’s workforce —
a number that is being decimated due to hardships
related to COVID-19.
According to one study, if you spend $100
at a local business, about $68 stays in the
local economy — supporting local tax revenue
used for much-needed government services —
compared to shopping at a non-local business,
where roughly $43 stays in the local economy.
Not only do small businesses pack a big economic
punch, but small employers also give
back to the local community by providing onthe
job training to the people that live in your
town, encouraging new entrepreneurs. Let’s
not forget they also sponsor your local Little
League, too.
While controlling the virus is the key to
recover our economy, being a patron at your
mom-and-pop shop is a gesture that could go
a long way.
To uphold social distancing measures, check
if small businesses in your neighborhood off er
online shopping options. If not, they’ll oft en
provide curbside pick-up or delivery. You can
also call to see hours of low customer footprint
to have peace of mind to shop with little to no
contact with people.
As small businesses continue to shift and
adapt during these turbulent times, pledge
your pocketbook to the local bakeries, restaurants,
bookstores, boutiques and businesses
that are minority- or woman-owned as they
tend to generate lower income sales, according
to a Federal Reserve report. It’s also noteworthy
that research shows supporting minorityowned
businesses helps to lessen existing economic
inequality.
Th is action by you provides a measure of
relief for small business owners, employees
and their families but also bands us together to
strengthen the unique fabric of New York during
this challenging time.
So, shop small, make it count this holiday
season.
Sophia Kim is a recent graduate of New York
University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School
of Public Service and comes from a family
of fi rst-generation immigrant small business
owners.
PRAISING THE
SUPREME COURT
I would like to praise the Supreme
Court decision protecting our religious
liberties whereas Governor Cuomo had
enacted rules limiting how many people
can attend houses of worship.
Th e lawsuit was brought by the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
and Queens and the Orthodox Jewish
Synagogues opposing the governor’s
restrictions on religious worship.
We need to protect the community
during this pandemic, but these houses
of worship are doing all they can to
protect worshipers. So why is Governor
Cuomo stepping on the Constitution?
Th e First Amendment allows us to worship
to sustain us during hard times.
As grand knight of St. Anastasia
Knights of Columbus in Douglaston
and as a Catholic, I applaud the Supreme
Court’s 5-4 decision for protecting our
religious freedoms which our country
was founded upon. A decision was
made to protect our religious freedoms
and I, for one, am proud of that.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Bellerose
HERE’S WHAT THE
MTA SHOULD DO
“Fare increases won’t save the MTA”
(Editorial — Nov. 26) missed something
they were already assuming in
2019 as part of the approval process
for the $51 billion 2020-2024 Five-Year
Capital Plan.
Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio
and members of the state Legislature
and City Council were all in on this
fi nancial arrangement before signing
on board. Th is included a 4 percent
increase in 2021 and 2023. What is
new is that MTA Chairman Pat Foye
made clear that if he doesn’t obtain a
second $12 billion COVID-19 bailout,
the fare increase in 2021 may be far
greater than 4 percent.
It is time for the MTA to consider
other cost savings. Th e $51 billion
Capital Plan is dead due to unrealistic
funding source assumptions. As such,
it needs to be cut by billions. Priority
should be given to paying for safety
and state of good repair as opposed to
system expansion projects.
Th e MTA budgeted $4 billion of local
funding to be used toward the $6.9
billion Second Avenue Subway Phase
Two. Th is project benefi ts a handful of
the 5 million daily transit riders. Th ere
is also $1.5 billion for the Bronx East
Metro North Access to Penn Station.
End both the MTA “Arts in Transit”
1 percent expenditure requirement for
many capital projects and Cuomo’s
“New York Buy America Act.” Off er
major businesses, hospitals and colleges
who benefi t by MTA services naming
rights in exchange for adopting
a station, paying for “Arts in Transit”
and adding elevators to make them
ADA compliant. Lobby the New York
Congressional delegation for more reasonable
federal Buy America requirements.
Th is impacts the ability of MTA
to get the best bang for the buck when
spending $1.4 billion in grant funding
every year from the Federal Transit
Administration.
Stop wasting millions on outside
consultants. Use available in-house
resources to do the same work. Go
aft er deadbeat riders who continue
to refuse to pay their fare. Th ey contribute
to a yearly loss of several hundred
million in lost revenue. Limit
employee overtime to legitimate needs
such as additional cleaning and maintenance
due to the unexpected impacts
of COVID-19 and dealing with malfunctioning
equipment, accidents
or adverse weather conditions when
attempting to restore service. End the
approval of excessive overtime used
as the basis to fatten up pensions calculated
on the fi nal year’s base salary.
All combined could save the MTA
billions and reduce the need for a fare
increase above the previously scheduled
4 percent.
Even a second COVID-19 bailout
will do nothing to change the MTA’s
ongoing fi scal crises. Without real
institutional reform at the MTA, along
with reliable hard cash fi nancial contributions
from both City Hall and
Albany, this story will repeat itself
again in coming years.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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