WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 26, 2019 3
Sunnyside councilman and small business
owners rally for commercial rent control
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer
gathered with small business owners
and advocates in support of a
commercial rent control bill on Dec.
15 in front of the recently closed
Dave’s Bagels in Sunnyside.
Van Bramer is one of the 10
sponsors of Councilman Stephen
Levin’s bill to create a Commercial
Rent Guidelines Board that would
regulate commercial rents just like
the Rent Guidelines Board does for
apartment rents. Other Queens
sponsors include councilmen Antonio
Reynoso and Daniel Dromm.
“Saving and protecting small businesses
is among the most important
things we can do for our community,”
said Van Bramer. “We must empower
small business because they are the
life-blood of our community. Even
when small businesses are successful,
it appears they are punished for
bringing business to their store in
the form of increased rent.”
The legislation would create a system
of commercial rent control for
retail spaces at or less than 10,000
square feet, manufacturing spaces
at or less than 25,000 square feet,
and professional services or other
office spaces of 10,000 square feet.
The mayor would appoint a sevenmember
board, which would determine
rent increases by factoring in
commercial real estate taxes, sewer
and water rates, and gross operating
and maintenance costs.
According to a City Comptroller
report, vacant commercial space
rose by nearly 50 percent — up to
11.8 million square feet — between
2007 and 2017.
Shrima Pandey, the small business
program manager at Chhaya
CDC, said that 2019 had been a year
of victories for land use land use
battles and residential rent reform,
but the business community must be
proactive.
“We need a citywide intervention
to combat displacement, and
commercial rent stabilization is an
important piece of that. So let’s make
a 2020 resolution – let’s make it the
year we put small businesses first,
the year we pass commercial rent
stabilization,” Pandey said.
Local business owners added their
concerns about high rent increases.
“This situation is tough,” said Paul
Longo who owns and operates two
businesses in Sunnyside. “You are
an integral part to help build a neighborhood
only to be forced out with a
100 percent rent increase.”
Councilman Jimmy Van Cramer speaks with a constituent about local
businesses. Photo courtesy of Councilman Van Bramer’s offi ce
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