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New program celebrates small businesses, allows residents to help them get city funding

Greenpoint Avenue

Feb. 20, 2017 By Christian Murray

At a time when independent stores and family-run restaurants are closing at a rapid rate across New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a program that aims to celebrate the owners of these ma & pa businesses and offer them some potential funding.

De Blasio and the Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop announced last week the launch of ‘NYC Love Your Local,’ a new initiative to celebrate and promote independent businesses that they say enriches neighborhoods across New York City.

The program encourages New Yorkers to share their favorite non-franchise businesses at nyc.gov/loveyourlocal, which will automatically add the business to an interactive map. Residents may also share why they love their favorite local business on social media by using the hashtag #LoveYourLocalNYC.

Those businesses that have been shared or are on the interactive map will then be able to apply for a share of $1.8 million in grant funding and expert advice.

“New York City thrives on the energy, culture and diversity of small businesses,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The NYC Love Your Local program gives New Yorkers a chance to support their favorite businesses by bringing the local establishments they love into the limelight and giving them the chance to cultivate business through a nomination to win a $1.8 million grant.”

“Independent, small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods, and the NYC Love Your Local initiative recognizes and supports their vital role in the fabric of New York City,” said Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation is a funding partner for the business grants.

Local officials and Queens business organizations praised de Blasio’s program.

“The Queens Chamber of Commerce is thrilled about this initiative,” said Thomas Grech, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. “As the most diverse county in the U.S. and the largest geographic borough in New York City, Queens and our small local businesses will be well served by this unique initiative. Queens has nearly 47,000 business entities spread across 14 NYC City Council District so this project will truly spread the love across the borough.”

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12 Comments

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Yuki

H & J ASIAN CARRIER CROP.
We are move to forest hills and new store name is
Gift Full House Group Inc.
103-17 Queens blvd forest hills NY 11375

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Pizza guy

Bklyn is right. T.y.f.r.o.n. too. Maybe i can get a grant so i can purchase one of those spiffy rainbow looking lamp post signs

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Last night in Sweden, SWEDEN OF ALL PLACES!!!!!!!!!

H&J Asian Carrier went out of business, bad pick for the story.

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Bklyn

99% of all NYC businesses are small business. Good luck dividing a $1.8M grant between even 1% of those businesses. Too little, too late.

Do NOT vote for de Blasio for re-election. He is in the pocket of the real estate developers.

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Thank you for ruining our neighborhood

Good comments. Small biz is on verge of extinction. This should have been done a long time ago. Alot of landlords suffocated small biz with high rent.landlord figured big corporations will guarantee me rent. Well i have news for you, they should have let well enough alone. When big biz isnt making ends meet, they dont pay either, chapter 7 . All they did was rip the guys of the community out trying to line their pockets. Killed the salt of the earth. The greed gene kicked in, and greedy people get the green eyes and now they’re claiming theyre losing money on shuttered stores, tax write-off. The landlord survives, and the little guy who just wants to work 16 hrs a day to serve the public, feed his family, make a living, is closed up. One of the previous comments is right, its too late fore dozens of stores, this is a band aid. Where was it yrs ago?

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Matt

My favorite day in Sunnyside is Saturday — when I can go to the farmer’s market, the great local sausage store, Barir’s coffee, Souk el Shater for a sandwich, and the local bar for an afternoon session.

Easy to shop local here!

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So Sad

Loved the time when one could walk around the neighborhood and purchase just about everything one needed. Bakeries, shoemakers, tailors, etc. Everyone knew everyone. Very pleasant place to live. Now everything is “cut throat”, hurry, hurry. Everything is expensive. People do not have the income. Taxes are too high. Seniors can hardly survive on SS. They need the local stores. But, this is what “we the people” are allowing to happen to our neighborhoods through our votes and actions. How sad!

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Theorem Ox

I think this may have been a wonderful program for the city to roll out about a decade or two ago where it could have had a much greater impact. But in 2017, it’s a very flimsy bandage trying to cover up unchecked arterial damage that is showing much signs of necrosis on the surface.

From what I can tell, most independent small business owners (of legitimate, legal trades) are steps away from falling over the cliff. They’re squeezed between ever increasing costs of running a business in NYC (high rents, rising taxes/fees/cost of compliance to regulations, rising costs to employ help) and declining revenue (shrinking margins and you can only raise prices so much on your dwindling customer base before you lose them all).

It doesn’t help that most potential shoppers who would be patronizing those businesses under better circumstances are caught in a similar squeeze of their own. Such seems to be the state of affairs in the Excelsior state.

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Howard Brickman

Great story done today… all of our small business need help to stabilize and promote all of our business

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