Mamdani discriminates

Mayor Mamdani steps up for residential tenants but ignores small business commercial tenants.

Mayor Mamdani defiantly said, “he would stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city.” Mayor Mamdani calls for Rental Ripoff Hearings to expose the abuses and suffering caused by unscrupulous landlords. The statements from the tenants will guide policy that will protect tenants in the future. He seems to be fully committed to giving a strong voice to the poorer abused tenants of this city. But why is he discriminating against commercial tenants who have also been “ripped off”, and who also need to be protected?

Does he have such a profound ignorance of the workings of small businesses to not understand that they too are tenants. Desperate commercial tenants that have been “ripped off” for more than the past decade. Ripped off from a rigged landlord controlled commercial lease renewal process protecting rent gouging and landlord abuses, such as illegal extortion by unscrupulous landlords demanding cash from tenants to remain open. Also, fleeced are the mostly immigrant tenants who have been targeted to be given only cruel month to month or just one/two-year leases. If he called for commercial tenants to also have rental ripoff hearings he would be shocked at how few would feel free to speak up about their landlord abuses. As the only last true small business advocates left standing in NYC we at the Small Business Congress have the responsibility to give a warning to all business owners to be very cautious in venting their anger/rage against landlords in public.

Unlike many NYC residential tenants who have the right to renew their leases, and laws protecting them, commercial tenants in NYC have no such rights! Every commercial tenant is at the mercy of their landlords when their leases expire because they have NO rights!! This landlord controlled commercial lease renewal process encourages landlord abuses and the worst cases of “rip-off” from the “take it or leave” landlord demands. Therefore, commercial tenants would have to rely solely upon trusting Mayor Mamdani to have their backs and protect their right to speak freely without any landlord reprisals. Retaliations like tenants receiving an immediate eviction notice to vacate in 30 days. A warning is more than justified for business owners to beware of trusting Mayor Mamdani and risk their life’s investment and the jobs of their workers.

We do not know what “deal” was made with the real estate lobby to have Mamdani betray every business owner and their workers by keeping a destructive real estate oligarchy economy in place. An economy that has been destroying the American Dream for countless business owners and their workers. When Mayor Mamdani entrusted the real estate lobby’ loyalist, Maria Torres Springer, to oversee the selection of his new Commissioner of Small Business Services, SBS, we knew that another pro landlord Commissioner would be appointed.* We also knew that the pro real estate SBS would continue to serve only big real estate and deny economic justice and rights to our city’s business owners, as they have been doing over the past decade.

* https://www.savenycjobs.com/rebny-fake-committee

After being hoodwinked by the real estate lobby, would Mayor Mamdani be surprised to learn that the real estate lobby placed Maria Torres Springer in strategically key positions in both the de Blasio and Adams administrations with the goal to protect their control over economic policy in NYC. Also, to use their many lobby shills: property owner BIDS, developer friendly Chambers, fat cat controlled EDC, lobby controlled fake coalitions, lobby influenced Small Business Committee Chairs and its members and SBS to follow a lobby orchestrated Machiavellian scheme of political theater of useless programs and worthless initiatives supported by disinformation and fake studies to coverup the growing crises their real estate oligarchy economy has caused. Shamefully yes, our city’s three purposely unchecked crises: small business crisis, empty store blight crisis and affordability crisis were the outcome of a real estate lobby controlled and corrupt City Hall.

Maria Torres Springer played a Key Role in over a decade long successful collusion with the real estate lobby and the Democratic leadership to rig the system to stop any vote on legislation like the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, Jobs Survival Act, giving rights to business owners when their leases expired. Rights desperately needed in a hyper real estate speculative market for business owners to have the essential right to renew their leases, to survive and make a reasonable profit. This real “lifeline” bill for owners had an arbitration process to stop rent gouging and landlord abuses while encouraging bargaining in good faith. A commercial tenants’ rights bill that would somewhat “level the playing field” and give every business owner at least real fighting chance to protect their investment and the jobs of their workers when their leases expired.

Would Mayor Mamdani be shocked to also learn that the foundation of this over decade long successful collusion against business owners centered on having a pro real estate Commissioner of SBS. A lobby hand picked Commissioner who would never allow an honest hearing to be given to find a real solution to protect long established successful business owners and their employees from the insane rent increases, landlord abuses and oppressive lease terms.

A SBS Commissioner with the likely pledge given to a lobby to never use SBS to regulate commercial landlords in the highly profitable commercial lease renewal process. A SBS Commissioner who was mandated by law to serve and promote only the welfare of small business owners but instead would empower the property owners by establishing more BIDS and give them more funding and a stronger voice. A deceitful voice as they pretend to serve and care for the welfare of business owners while having a hidden agenda of promoting a lobby created false narrative on the true state of health and needs of our business owners. A SBS agency who would be the disgraceful public voice in stopping a vote on the only real lifeline, Jobs Survival Act, to save many thousands of our small business owners and jobs when their leases expired. If the SBS would have honored their mandate and allowed good government to work for business owners, then at FOUR times the Jobs Survival Act should have been voted on and easily passed into law: Aug. 2009, Feb 2011, Nov. 2018 and Mar. 2022. Four times the Democratic leadership had the opportunity to “end the small business crisis”! Four times they refused to promote their progressive values, serve the will of the people and honor their oaths of office.

If anyone of the Mayors, Speakers, Public Advocates, Small Business Chairs, or SBS Commissioners had the political will and moral courage to stand up to the real estate lobby, Real Estate Board of New York, REBNY, then the empty store blight and affordability crisis would have been PREVENTED! Over tens of thousands of jobs on our main-streets everywhere in NYC would have been saved! Today, on every busy main street there would have been NO empty store fronts! Property taxes would have been lower for all home owners with 200K plus entrepreneurs collecting more revenue every day for the city’s budget.

If Mamdani lived up to the progressive values he readily proclaims, always with a smile, and appointed an independent Commissioner of SBS that served only the welfare of our city’s business owners and was never influenced by special interests then the American Dream would be restored for every business owner and their workers. One honest hearing with the SBS for once on the side of business owners and not pawns for the real estate lobby that would result in a call for the passage of the Jobs Survival Act. With this bill’s passage then finally the opportunity to end three crises would begin in earnest. The passage of the Jobs Survival Act giving protection to business owners would mean that they can now speak freely about their years of abuses and being “ripped off”. If Mayor Mamdani would hold a special hearing for the NYC business owners being ripped off by their landlords they would have to be held at the Madison Square Garden, Yankee and Shea stadiums.

The biggest surprise for Mayor Mamdani if he did hold a public hearing for business owners on being ripped off would be their RAGE directed at him. Anger at why he did not know that an increase in property taxes would be passed on to most of the city’s business owners to pay. Why he allowed the real estate lobby to con him into keeping the destructive real estate oligarchy economy that only he knows.

Home owners and business owners are in the same boat and Mayor Mamdani will be sinking both with his property tax hike!