Mamdani throws Bodega under Bus Bus

Why is a socialist and proclaimed pro working families Mayor willingly promoting real estate lobby inspired policies that keep most Bodega owners in involuntary servitude to their landlords?

Mayor Mamdani made the biggest political self-inflicting blunder when he proudly announced his city-run grocery store program for all five boroughs. This poorly thought out and badly advised program is an even worse gaffe than when he was hoodwinked into allowing the real estate lobby to hand pick key players with oversight of his administration’s economy.* The obvious outcome will be four more years of a destructive real estate oligarchy economy.

* https://www.savenycjobs.com/mamdani-clueless-on-business

A likely trusted Mamdani insider put a blindfold over his eyes and remained silent as the real estate lobby, REBNY, walked him down the plank. Listening to Mayor Mamdani’s first public statements* outlining his priorities and policies for small business owners leaves no doubt who is really in charge of the city’s economy, especially the future of the backbone of our local economies, its big real estate.

* https://www.savenycjobs.com/council-says-no-to-arts

Mayor Mamdani, willingly or unwillingly, started his term off promoting exactly the same real estate oligarchy economy policies of former pro real estate loyalist Mayors de Blasio and Adams. He touted the lobby’s BIG LIE, that he used “word for word” by both Mayor’s as distractions away from the real “root cause” of record numbers of long established successful businesses being forced to close when their leases expire, and owners having no rights in the landlord controlled and highly profitable commercial lease renewal process.

The BIG LIE Mamdani was pitching is the lobby created and absurd talking point, “the major problems facing small business owners were too many fines and too many regulations.” The real estate lobby’s loyalists then paraded the Mayor out to Brooklyn to give taxpayer money and praise to a property owner controlled BID. The BIDS have been the lobby’s strongest voice opposed to any law regulating the landlords in the commercial lease renewal process. BIDS united to stop any vote on legislation regulating their “take it or leave” commercial lease renewal process. Former Mayors de Blasio and Adams empowered the BIDS to cover up the real crisis every BID’s merchants must face when their leases expire. BID property owners have reaped windfall profits from the hyper real estate speculation while record numbers mom and pop owners have been forced to close. Mayor Mamdani has embraced these disgraceful pro real estate organizations.

To reinforce the nonsensical BIG LIE insulting to every business owner facing a real crisis to survive, was his being the first Mayor to create a Mom and Pop Czar.

Hopefully, for desperate merchants, a Czar committed to being a true voice fighting for the rights of our small business owners and demanding an end to the discrimination and denial of economy justice for all business owners. NOT!! Instead, another REBNY shill only pretending to care about the welfare of small business owners, while reinforcing only the BIG LIE to distract away from the sky high rents, illegal extortion, cruel short term leases and the landlord’s growing pass-along property taxes.

Those who listened carefully to candidate Mamdani’s pledges to reform City Hall and stand up for working families and fighting special interests must feel betrayed by Mayor Mamdani working to keep a real estate oligarchy economy. But if they believe he will be politically hurt by this betrayal, and that he is shooting himself in his foot by his abandoning of his progressive values to serve the wealthy, they would be wrong.

Shamefully, but true that there is no NYC elected official for more than the past decade that has been held accountable for willfully throwing their own merchants and workers under the bus. Every elected official has abdicated their own responsibility for the prosperity, stability and future of their merchants to REBNY. On some level, every Council Member has been either complicit or willingly joined in the collusion of a real estate lobby with leadership to rig the system to stop any legislation giving business owners rights in the critical commercial lease renewal process. Rights they deserve and need to negotiate fair lease terms that would allow them to protect their investment and remain in business, protect the jobs of their workers and make a reasonable profit. Not one lawmaker has been called out for purposely ignoring three unchecked crises caused by the landlord greed being protected by City Hall in our real estate oligarchy economy.

Mayor Mamdani’s betrayal of small business owners and their workers will never be exposed in the lobby corrupted and controlled City Hall. How in a democracy can a lobby successfully cover up three crises that impact every New Yorker, and crises that their own landlord members created? How did they successfully stop a vote on the only real solution to end the crisis and save our small businesses, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, Jobs Survival Act? Legislation that always had at least 28 Council sponsors and never any real rational reason given to oppose it. Not only did the lobby’s collusion with Democratic leadership stop a vote once in Aug 2009, but this only lifeline bill was prevented from being voted on: Jan. 2011, Nov. 2018 and Mar. 2022. Isn't Mayor Mamdani, or any advisor, aware that if REBNY allowed good government to work for small business owners and the Council passed the Jobs Survival Act to end the small business crisis then the "empty store blight and affordability crises" would have been PREVENTED?

The history of the Jobs Survival Act proves that when it comes to the city’s economy and big real estate, democracy does not exist at City Hall.

Mayor Mamdani’s betrayal of small business owners is safe because of the largest lobby network of shills in America fully controlling the lobby’s playbook, false narrative, and protecting a real estate oligarchy economy. The collusion of a real estate lobby with morally corrupted lawmakers and a network of lobby loyal shills led by: BIDS, Big Chambers, SBS, EDC, United for Small Business NYC, Partnership for New York City, and NYC Hospitality Alliance, to name just a few, stopped good government from working for small business owners. All of the lobby shills in some way benefiting financially or politically in keeping in place a real estate oligarchy economy. All united with one voice pretending to care about the prosperity and futures of our city’s small business owners while deceitfully scheming with a lobby to keep a real estate oligarchy economy. Mayor Mamdani joined lobby loyalists committed to keeping a destructive real estate oligarchy economy that had been obliterating the American Dream for countless small business owners over the past decades.

For more than a decade the lobby’s shills have put forth many fake solutions to address the small business and empty store blight crises. All were only intended to stop the Jobs Survival Act. They ranged from the ridiculous like having Albany pass a law to fine landlords for keeping the stores empty for long periods of time, to a lobby created “status quo” bill. The Commercial Rent Stabilization Act was a “status quo” lobby inspired bill that gave tenants NO RIGHT TO RENEW their lease, keeping landlords in full control of terms, and the rents to be determined by a Mayoral Commission that can never go down but only up! A REBNY TROJAN HORSE!

But without debate, the most ludicrous program being promoted by any lawmaker is Mayor Mamdani’s city-run grocery store program. Neither Mayors de Blasio or Adams would ever make such a program that would draw attention to small grocery stores or draw the wrath of Bodega owners. The city-run grocery store program is not in REBNY’s playbook or false narrative. But they welcome it and quietly rejoiced knowing that it will help result in making Mayor Mamdani a one term mayor.

Mayor Mamdani is blindfolded alone on a plank with a gun to his head which he placed there with his city-run grocery store program. If there was ever a poster child for why socialists should never be making economic policy in a Capitalistic city, especially the “gateway for immigrant entrepreneurs,” it is the city-run grocery store program. It is obvious that Mayor Mamdani refused to appoint competent people with the needed expertise in small business entrepreneurship. Instead, he allowed a real estate lobby to hand pick their loyalist to oversee his economic policy. Other Mayor Mamdani appointments have a profound ignorance of the workings of small businesses, especially multi generational immigrant family owners.

The public outcry against the city-run grocery store program will be quietly measured and very low key at first. What Mayor Mamdani is totally unaware of is who has control over the voices claiming to represent the welfare of the Bodega owners and other multi generational immigrant family business owners in NYC. What Mayor Mamdani does not know is that the organizations and leaders claiming to speak for Bodega owners are part of REBNY’s shills or controlled by corrupt pro real estate politicians. Since the death of Ramon Murphy, then leader of the Bodega Asso. and a strong voice fighting for justice and rights for Bodega owners while championing the Jobs Survival Act, special interests have silenced the Bodega’s cause to save their American Dream. REBNY has a successful history of being aware of who is actively fighting for the Jobs Survival Act. Using their political power and funding, they find ways to flip these activists to either remain silent on the bill or joining their shill network voicing their narrative in opposition to the bill.

If Mayor Mamdani would have appointed more competent officers who would have done their jobs prior to announcing a new public program, the city owned grocery program would have never happened. Appointments that have the Mayor’s back by doing deep research to see if: the outcome of the project created any negative consequences in the community, if it is cost effective for taxpayers and if there is a better solution to achieving the goals of the project. YES, NO, and YES!

If any Mayor Mamdani administrator would have read the 2021 Bodega survey* they would have given a warning to the Mayor of the potential anger his project will generate. Also, any effort to understand the real problems faced by Bodega owners would have shown that there was a much better pathway of getting food cheaper for families in need in every borough. A way which would have made him a hero in the immigrant communities and unbeatable in his next election.

The greatest victims of a real estate oligarchy economy have been small Bodega and grocery store owners and their workers. In early 2000 when big banks began bidding against big national chains for prime locations on main shopping streets in all boroughs, every small business owner’s future was in grave jeopardy when their leases expired and they had no rights in the commercial lease renewal process. None of the local mom and pop owners could afford the sky high insane rents that banks and chains were willing to pay. Unscrupulous landlords took advantage of the wrecked commercial rental market to extort “cash” from mostly immigrant owners under the threat of throwing them out of business. Also, some landlords targeted small owners to give them only very cruel short leases of sometimes month to month or one/two years length, while waiting for a deep pocket renter. The real estate speculation drove up the values of all buildings and the property taxes rose with the speculation. Every Bodega owner now faced paying both rising rents and their landlord’s growing property taxes.

An independent survey of Hispanic business owners* done in 2008-9 showed clearly the negative impact of these sky high rents in the hyper speculation market, when the majority of owners (53%) were at risk of being forced to close and 31% had been extorted for cash to remain open. The late Ramon Murphy, then President of the Bodega Association testified before the Small Business Committee that the actual number of Bodega owners extorted was closer to 80%!! The landlord controlled commercial lease renewal process was making windfall profits for landlords but threatening the destruction of the American Dream for the majority of small business owners in NYC. Our lawmakers were concerned only with their own careers and did absolutely nothing so save even one Bodega.

* https://www.savenycjobs.com/latin-chamber-study

The true desperate state of Bodega (and other immigrant owners) can be seen in this more recent 2021 survey.*

4. Prior to the Coronavirus was your business at risk of closing (not due to retirement or health issues)?

Yes _61%_ No __8%_ Unsure___31%__

List reasons: 84%_Higher Rents & unreasonable lease terms.

78%- Property Tax increases

8. Do you feel the people in NYC government who are responsible to recommend small business economic policy or the agency to help small businesses understands immigrant owned small businesses? Yes 8% No 92%

10. At any time during the commercial lease renewal process, has the landlord or acting agent threatened to force you out of business unless you give him “cash”? Yes 57%__ No 43%___

18. Can you survive in business without government intervention to give you rights when your lease expires?

Yes _17% No__83%____

19. Have you heard of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act giving owners 10 year leases and no property taxes? Yes __6%_ No_94%_

20. If our government passed the Jobs Survival Act would this motivate you to remain in business and look to a brighter future in business? Yes_87%__ No_13%____

21. Can you remain in business by continuing to pay your rent and landlord’s property taxes?

Yes _18%__ No__82%_____

* https://www.savenycjobs.com/2021-immigrant-business-survey

It is surprising that nobody in the Mamdani inner circle did not realize how insulting and disrespectful his city owned grocery stores project is to Bodega and immigrant owners. This program assumes that Bodegas are ripping off the local families by purposely charging higher prices. Yes, some of the prices are higher but due mainly to owners being forced to pay higher rents and their landlord’s property taxes. Many are too small to have larger truck deliveries made and must spend time going shopping at Jetro or other distributors who sell them smaller quantities. Bodega owners give credit to many local residents, allowing them to feed their families. In most neighborhoods the Bodega is a social center for many citizens. Most owners are viewed by customers as friends or even family, a fact Mayor Mamdani will find out the hard way.

Every month thousands of Bodega owners feel rage as they write out their rent checks and later more rage having to pay their landlord’s property taxes. Most have seen their American Dream vanishing by the corrupt commercial lease renewal process that has destroyed any hope for a future. They are the most deprived social class in NYC, having no voice at City Hall or organizations calling for justice and rights to save them. No lawmaker will publicly even call for stopping the discrimination against Bodega owners!

This rage will explode on Mayor Mamdani when he finishes announcing his last city grocery store site! Or when REBNY feels it is the best time to turn the immigrant community against Mayor Mamdani’s bid for a second term. REBNY never wanted Zohran Mamdani to be Mayor and had backed four loyalists candidates in the primary. A sure bet is that REBNY will have at least three Mayoral candidates in the next election.

The powerbrokers fear that someone inside his administration will remove his blindfold and show him the pathway to winning the city’s immigrant voters. Most of all, REBNY fears that an honest Mayor who they do not control and who represents all New Yorkers equally will give business owners and the public a real choice. A choice that de Blasio and Adams refused to give. That choice, purposely hidden by the real estate shills is this: do our city’s entrepreneurs deserve the right to renew long term commercial leases, equal rights to negotiate fair lease terms that keep them in business and protect their worker’s jobs while still making a reasonable profit, and an arbitration process based upon a “case by case” guidelines to encourage bargaining in good faith by both parties?” Do we protect the backbone of our local economies and major job creators? VS “Keeping the status quo with the landlord having all the rights in the commercial lease renewal process and the business owners having none?” Do we continue to protect a few wealthy?

REBNY fears these choices because they know that 100% of the city’s entrepreneurs would choose to give business owners rights and a real fighting chance to protect their investments and the jobs of their workers. Also, 100% of the public would want their beloved mom and pop merchants to have rights to protect them. The city’s powerbrokers also fear that the truth of the catalyst that started the city’s affordability crisis was the unchecked, year after year, sky high rents generated by a real estate oligarchy economy being passed onto the customers as higher prices.

The problem Mayor Mamdani has is that the voices claiming to represent Bodega and immigrant owners will be controlled by REBNY. REBNY also controls most of the local media in NYC through the large revenue stream generated by real estate ads. When they are ready, they will send a message campaign that will enrage every Bodega and grocery owner, a call for action against Mamdani. The city owned food stores will be viewed as the betrayal and “nail in the coffin” for many small business owners.

Calls of betrayal will be unleashed against Mayor Mamdani with rumors spread of his real motivation for starting these anti immigrant stores. Rumors like he is an agent of Communism out to destroy Capitalism. Or that he has a plan to destroy and replace all the long established hard working Hispanic, Korean and Chinese small business owners with Yemen and other Middle Eastern families. Or the most obvious one is that Mayor Mamdani plans to open a new store on your block!! Every Bodega or immigrant business that closes will be blamed on Mayor Mamdani!!

On the other hand someone loyal to Mamdani who has common sense economics may take off his blindfold and lower the gun by showing him how he can become a hero to the city’s multi generational immigrant family owners. A hero by having the courage and political will that no other Mayor of NYC had. He could give every business owner the rights found in the Jobs Survival Act. Throwing a real lifeline to the small business owners to survive while at the same time accomplishing his goal of seeing that low income families have cheaper sources of food. The majority of grocery store owners would gladly give one day a week a 20% discount on food items to seniors and families on assistance.

In exchange, the Jobs Survival Act would give those businesses volunteering to give food discounts a 15 year lease! A win win for desperate business owners by restoring their American Dream. A win win for Mayor Mamdani for ending the illegal extortion of mostly immigrant owners that no other Mayor would do. A win win for all families citywide to have access to local cheaper food costs. A win for a Mayor who would end the cruel short term leases targeting immigrant owners that other Mayors refused to do. A Mayor that would end the tenants being forced to pay their landlords growing property taxes which no Mayor would do. And finally a Mayor who would “do the right thing” by having the backs of business owners by protecting their investment and showing respect for their contribution to job creation and stabilizing local economies. The loser would be greedy landlords and REBNY. The Mayor would in the end UNITE the city.