We Must Act Now to Help Second Avenue’s Small Businesses
“While the Second Avenue Subway will bring great benefits to the East Side in the long run, during construction residents and business owners along Second Avenue are suffering. It is critical that we act now to preserve the vitality and unique and vibrant character of Second Avenue, by extending a hand to help the small businesses forced to bear the burden of construction over the coming years.
“Next week, I will introduce legislation that will offer property tax rebates to commercial property owners along the part of the Second Avenue corridor affected by subway construction – extending downtown as construction progresses – so that the hard-working small business owners who give Second Avenue so much of its unique character will be able to weather the storm.
“In an increasingly homogenized Manhattan, we just can’t afford to lose more of the small businesses that make each neighborhood special. But the seven-year construction period for the Second Avenue Subway confronts small business owners with an array of serious challenges. Sidewalks are torn up, signs are obscured, parking spaces are eliminated, services are interrupted, and customers are lost. Small businesspeople who have worked hard to achieve success are faced, through no fault of their own, with the prospect of seeing their dreams destroyed.
“These business owners have begun working together to keep their dreams alive. I’m proud to support the Shop Second Avenue campaign, and I urge New Yorkers to look past the construction and continue to support the many wonderful shops and restaurants along the Avenue. But I also believe there’s a place for government in helping to preserve our neighborhoods and keep the playing field level for those forced to shoulder most of the burden of a massive public project like the Second Avenue Subway. One way we can do this is through the tax code – by offering property tax rebates to be passed along to businesses whose bottom lines are suffering, but whose value to New York is higher than ever.”