Small Businesses in Peril: Harassment Prevention

http://https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-law-helps-small-businesses-fight-harassment-gentrification/

Winifred Curran in her pieces From the Frying Pan to the Oven, and In Defense of Old Industrial Spaces, largely focuses on Williamsburg and the displacement of not residents, but rather small businesses. Curran points out, in From the Frying Pan to the Oven, that gentrification may be navigable to larger companies looking to grow in space and employees—the push to new areas, most times funded by the landowner, brings these companies to outer parts of Brooklyn and even to New Jersey where they flourish (Curran 1433). However, this dynamic does not translate to smaller business whose resources are not sufficient to make drastic changes. Often times they have lost space to illegal tenants who renovated the space, making it more marketable for residential purposes—a market in which landowners could gain higher profits. Other times the inability to find and keep a space was due to the landowner’s desire to keep the lot empty for purposes of tax breaks. Ironically though, business owners who own their buildings seem to be largely in favor rezoning, finding the business of developing or selling their property more profitable (Curran 1437).

While lower-class residents or illegal tenants living under rent-stabilization may face harassment from landowners looking to sell to higher classes, the podcast Small Businesses Welcome Tools to Fight Landlord Harassment emphasizes a similar threat to smaller businesses. Travelling a bit up North, this podcast examines the actions of small business owners in the East Village. Specifically, it details the experiences of Holly Slayton, a woman who owns a custom hat-making shop. Her building was bought over by Brookhill Properties, and she was offered a sum of money to close down her shop, but she refused to leave. At her refusal, she was harassed, stating, “workers staged equipment outside her shop, making it hard for customers to get in” (Gould 1:10–1:16). Dust from this construction caused both her and her daughter to get respiratory infections. While residents are protected under laws explicitly outlawing harassment, and right to renew their leases, small business owners are afforded little to no protection under the law.

Curran talks about, in From the Frying Pan to the Oven, some possible solutions the city has been attempting to resolve this issue. In Williamsburg, a $4 million fund was created to help displaced businesses (Curran 1438). Yet, many times these finances have come a little too late, long after the small businesses have been forced to permanently close down, or at a time when they are in critical condition. At times the city’s “solutions” are not even helpful to small businesses. Curran cites in In Defense of Old Industrial Spaces, that the reformation of parking policies and rezoning of industrial sites has majorly interrupted the process of thriving small businesses (Curran 882). In the case of East Village, Gould states that law fining landlords for harassment could curb the displacement of small businesses. The current law allows small businesses to sue their landlords. Yet this podcast voices the concerns of many perspectives regarding this solution. A fine of $10,000 is not nearly enough to spur real change among larger landlords, and often times these small business owners cannot afford a lawyer anyways (Gould 3:20–3:30).  

Other policies have been since attempted, including the latest, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). The act would provide with both the right their leases, as well as a fair rent. Yet the force and interests of the real estate coalition halt stalled its release (Halasa 1). Although Slayton’s lease was not renewed for her East Village shop, she echoes the voice of many small business owners, in a hope that they will be provided the sufficient amount of protection to continue doing what they love.

Works Cited 

Curran, Winifred. “’From the Frying Pan to the Oven’: Gentrification and the Experience of Industrial Displacement in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.” Urban Studies, vol. 44, no. 8, 2007, pp. 1427–1440., doi:10.1080/00420980701373438.

Curran, Winifred. “In Defense of Old Industrial Spaces: Manufacturing, Creativity and Innovation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 34, no. 4, 2010, pp. 871–885., doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00915.x.