The Upper West Side Has More Than 130 Empty Storefronts, Council Candidate Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A candidate running to represent the Upper West Side in the City Council had a mission for his volunteers: Walk the neighborhood and document every single empty storefront. The volunteers found that even with supposedly business-friendly corridors such as Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus avenues the neighborhood is a tough place for small businesses to thrive.

Mel Wymore, who's running to unseat Helen Rosenthal in the 6th City Council District, announced Wednesday that his campaign volunteers mapped out more than 130 vacant storefronts on the Upper West Side. Wymore blamed the vacancies on a “City Council continues to protect a system that favors landlords over everyone else," adding that he'd stand up to the real estate industry.

"Beloved local shops and restaurants are being forced to close one after another. The vibrant businesses that connect us to our neighbors can’t survive any more on the Upper West Side," Wymore said in a statement. "Businesses which survived the great recession can’t survive today’s climate. The real estate industry has all the power and our community businesses have none."

So what's the solution? According to Wymore, it's passing legislation such as the Small Business Jobs Survival Act. The SBJSA, which has been introduced to the City Council and has the support of many existing members, would award commercial tenants three basic rights to better plan out and protect their businesses, according to political coalition TakeBackNYC — one of the bill's main backers.

According to TakeBackNYC those rights are:

• A minimum 10-year lease with the right to renewal;
• Equal negotiation terms when it comes time to renew their lease with recourse to binding arbitration by a 3rd party if fair terms can not be found;
• Restrictions to prevent landlords from passing their property taxes on to small business owners.

Wymore claimed that the SBJSA has drawn "broad but shallow support" from council members unwilling to stand up to big real estate interests such as the Real Estate Board of New York.

Incumbent Council Member for the 6th District Helen Rosenthal insisted that her support of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act was not shallow in a statement sent to Patch.

The statement read:

"I'm glad to see that Mr. Wymore has finally come around to supporting legislation that I sponsored long ago, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act—which is one way to address a citywide problem. But the reality is that's only part of the solution. That's why I have also sponsored small business clinics for upper west side retail owners: connecting owners to lawyers to help renegotiate leases and assisting small businesses access credit to manage cash flow problems. I’ve introduced legislation to eliminate the Commercial Rent Tax for 4,800 small business owners and have proposed legislation to fine landlords that leave retail space vacant; my office works everyday to keep the character of the Upper West Side intact."

To check out a list of all the vacant storefronts Wymore's volunteers found, click here:

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images