Sen. Julia Salazar and Assembly Member Emily Gallagher introduced a bill called the “Small Business Survival Act” in an attempt to prohibit unaffordable rent hikes and guarantee lease renewal for small businesses across New York.
In Queens alone, several districts saw an increase in storefront rent prices as large as 20-33% from 2019-2021, some the new bill will address by creating the Commercial Rent Guidelines Board to set maximum annual rent increases.
The new bill, which states will implement a “rent stabilization control system,” shares the same name as another bill by Salazar in 2019. The former had key differences, focusing on a program for mediation and arbitration to aid small businesses during the negotiation process, but never made it out of the Senate committee.
“The Small Business Survival Act would be a lifeline for small businesses in New York City by capping outrageous rent hikes and guaranteeing lease renewals. Corporate landlords are charging rents so high that the only business owners who can afford to pay are corporate chains,” Salazar said. “Or, they’re keeping storefronts vacant until larger, wealthier tenants come along. This is a toxic and now commonplace pattern that is shuttering our local businesses, putting New Yorkers out of work, and turning our vibrant neighborhoods into chain malls.”
The changes would apply to all commercial leases; creating a default 10-year renewal term, providing at-will tenants the right to a written lease and enforcing compliance by “strong penalty provisions against overcharges and tenant harassment.” The lawmakers noted that the bill is not a rent-freeze, nor will it be applied retroactively to roll back existing rent prices.
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Nearly have of New Yorkers are employed by small businesses. Despite that, 8,400 small businesses closed down in the second quarter of 2025, leaving 12-20% of storefronts empty depending on the borough, according to a report published by the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) last December.
“Small businesses are what make New York special, but they are increasingly being pushed out by greedy corporate actors,” said Gallagher. “In the 20 years I’ve been in my neighborhood, I’ve seen so many beloved businesses close because of unaffordable rents or because big landlords would rather wait for a corporate chain to come along. With the Small Business Survival Act, we will cap rent, guarantee leases, and ensure our community businesses are actually owned by the members of our community.”
The state bill is similar to a piece of legislation from the City Council, known as the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which was never passed and officially filed away in 2021. The bill also sought to lay out lease renewal terms and establish conditions for negotiations between tenants and landlords. The bill, sponsored by former Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez before he became NYC DOT commissioner under former Mayor Eric Adams, never made it out of the Committee of Small Business.
The introduction has garnered the support of several urban activists and small business advocacy groups who believe it will help owners struggling with inflation and rising rent costs.
“This crisis is the result of treating commercial space as a commodity to make corporate real estate companies richer, rather than as community infrastructure to support our neighborhoods. New York must pass the Small Business Survival Act before our local business owners are forced to close their doors and seek opportunities elsewhere,” said a spokesperson for advocacy group Small Business United.
