NEW YORK, NY\u2014 One week after a winter storm slowed foot traffic across the City, neighborhood shop owners say they are still feeling the financial impact, even as the its new small business commissioner promises to ease bureaucratic pressure.<\/p>\n
At Village Supplements in East Village, manager Ashton Negrin said the store did not close, but revenue dropped as customers stayed home.<\/p>\n
When nearby storefronts shutter, he said, customers notice which businesses remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinter is a hard time for many people. Village Supplements can be a highlight in someone\u2019s day,\u201d Negrin said. \u201cWe\u2019re that place where everyone knows your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Gaia Masala & Burger in Astoria, an employee said the restaurant also opened during the storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure why we opened,\u201d she said. \u201cBut our owners wanted us to.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said business was steady, but slower than usual.<\/p>\n
The experiences come as Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Small Business Services Commissioner Kenny Minaya with a mandate to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall businesses are the lifeblood of New York City,\u201d Mamdani said in announcing his broader agenda.<\/p>\n
He has directed city agencies to review thousands of regulations and identify ways to reduce and streamline fines and fees.<\/p>\n
Minaya said his priorities will focus on making it easier to start and operate a business in the five boroughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the son of immigrant small business owners, I know firsthand the challenges that our entrepreneurs face,\u201d Minaya said.<\/p>\n
For shop owners navigating unpredictable weather, fluctuating sales and rising costs, the promise of streamlined rules offers cautious optimism.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, they continue unlocking their doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about being able to serve the community,\u201d Negrin said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re happy to have the opportunity to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK, NY\u2014 One week after a winter storm slowed foot traffic across the City, neighborhood shop owners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-151162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}