new review<\/a>\u00a0conducted by auditors of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine found the Small Business Forward program, aimed at easing regulatory and financial burdens on small businesses across the five boroughs, failed to achieve meaningful change for small businesses in New York City. Vague definitions, a lack of inter-agency engagement, and inadequate benchmarking all contributed to the poor performance of the otherwise well-intentioned initiative.<\/p>\n\u201cSmall Business Forward was a well-intentioned program designed to cut red tape and fines that are hurting small businesses,\u201d said\u00a0New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. \u201cBut without a clear definition of what a small business is or data to track its success, it\u2019s hard to understand what impact this initiative had. To preserve jobs, help small business owners, and continue to drive down storefront vacancies, this report can serve as a roadmap for the City to ensure this initiative is a success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Release of this report comes at a crucial time for the Big Apple\u2019s economy. Small businesses are a major driver of employment, revenue, and economic activity for New York City, yet were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. \u00a0Small businesses lining New York\u2019s thoroughfares are essential to the health of both neighborhoods and the economy, underscoring the need for more governmental support.<\/p>\n
In 2022, the Adams administration sought to support this sector with Small Business Forward: Review and Reform of Compliance Costs on Businesses, expanding upon Local Law 80 of 2021. It directed six City agencies \u2013 the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), the Department of Buildings (DOB), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and the Fire Department (FDNY) \u2014 to assess compliance costs with the goal of reducing fines and allow warning periods for first-time offenders. Agencies were instructed that recommended reforms could not compromise public health or safety.<\/p>\n
Yet the report released by Comptroller Levine today found several systemic issues with the initiative\u2019s implementation, beginning with a vague definition of what is considered a small business. That in turn hindered the agencies\u2019 review of 232 regulations driving violations in 2019 \u2013 after which exactly half of them were recommended to be reformed. Finally, auditors were unable to find evidence of the City\u2019s claim that some 1,000 small businesses had been engaged via an online survey on key issues they faced.<\/p>\n
Key takeaways:<\/p>\n
General Targeting of Commercial Businesses.\u00a0Because the Executive Order and Local Law 151 only apply to \u201ccommercial establishments,\u201d agencies had virtually no definition of what constitutes a small business. Those agencies thus did not receive guidance on the impact fines previously had on those entities, the review found, instead operating on the assumption that an easement on businesses in general would benefit this particular sector.
\nReforms Not Driving Cause of Fines.\u00a0Auditors reviewed the 116 regulations recommended for reform and found just one-third of them were tied to violations in 2021, meaning a majority of those put forward likely unrelated to fines the small businesses often face.
\nNo Significant Fiscal Impact.\u00a0Just three of the 24 regulations that were eventually eliminated altogether turned out to be regularly enforced. As a result, these financial penalties accounted for a mere 0.45% of all fines tied to the 116 regulations originally put up for reform.
\nAbsence of Success Metrics.\u00a0The City\u2019s lack of small business tracking was compounded by the absence of whether reforming the violations had led to the intended positive impact. As a result, auditors couldn\u2019t determine if Small Business Forward actually hit its goals.<\/p>\n
In January, Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 11 of 2026, or \u201cReducing Fees and Civil Penalties for Small Businesses,\u201d to support the sector. As it moves forward in supporting small businesses, the recommendations from Comptroller Levine\u2019s audit could help ensure future success of the program.<\/p>\n
Enhanced Program Management, Oversight, and Transparency.\u00a0The Comptroller\u2019s Office urged a lead agency be designated to coordinate its progress, savings, and effectiveness. Additionally, the Office recommended that City Hall issue regular public reports on these metrics, with clear definitions on how it defines success.
\nImproved Program Design and Strategic Targeting.\u00a0The Comptroller\u2019s Office recommends that there should be a uniform, clear definition of what constitutes a small business across all six agencies in the program.
\nStrengthened Data Management and Targeted Tracking.\u00a0The Comptroller\u2019s office recommends that the City integrate a specific \u201csmall business\u201d identifier when tracking violation issuances, fine reductions and other actions. This should include a formal, documented methodology to track the impact of the initiative\u2019s reforms.<\/p>\n
You can read the Comptroller\u2019s full report,\u00a0Review of the Small Business Forward Program and Its Impact on Violations Enforcement, at:\u00a0https:\/\/comptroller.nyc.gov\/reports\/review-of-the-small-business-forward-initiative-and-its-impact-on-violations-enforcement\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 8, 2026 Review Recommends New Actions to Support Small Businesses: Clearly Define this Sector, Improve Tracking of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-189902","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\/189902","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=189902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}