Help is on the way for city small biz

Small businesses struggling to pay rent will be able to get free legal help from the city, Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday, though he passed the buck on more extensive help.

The city is bringing back a program to “help them address issues with their landlords, to help them find a way through,” he said at a news conference.

The undertaking is getting $1.5 million after previously helping “settle” 900 cases for small businesses. The funding had been put on hold amid budget chaos caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

“This is an initiative that worked in the past,” de Blasio said. “What it meant was, overwhelmingly, small-business owners of color and womenowned small businesses, immigrant-owned small businesses, benefited.”

Only 19% of city businesses paid June rent, and just 26% of landlords waived rent, according to a survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance.

The crisis recently prompted the city to launch an online service to provide mediation services to struggling tenants.

De Blasio looked to Albany and Washington for bigger relief. “We could be in so much better shape if the federal government would include rental assistance in the stimulus,” he said, noting talks have stalled as Republicans reject Democrats’ calls for billions of dollars in aid to states and localities.

He urged the state Legislature to let tenants come up with payment plans if they can’t make rent due to loss of income.