In what may be a first, 44 neighborhood organizations representing New York City’s five boroughs have joined forces to deliver messages of love and support to small businesses throughout the city, all in time for St. Valentine’s Day. The 44 associations are a combination of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), chambers of commerce, merchant associations and other community-based development organizations.

 

Each of the 44 participating neighborhood associations will customize the “St. Valentine’s Day Sweethearts Shop Local” program to the individual neighborhoods across the city, with the following common messages to New Yorkers:

• Shop local
• Order direct
• Write a positive review
• Shout out on social media
• Buy a gift card
• Send a love letter

 

In the Bronx, in addition to the Jerome Gun Hill BID, the Westchester Square BID, BJT Bronx Commercial District, the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco), and the Southern Boulevard Merchant Association are also participating in the program.

 

Jennifer Tausig, executive director of the Jerome Gun Hill BID in the Bronx said the group were excited to collaborate on the effort to support local small businesses in their time of need. “Our businesses were struggling prior to COVID-19 and are now hanging on for dear life,” she said.  “Given that small businesses are the anchors of our economy and our neighborhoods, we will continue to work tirelessly to support them through creative initiatives like our Valentine’s Day promotion to encourage our neighbors to shop locally.”

The Sweethearts Shop Local program came about when graduates of the noted Coro Neighborhood Leadership Program recently met up on Zoom to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the program. Many of the 44 participating neighborhood organizations are led by Coro grads whose mission is to learn how the city works so they can make it better, and the associations, which span the five boroughs, say they banded together to show some love to their local merchants.

As February marks Black History Month, it is a timely reminder that Forbes magazine reported in August 2020 that the COVID-19 crisis had wiped out almost half of Black small businesses across the country.

 

Norwood News reached out to the City’s Small Business Services (SBS) for details of generally how many small businesses, overall, have been shuttered in the Bronx due to the pandemic. A representative said the agency didn’t have those numbers. “There are  several  variables that go into this,” the representative said. “SBS supports all small businesses in the City, and business owners opt into our programs and services. While they are not required to inform our agency at the start or close of their enterprise, we  provide businesses  with a host of resources to help them start, operate and grow based on their individual needs.”

 

The representative added, “We know that NYC small businesses are tough and we’re going to do everything we can to ensure they are able to survive.” She added that the City had launched several programs for business owners to help them in this regard, such as the Strategic Impact Grant Awards, the Fair Share NYC initiative, a campaign that connects small business owners to federal relief funds, a Mentorship Program for Women and Minority-Owned Small Businesses, and Training Programs to help small businesses bridge the digital divide.

 

As reported by the Norwood News, some immigrant-owned, non native English-speaking business owners told us last year they found applying for loans, grants and general assistance as business owners a struggle, and that due to the complexity of some program rules, and the language used to explain the program terms, they were often unsure about their eligibility for City, State and federal help.

 

Last November, Norwood News reported on three other SBS financial assistance programs that were available to small businesses in low-to-moderate income (LMI) neighborhoods. The NYC LMI storefront loan, interest rate reduction grant, and strategic impact COVID-19 commercial district support grant provided critical resources to small businesses to help them build back and grow beyond the pandemic. Other forms of assistance were made available by MPC and the New York Forward Loan Fund.

 

The Norwood News also recently reported how twenty-eight small business owners in the Bronx are the first cohort of students to complete an emerging technology mentorship program piloted by Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) in conjunction with the Verizon Foundation.

 

For now, it seems what small businesses really would like, more than anything, are customers and a bit of love. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, Feb. 8, that indoor dining in New York State will recommence at reduced capacity on Friday, February 12, two days before St. Valentine’s Day. “Strict health guidelines will be in place, including a 25 percent occupancy cap,” the governor said.

 

As also reported by the Norwood News, in late September, the restaurant industry had called for the City’s restaurants to be opened for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity, instead of the proposed 25 percent, to align with the rest of the State, where they said there had been no major uptick in COVID-19 cases under the prevailing 50 percent capacity rule. However, lawmakers were unwilling to move forward too quickly, and in the end, as COVID cases began to rise, the decision was taken to even close those that had been opened in the city at 25 percent capacity in efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.

 

On announcing the new reopening on Feb. 9, Cuomo said, “We know the restaurant industry is struggling due to the pandemic, and we remind New Yorkers that takeout and delivery continue to be great ways to support your favorite dining establishments.”

 

Meanwhile, the St. Valentine’s Day Sweethearts Shop Local” program runs from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14. Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce in Manhattan is another of the 44 participating organizations participating in the program. Maria Diaz, the organization’s executive director, said the group was “excited to participate in this collaboration because we know that all of our neighborhoods are an integral part of what makes NYC unique and beautiful.” She added, “We have to band together to continuously remind our communities the importance of supporting our local businesses.”