The group outlined four key policies in the plan, which entails direct financial assistance for rent and mortgages for the duration of the shutdown, extending business interruption insurance to cover the COVID-19 pandemic, and converting sales tax collection into cash grants for small businesses, as follows:

 

• INSURANCE: Business interruption insurance claims related to COVID-19 should be required to be paid, or a specialized business recovery fund should be established to promptly pay claims to businesses required to close (or limit their operations), by government order. When necessary, the federal government must provide the insurance companies appropriate assistance.

 

• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): Amend the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act to allow the loan to be forgivable if businesses hire back needed staff at a minimum of six months after they fully reopen; allow a larger allocation of the money to be used for rent or other expenses; and, expand the stimulus funding so it is available over a longer period of time, so businesses who do not immediately apply can still obtain funding. Also, require all participating banks to accept, review and qualify applications from any small business without requiring existing accounts or loans. If these amendments are not made, the PPP will not help countless businesses that need stimulus funding.

 

• SALES TAX: We recognize the State and City of New York face significant budgetary constraints, nonetheless, we recommend investigating the fiscal implications of converting restaurants, nightlife establishments and retail stores’ sales tax collection into grants. These small businesses need an injection of cash to help them survive during the COVID-19 emergency. Since these monies are on hand, converting (and/or reverting) the sales tax collection into a grant, will help small businesses immediately with needed cash flow, and will stimulate economic activity.

 

• RENT AND MORTGAGES: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, businesses and property owners face significant challenges. The majority of businesses in New York City have been mandated by the government to close (or limit their operations) and many therefore cannot pay their rent. Property owners have financial obligations including property taxes, mortgages, maintenance, and capital improvements – much of which is paid for by the rent from businesses. While we recommend that commercial tenants and property owners make arrangements per their circumstances to help both parties weather this crisis, we recognize that realistic terms may not always be available. Therefore, we recommend a government backstop be provided during this emergency. These government programs could include direct federal financial assistance, rent and mortgage forbearance, and/or a property tax deduction for landlords who provide rent concessions to their tenants.

 

The current shelter-in-place restrictions, which were announced in March by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have upended the daily lives of all New Yorkers, and small business owners are doing their best to adapt ever since. Auggie Santana is owner of E&N Pet Paradise on East Gun Hill Road, which he said has been in existence for 46 years.

 

Santana’s pet store is currently only open for a reduced number of hours from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. “The whole neighborhood is completely shut down,” Santana said. “I’m only here to make sure that the people got food for their animals. It’s terrible, terrible,” he added. “It’s ok for me to stay open [..] for people who buy their food because they need bird food, and turtle food, and fish food – that’s it but at least everybody is getting their food for their pets, you know?”

 

Santana said it’s been a struggle for almost a month now and that he hates being locked up. “I locked the door, I put a sign in my door – only one customer at a time – and it’s just going nowhere to have a mask and gloves and all that stuff,” he said. “It’s terrible. I have to be here because I have a lot of little animals too that I wanna make sure they get fed.”

 

Santana said that currently he has to come in to work at 7 a.m. because he struggles to find parking and he needs time to clean and open up. “The other day it took me four hours to find parking,” he said. Sometimes he’ll have passing customers who stop in on their way to work but later, it goes quiet. “It’s like a ghost-town,” he said. “Up to 4 o’clock, I just wanna go home because we don’t see a soul in the street.”

 

So far, Santana said he has not had any problems with people keeping their distance while in the store. “They know me but you always get a crazy person, you know?” he said, adding that he has also adapted to the new normal. “Sometimes they double park and I just put my jacket, and my gloves, and my mask, and I just bring the stuff outside to their car,” he said. “Curb service you know?”

For Auggie Santana, he said he is fortunate that he has not had to lay anyone off but he is anxious for the current restrictions to end and for life to get back to normal. “No, thank God I’m ok, but I just struggle like I told you,” he said. “I’m just here to make sure that everybody is ok – all my customers. I have loyal customers. I’m not here to make money [during the shutdown].”