Vacant storefronts in our shopping districts, our favorite street-side stores disappearing, too many “for sale” signs appearing in our neighborhoods… During these troubling times, these are unfortunately all common sights in our community.
It’s frightening that there are so many closed businesses – some that have been around for decades. Those closed businesses mean less jobs for our community, less tax revenue for our city and state, and, with fewer customers strolling our avenues, a growing strain on the businesses that are still able to remain open.
Small business is what drives our economy both nationally and here in Queens. Steve Behar understands this.
Small businesses create approximately 4 out of every 5 new jobs in America. In New York City, there are roughly 200,000 small businesses — comprising two-thirds of the City’s private sector jobs. Small business owners — not Citibank, Bank of America, or AIG — pay most of the salaries for those who work in New York City.
As an attorney representing small businesses and a small business owner himself, Steve Behar knows the pressures that we business owners must face.
The problem is clear: New York State and New York City have not created a supportive economic environment for small businesses. There is too much red tape; too many fees and too much over-development of large shopping mega-stores, those that drive out small businesses and leave behind only empty storefronts and deserted avenues.
In addition, New York State requires new limited liability companies (LLC’s) not only to register with the state, but to publish their formation in two newspapers for six weeks each. While the filing fee to register a new LLC is only $200, the burden of publication in newspapers often adds $1500 to the cost of starting a new business. Yet nearly all of the information required for publication in newspapers is already available on the website for the New York State Secretary of State. In the age of the Internet, additionally publishing this information in two printed newspapers serves little purpose. In fact, the section of the “New York State LLC Act” requiring publication in newspapers serves little more than the advancement of corporate welfare. Likewise, it represents just one of many examples in which the New York State and New York City government take advantage of small business owners.
Unreasonable requirements such as these are unjust and unfair to small business owners – in Northeast Queens and throughout the State. Whether you own a small business in Bayside, Flushing, Whitestone, Little Neck, or Douglaston, Steve Behar will do something about it – to help small businesses continually thrive right here in their neighborhoods, without unnecessary and burdensome requirements!
