WEINER STANDS WITH SOON TO BE DISPLACED BRONX TERMINAL MARKET VENDORS

CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF DOCTOROFF GETS SWEETHEART DEAL—WHILE 23 SMALL BUSINESSES GET THE BOOT

RELEASES SMALL BUSINESS SURVIVAL PACKAGE: A PLAN TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES COMPETE

New York City – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn) stood with the soon to be displaced vendors at the Bronx Terminal Market and pledged to put an end to sweetheart deals that benefit big developers at the expense of small businesses.

The Bronx Terminal Market is the largest African market on the East Coast.But it will soon be a thing of the past if the Mayor gets his way.

Last year, the City got the market’s landlord to sign the property over to the Related Companies, which immediately announced that it was going to kick out the current tenants and build a new, $394 million, 1 million square-foot shopping mall, waterfront park, and possibly, a hotel.

The sale had all the earmarks of the insider, closed door deals that have become the hallmark of City Hall: Related is controlled by Stephen Ross, a close friend of Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff; the City sweetened the deal by agreeing to reimburse Related if it cannot turn a profit; there was no open bidding.

23 vendors and 700 workers stand to lose their livelihoods.

Today, Rep. Weiner stood with the vendors who are about to be displaced, and pledged to fight for them, and to put an end to sweetheart deals for big developers at the expense of small businesses as mayor.

Weiner offered his six point plan to help small businesses compete:

Extend Public Disclosure Requirements to All Public-Private Partnerships - Like NYC 2012 — When big name developers with deep pockets donate to public-private partnerships like NYC 2012, it gives at least the appearance of an advantage over the little guy.According to the New York Observer, for example, donors to NYC 2012 included “virtually all the big names in city real estate and many major players in finance and construction.”We apply mandatory reporting requirements to campaign donations to discourage "pay for play"-the system where contributions buy access to city contracts. As Mayor, Weiner will subject donors to any public private partnership in the city to the same mandatory disclosure requirements as campaign donors.

Public Bidding for City Contracts — Both the Jets deal and the Bronx Terminal Market deal were made without being put out to public bid. As Mayor, Weiner will require that all city contracts of magnitude go out to public bid.

End the Ticket Blitz — Last year, summonses for quality of life offenses, parking tickets, even garbage collection fees were way up.The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce says that tickets are one of the prime obstacles to business growth in the City.As Mayor, Weiner will end the ticket blitz on small businesses, and will invest the $17 million the City will save from a new computerized ticketing system to cut onerous fines for offenses common to outer borough businesses, like double parking.

Ombudsmen to Help Small Business Owners Contest Tickets — Small business owners can contest quality of life offenses at the “Environmental Control Board”, headquartered at 66 John Street.But it can take several hours of waiting in long lines and wading through confusing bureaucracy to be heard.As Mayor, Weiner will create ombudsman at 66 John to help small businesses negotiate the process and achieve a just resolution.
Build Citywide “Wi-Fi” – More and more commerce is transacted on the Internet, but many small businesses are housed in structures not wired for the web “Wi-Fi”--or wireless Internet--allows anyone with a properly equipped computer to log on to the Internet without being connected to an outlet. As Mayor, Weiner will initiate a citywide “Wi-Fi” plan so that more small business owners can expand their storefront onto the Internet.

Establish ShopNYC.com — The City should use the Internet to get more small businesses into the regional and global marketplace. As Mayor, Weiner will establish ShopNYC.com, a website that will act like an Internet yellow pages for local small businesses. ShopNYC.com will link consumers to local businesses and will help local business utilize the Internet for marketing purposes.
“This administration has chosen to stand with a handful of powerful developers at the expense of the taxpayer and our small business owners,” said Rep. Weiner.“As Mayor, I’ll put an end to the back door deals that have cost taxpayers so much money, and I’ll start a new era of cooperation and support for the small business owners who make our economy go.”
Earlier this week, Weiner stood with small business owners at Elm Drugs in Manhattan, and unveiled his small business bill of rights.