The New York City Council passed a package of legislation on October 8 that includes a measure requiring the Department of Small Business Services to create a support fund for small retail businesses hurt by city roadway construction, along with a resolution urging New York State to establish a tax credit for those same businesses. The fund measure became law on Nov. 7 as Local Law 163 of 2026.

The fund measure, Introduction 799-A, sponsored by Council Member Yusef Salaam, directs the Department of Small Business Services to set up a grant program for community-based organizations, including business improvement districts, to help small retail businesses inside a construction project area. Under the bill, a single grant may not exceed $100,000, and an organization may reimburse an individual business up to $10,000 for covered costs such as wages or rent that the business cannot meet from its own revenue because of the construction.

The bill defines a qualifying construction project as one the Department of Transportation determines is authorized by a permit for at least 90 consecutive days, is performed by or on behalf of a city agency, requires the full closure of a roadway or sidewalk, and is located no more than one block from a commercial corridor. The qualifying area extends two blocks in any direction from the project. The law takes effect 180 days after it became law, in early May 2027, and is repealed three years after that effective date.