State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher introduced legislation Monday to cap commercial rent increases and guarantee lease renewals for small businesses across New York City.
The Small Business Rent Stabilization Act (S8319/A5568A) would create a Commercial Rent Guidelines Board to set maximum annual rent increases for commercial tenants and provide lease renewal rights with a default 10-year renewal term. The bill applies to all leases and rental agreements for commercial spaces but does not freeze rents entirely or roll back existing rents.
“Corporate landlords are charging rents so high that the only business owners who can afford to pay are corporate chains,” Salazar said in a statement. “Or, they’re keeping storefronts vacant until larger, wealthier tenants come along. This is a toxic and now commonplace pattern that is shuttering our local businesses, putting New Yorkers out of work, and turning our vibrant neighborhoods into chain malls.”
Gallagher said small businesses face displacement by “greedy corporate actors” who would rather wait for chain tenants. “In the 20 years I’ve been in my neighborhood, I’ve seen so many beloved businesses close because of unaffordable rents or because big landlords would rather wait for a corporate chain to come along,” she said.
The legislation comes as [8,400 businesses closed](https://edc.nyc/sites/default/files/2026-01/NYCEDC-NYC-Economic-Snapshot-December-2025.pdf) in the second quarter of 2025, according to NYC Economic Development Corporation data. Currently [12% of NYC storefronts are vacant](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/Storefronts-Reported-Vacant-or-Not/92iy-9c3n/about_data), with one in five Manhattan storefronts sitting empty.
The bill would protect at-will tenants with the right to request written leases and enforce compliance through penalty provisions against overcharges and tenant harassment. However, the bill does not apply retroactively to existing leases, and supporters say it would not prevent landlords from earning a reasonable return on their investments.
Urban activist Olympia Kazi praised the legislation as “critical” for protecting commercial tenants. “For more than half a century, communities have fought to defend beloved small businesses, nonprofits, and cultural institutions from displacement and erasure,” she said.
[Small Business United](https://smallbizunited.com/), a new organizing coalition, said the crisis stems from “treating commercial space as a commodity to make corporate real estate companies richer, rather than as community infrastructure to support our neighborhoods.”
The coalition noted that [47% of New York workers are employed](https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/New_York_2025-State-Profile.pdf) by small businesses, according to Small Business Administration data.
Salazar represents District 18, which includes Bushwick, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and other North Brooklyn neighborhoods where small businesses have faced mounting rent pressure from gentrification and development.
