Opinion: Commercial Rent Stabilization is Our Only Hope

“It would ensure that small business owners can afford to keep their doors open and that we don’t live in neighborhoods lined with Sweet Greens, Targets, and Whole Foods.”

As president of the board of directors of the Park Slope Food Coop, even with a religiously committed community of shoppers, I can confirm that we’ve only been able to stay afloat in this economic climate because we own our building. We’re not subject to the unaffordable rent hikes that have led many of our neighbors to shut down. 

To point to a recent example: Gino’s, a beloved pizza restaurant near Barclays Center and my old apartment, had been a staple in our community for 30 years. Miami-based Tristar Management recently bought the building and raised Gino’s rent from $10,000 to $25,000, forcing it to shut down. A chain restaurant or business is expected to take Gino’s place. Is this what we want to keep happening throughout our city?

Park Slope’s small businesses, like Gino’s, desperately need more protections to compete against corporate behemoths. They need their lawmakers to pass Small Business Rent Stabilization.

I’ve lived in Park Slope for the past 15 years. Concerts at the independent venue Southpaw, great sandwiches at Bierkraft, and memorable nights at bars like The Sackett or Dirty Precious were what made this neighborhood lively, community-oriented, and everything you imagine when you think of living in Brooklyn as a young adult.  

And yet, every one of those businesses have shut down—mostly because of steep rent increases by landlords. This is an epidemic plaguing New York City and closing down the businesses that made our city what it is. Park Slope alone lost over 30 restaurants in the past year.

Between 2007 and 2019, retail rents in New York City increased an average of 22 percent—and more than 50 percent in some neighborhoods—and this trend has only increased post-COVID.  In 2024, the city had more than 11 percent commercial vacancies, up from just 4 percent in 2007. Currently, there are almost no lease protections for commercial tenants. 

So, if it feels like some of your favorite places are going by the wayside, it’s because they are. Everything is closing. It’s becoming a retail massacre in Park Slope and other parts of Brooklyn, as communities that used to be defined by their small businesses are now increasingly becoming stale, overpriced, and overrun with encroaching chains, many with dubious commitments to employment standards. 

The Small Business Rent Stabilization Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and Senator Julia Salazar, is modeled after residential rent stabilization, and would create a commercial rent guidelines board to limit excessive rent hikes, guarantee lease renewal rights, and protect at-will tenants. It would ensure that small business owners can afford to keep their doors open and that we don’t live in neighborhoods lined with Sweet Greens, Targets, and Whole Foods.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s very popular campaign was focused on delivering an affordable New York. We need to leverage every tool possible to do it, and a mayor-appointed commercial rent guidelines board is a massive step in fighting to keep the city we love from being erased by management companies who could not care less about what happens to our neighborhoods.

Brandon West is a labor organizer, board president of the Park Slope Food Coop, and member of Brooklyn Community Board 6.