Small-Businesses: The Forgotten Victims of Second Avenue

City should exempt businesses affected by subway construction from taxes By [Dino LaVerghetta] The construction of the Second Avenue Subway is killing a generation of small-businesses. As it moves southward, the construction is acting like a virtual Grim Reaper, felling everything in its path. The Second Avenue Subway has been hailed as a project capable of relieving congestion, generating thousands of jobs and providing for the expansion of the East Side economy. But ask any storeowner along Second Avenue between 65th and 97th streets and a different picture emerges. Since the project began in 2007, foot traffic and profits have declined by as much as 30 percent at some shops. Storefronts are obstructed, hiding businesses from the view of potential customers. Piles of uncollected trash and an insurgence of rodents further deter patrons from frequenting the area. Some businesses have closed, others are on the brink of collapse and the rest are uncertain that they will survive to see the project"s completion. The small-business owners are asking the same question that we should all be asking: What good is a new subway going up Second Avenue when there may be nothing left to visit by the time it is done? Inexplicably, the city has done little to help business owners survive this government-created economic disaster. Instead of providing aid to help these businesses survive, the government continues to pick their corpses clean by taxing whatever profits remain. Sidewalk cafÃ&Copy;s, a vital source of income for restaurant owners, have been taken away, yet the city continues to bill them for their sidewalk licenses. Frustrated, merchants have taken matters into their own hands. Business leaders such as Joe Pecora, owner and operator of Delizia 92 Pizzeria, have formed the Second Avenue Business Association to advocate for the rights of the approximately 120 merchants affected by the construction. Unfortunately, however, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. These hard-working entrepreneurs deserve better. As the son of a small-business owner myself, I appreciate that small-businesses are the engine of our economy. I know how hard proprietors must work just to make a small profit. As the entity responsible for crippling these businesses, the city should be doing all that it can to make sure that the storeowners survive. It is time for the government to step up and help the businesses it has destroyed. These businesses have already paid their fair share for the common good. They should not have to pay anymore. I am calling on the city to exempt small-businesses affected by the project from all city taxes and fees until the project is completed. The city has already taken enough of their profits. If elected to Congress, I would immediately reallocate 5 percent of the $1.3 billion in Federal funds earmarked for the project to help the storeowners and compensate the city for the tax revenues it would lose under this program. This will amount to approximately $65 million dollars or 1.2 percent of the project"s total cost. To make the tax cuts revenue neutral for the city and Federal governments, the city should demand that the project"s contractors take off just one penny for every dollar they are scheduled to bill. Given the significant costs and hardships that have been borne by the Second Avenue businesses, none of this seems like a lot to ask from us. _ Dino LaVerghetta is a candidate for Congress in New York"s 14th Congressional District. He has been endorsed by the Republican Party, the Independence Party and the Libertarian Party.