On February 26, 2021, Assemblyman Edward C. Braunstein led a Small Business Roundtable with the Queens Chamber of Commerce, its membership and a number of Queens BID leaders. The conversation followed Braunstein’s recent appointment to the Assembly’s Working Group on Transitioning N.Y. Economy Toward COVID-19 Recovery and focused on COVID-19 economic relief, small business support and the upcoming FY2022 State Budget. 

“In the last year, the COVID-19 health crisis has presented extraordinary challenges to New York City small businesses and restaurants, who are doing their best to continuously adapt and survive,” said Assemblyman Braunstein. “With New York’s commercial eviction moratorium expiring, we need real and immediate rent relief for our small businesses. It is critical that the New York State budget include this and other needed relief and that the federal government provide the necessary funds so that New York business owners are positioned for success.”

Participating Business Improvements District (BID) Directors included Christine Silletti from the Bayside Village BID, Jaime-Faye Bean from Sunnyside Shines, Elizabeth Lusskin from LIC Partnership and Kevin Alexander of the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation, who each echoed the urgent need for commercial rent relief. Participants also highlighted certain inconsistencies between City and State regulation and enforcement and the need for relief grants that are accessible to newer businesses.

As part of the FY 2022 Executive Budget, the Governor announced a $130 million proposal to enact the Pandemic Recovery and Restart Program, which includes funding to create the Small Business and Restaurant Return-To-Work Tax Credit programs. Braunstein called on the State Legislature to expand on these proposals during upcoming negotiations. 

In New York State, small businesses make up 98 percent of the state’s businesses and employ over half of the state’s workforce. 

“The Queens Chamber is honored to work with NYS Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and the COVID-19 Recovery Working Group he is representing,” said Thomas J. Grech, President & CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. “Assemblyman Braunstein is a trusted partner of business not only in Queens, but State-wide. We thank him for asking for the input of our members, large and small, as we emerge from the COVID pandemic.”

In February, Braunstein was appointed by Speaker Carl Heastie to sit on the Assembly’s Working Group on Transitioning N.Y. Economy Toward COVID-19 Recovery. The group will continue efforts to help workers and the business community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic at both the local and the state level.

“The Assembly Working Group on Transitioning N.Y. Economy Toward COVID-19 Recovery will allow us to take a holistic approach to this recovery process by giving a voice to all stakeholders and allowing us to determine the best strategy for a strong recovery,” said Assemblyman Braunstein. “One year into the pandemic, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and Queens will come out stronger on the other side.”