Mayor Mamdani Invests More Than $8.4 Million in Grants to Support Small Businesses and Commercial Corridors Citywide

NEW YORK – Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Kenny Minaya today announced more than $8.4 million in grants to community-based organizations across all five boroughs. The grants will bolster efforts to uplift small businesses, increase foot traffic and create cleaner, more vibrant neighborhoods.

The investments — one of the single largest releases of small business grants in SBS history — will support public art, street cleaning, lighting and wayfinding infrastructure, commercial district marketing campaigns, relationship-building among small businesses, and other neighborhood improvements. Altogether, the grants will support community-based organizations serving more than 20,000 small businesses.

“From colorful murals in Port Richmond to brighter street lamps in Harlem, these investments will bring new energy to neighborhoods across our city and new customers to the tens of thousands of small businesses that call them home. This $8.4 million investment will keep our sidewalks clean, our public spaces bright, and give more small business owners the resources they need to grow,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Our administration knows it’s not enough to make it easier to open a small business, you have to make it easier to visit one too. That’s why our commitment to small businesses means not only cutting red tape and reducing fines, but investing in the neighborhoods surrounding bodegas, bookshops and restaurants so that New York City is lined with ‘OPEN’ signs year-round.”

“Small businesses are the heartbeat of New York City’s economy, forming the foundation of lively and beautiful communities across all five boroughs,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “That’s why this administration is investing not only in the businesses themselves, but in the commercial corridors and neighborhoods where they live. These grants will make our communities more welcoming, strengthen local economies and help small businesses create good-paying jobs.”

“New York City’s neighborhoods are more than the places in which we live and work. They represent the diverse people, culture, and dynamism that make ours the greatest city in the world,” said SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya. “These grants go beyond dollars and cents – they are direct investments in the people and organizations that know our main streets better than everyone else. These grants will fund additional sanitation services, public art, wayfinding, and more; and will make New York City into an even more prosperous and joyous place for everyone.”

“Mom-and-pop and small businesses give every block, every neighborhood, every borough its unique identity. Joining Commissioner Minaya on his 5-borough BID convening tour, I saw firsthand the important work our BIDs and community orgs are doing to support these businesses through a number of challenges,” said Mom-and-Pop Czar Delia Awusi. “This $8.4 million investment puts more resources behind the organizations that know their communities and small businesses best.”

Shortly after taking office, Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 11, directing seven City agencies to catalogue their penalties and fees and identify ways to reduce them. Building on those efforts, Mayor Mamdani last month announced “OPEN for Small Business,” a package of more than 50 reforms that touch nearly every type of small business in New York City and makes it easier and cheaper to own and operate a small businesses across the five boroughs.

The $8.4 million in grants announced today build on those efforts by enlivening neighborhoods and directing additional foot traffic to commercial corridors. To celebrate the grants, Commissioner Minaya hosted a monthlong, five-borough tour with stops in Harlem, Manhattan; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Downtown Jamaica, Queens; Lou Gehrig Plaza in The Bronx; and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

In addition to seven citywide disbursements totaling $500,000, each borough of New York City will receive the following:

• 17 Grants to organizations in The Bronx, totaling $1,550,000
• 32 Grants to organizations in Brooklyn, totaling $2,774,135
• 14 grants to organizations in Manhattan, totaling $1,525,299
• 19 grants to organizations in Queens, totaling $1,514,800
• 7 grants to organizations in Staten Island, totaling $550,000

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