Scott Stringer: Cut the red tape

Small businesses are the backbone of our City’s economy. They bring life to neighborhoods in the Bronx and provide jobs for almost one million people across New York. In the Bronx alone, in the first quarter of 2015, businesses with fewer than 50 workers employed 66,300 people.  

I believe government should be a partner, not an obstacle, to small business owners and entrepreneurs. But today, too many small businesses are being crushed under the weight of more than 6,000 rules, 250 licenses and permit requirements, and 15 City agencies that tie them up in red tape. Too frequently, government makes business owners run an obstacle course before they can open their doors to the public.

That why last year I created the Red Tape Commission, a group of 31 experts that held public hearings in all five boroughs. We heard directly from small business owners, and also conducted an online survey of almost 300 entrepreneurs. The result is the most comprehensive, bottom-up review ever compiled of the bureaucratic maze that owners navigate in New York City--and its stifling impact on business.

The results were shocking:

Small business owners face a painfully slow approval processes before they can open their doors: Nearly 30% of small businesses said it took six months or longer to get all the approvals they needed from the City to open for business, and 13% said it took more than a year.

Too many small business owners report being treated unfairly:  Nearly half of all business owners surveyed said they did not feel that they had been treated fairly by the City, and more than 58% said agencies failed to adequately communicate expectations and requirements. 

City government is too inaccessible: Nearly 40% of small businesses surveyed said they found it necessary to hire a private “expeditor” to navigate City bureaucracy, but more than half said spending the extra money was neither helpful nor effective.

Business owners are frustrated: Asked to identify their single greatest frustration with City government, 20% of respondents cited fines and inspections as the most common complaint, followed by agency response times (18%) and high taxes and fees (17%).

In our hearings, we heard stories that made this data come alive. Take the case of Frank Franz, a business owner and community leader in Belmont. Frank told the Commission that he waited nine months for the City to do the few minutes of work needed to approve his permit application. Throughout his nine month wait, Frank had been paying rent for a space he could not occupy, costing him thousands of dollars.  

Frank’s story is just one more reason why it’s time to take a sledgehammer to the bureaucracy and start over. Our Commission made 60 recommendations, including:  

City government needs to be accessible to small businesses, which is why the City should end the use of “expeditors” and instead employ Small Business Advocates in relevant City agencies. 

 The City must improve services for limited English proficiency New Yorkers, including making better use of translation services and putting more training materials, including videos, online in more languages. 

The City needs to make it easier for business owners to comply with the law. For instance, the Department of Health should make it free for business owners to learn how to comply with regulations, instead of making them pay $400 to do so.

Making better use of technology, including allowing applicants to track a permit throughout the approval process in real time and make wider use of electronic filing for permit and license applications.

To help business owners like Frank Franz, the Commission proposed that City agencies allow business owners to track their permit applications in real time, and also establish and be held accountable to timelines for how quickly they will respond to permit applicants.  

It’s time for government to do its job. We need to cut the Red Tape once and for all, and give business owners the support they need to keep our City growing for everyone. 

Scott Stringer is the New York City comptroller.