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In a bid to help small businesses get back on their feet amid the pandemic, Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday signed an executive order mandating city agencies scale back their regulations to “reduce needless fines and penalties” and also “slash red tape.”
“It will bring relief to our hard-working entrepreneurs,” Adams said.
The executive order amends Local Law 80, enacted in July, which relaxed certain city codes and regulations. Subject to the new decree will be the Department of Sanitation, Department of Buildings, Department of Health and Hygiene, the FDNY and the Department of Consumer Protection — agencies that Adams said perform “important functions” but have been insufficiently “business-friendly.”
“We will require all of their agencies to promptly review business regulations, with the goal of encouraging compliance, reducing fine schedules, and allowing for cure periods or warning for first-time violations,” said the new mayor, who was sworn in Saturday.
“If you just open a business, you make a mistake, you should not be hit with a fine that’s going to prevent you from keeping your doors open.”
The agencies will be required to in 90 days identify 25 violations that prompt the most summonses and fines to businesses and adjust them accordingly, Adams said.
“We’re not going to use the system to fine you to put money in our coffers,” he said.
In response to a question from The Post, Adams explained that his goal is for the agencies to report back on their findings by March and for subsequent reforms to be implemented by June.
Adams’ announcement appears aimed at taking a step toward making good on a campaign promise.
During his mayoral bid last year, Adams repeatedly promised a new, pro-business era at City Hall.
“New York will no longer be anti-business,” Adams said in September. “This is going to be a place where we welcome business and not turn into the dysfunctional city that we have been for so many years.”
Tuesday afternoon’s executive order signing was held at Pearl River Mart in Chinatown, home to among the first coronavirus-induced business closures in March 2020.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine praised the order.
“What these businesses like this need is for the city to be a partner, not an obstacle,” he said. “When it comes to inspection and health and safety, etc. it’s got to just be about protecting the health of the public, not about generating revenue for the city, and that is the spirit that you’re here to endorse today, and we’re grateful for that, so that our city will be a partner for these small businesses not a burden.”
The executive order signing is Adams’ second such event of his first days in office.
On Saturday, he rubber-stamped an order continuing the state of emergency put in place by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration to handle COVID-19, and another maintained the “Key to NYC” policy that mandates proof of vaccination to enter many indoor venues such as bars, restaurants and movie theaters.
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