Small business owners may have differing views on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, but there is broad agreement on one point: the Big Apple is taking the cost of red tape seriously.
Mayor Mamdani recently appointed Delia Awusi as the administration’s first “Mom-and-Pop Czar.” Awusi is tasked with helping NYC’s smallest businesses navigate city government and access the support they need to open and grow. Her appointment is part of a broader effort by Mayor Mamdani to fulfill his campaign promise to support small neighborhood businesses. That effort began in January with Executive Order 11.
Executive Order 11 is a focused effort to lower the cost of starting and running a small business by cutting unnecessary government-imposed costs. It has five phases, three of which are already complete.
Phase 1: Identify all fees and fines.
City agencies submitted an inventory of all fees required to start a small business, as well as a list of all fines applicable to small businesses. Agencies specified whether each fee or fine could be reduced administratively or would require legislative action.
Phase 2: Fix slow approval timelines.
The Department of Small Business Services assessed how long city approvals of new small businesses take and proposed process improvements to shorten those timelines.
Phase 3: Eliminate fees where possible.
Agencies identified all administrative changes available to eliminate the initial fees required for a small business to open its doors.
Phase 4: Advance legislative reforms.
By mid-July, City Hall must propose legislation to reduce or eliminate additional fees and fines that cannot be fixed administratively.
Phase 5: Explore small business relief.
Within one year, the city will evaluate the feasibility and fiscal impact of an amnesty program to provide financial relief to business owners.
Taken together, the order forces City Hall to confront a basic question: which costs are necessary, and which are getting in the way of broader economic growth?
Chicago is moving in the opposite direction
Meanwhile, Chicago just doubled the fees for limited business licenses, quadrupled the cost of a regulated business license, and doubled food inspection fees. More than 40,000 businesses will now face new, unexpected costs when they renew their licenses, at a time when they are already facing rising overheads and economic uncertainty.
It is time for Chicago’s leaders to recognize a simple reality: every new fee, fine, and delay makes it harder to open and sustain a small business. While we may not agree with everything in NYC’s playbook, Chicago policymakers should take this page from it and make the city a more affordable place for small businesses to grow.