Thomas-Henry speaks on quarterly fee installments for outdoor dining
Thomas-Henry presents her first bill to pass, explaining how quarterly fee payments reduce upfront costs for restaurant owners and entrepreneurs, framing affordability as the cost to build a business and dream in NYC.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I am Councilmember Chanel Thomas-Henry, representing the 21st Council District in the World's Borough of Queens.
So imagine this for a moment.
The restaurant owner who takes a family recipe and turns it into a neighborhood favorite.
The immigrant entrepreneur who opens a storefront and in doing so creates a piece of home thousands of miles away from where they started.
The New Yorker who saves every dollar they can, takes a chance on themselves, signs a lease, turns on the lights, and says, I'm going to make this work.
That is the culture of small entrepreneurship in New York City.
And in diving into their dreams and sometimes fears, they bring their cultures, their perspectives, and their community with them.
Behind every one of those businesses is an entrepreneur with the grit, hustle, passion, and enough courage to not take no for an answer.
So when government has the opportunity to make that journey even easier, we should.
Today, I am incredibly proud that the council will vote on Intro 918, my first bill to pass in this body.
Intro 918 is simple.
Instead of requiring restaurants participating in our outdoor dining program to pay revocable consent fees to the city all at once, businesses will have the flexibility to make those payments quarterly.
The difference between an enormous bill and manageable payments throughout the year matters.
During the pandemic, our entrepreneurs showed us what was possible.
They transformed sidewalks and streets into places of connection.
They kept people employed.
They fed our communities.
They brought life back to neighborhoods during one of the darkest periods in our city's history.
We should not repay that ingenuity by putting unnecessary barriers in their way.
We should be asking ourselves every day, how do we make it easier for people in New York to stay here and succeed here?
Because affordability is not only about what it costs to live in New York, it is also about what it costs to build a life, build a business, and build a dream here.
Intro 918 is one step toward answering that question.
It says to our entrepreneurs, we see what it takes.
We value what you bring to our neighborhoods.
And what government is willing to meet you where you are.
And today I am proud that the council will take another step towards doing exactly that.
I want to thank Speaker Menon for being an advocate for our small businesses and bringing this to a vote.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you so much, Council Member.