Council Member Santosuosso raises Alpine Theater property tax burden as legacy business issue

Awesome.

And I, as a co-sponsor of Councilmember Maloney's bill, which I'm excited about in terms of legacy businesses, you have heard me say this before, Mr.

Conby, you know that one of my most prized legacy businesses in Bay Ridge is the Alpine Theater.

Which is the oldest working movie cinema independently owned in all of New York City.

And when we're discussing sort of, you know, what makes legacy businesses close, this is a legacy business that wants to stay open, but can't and is probably eventually facing closure because their property taxes

amount to $400,000 a year property taxes for just one cinema.

And despite my, you know, screaming for help with, you know, the resources with the city and with the resources of the state, because I truly believe there must be an error that a single.

Theater that's independently owned, that's not fancy, that just has 10 theaters, like couldn't possibly be asked to pay $400,000 a year.

I cannot get any answers and assistance from any department or any agency.

And so I'm just once again, putting it out into the ether that if you have any suggestions as to how to solve this particular legacy business issue.

I'm all ears.

You, Mr.

Khan, and the rest of the world that I'm saying it to.

Yeah, yes.

No, but on Alpine Theater, remember the first conversation we had on this, and I remember we, as we understand it, it's an issue of the square footage, and the square footage leads to that calculation, which leads to the dollar number you've cited.

And so it's less of a discretionary choice, but rather how the property tax system and the calculations are made and how that then impacts a business

in your district that may not have been or may have been the intent of the decisions that were made on property taxes.

Yeah, totally.

And I just think the dynamic that ends up, you know, when we're talking about displacement of small businesses that result because of development, there should be in our tax policy a recognition that if a legacy business wants to stay, you know,

whatever they purchased that property for, which of course is much less than it's worth in the modern day, they should be able to preserve that and resist whatever development.

would turn them into a chain or, you know, some other sort of standardized business by having that reflect in the tax policy, because it does have a public benefit in order for those legacy businesses to be able to stay.

So that I will just get off my soapbox.

But that was what I wanted to talk about today.

Thank you so much.

We love Alpine Theater and my wife, all of her favorite movies she's seen in Alpine Theater.

Okay.