The votes have been counted in the Best of NYC Awards. In the public vote for Manhattan, W42ST.nyc got 3,040 votes (thank you kind readers), in second place with 2,021 was Harlem2020 — and the winner announced by the judges yesterday afternoon was Chinatown Soup with 319 votes!
The Judges made their decision based on the aesthetic of the website, the business’s inspiration, their story along with the contribution to the Manhattan community. Thankfully the presidential election just has voting and no judges… 🧐
There were a couple of pieces of good news for small businesses yesterday. Mayor de Blasio signed an Executive Order allowing retail businesses to expand onto the streets outside their stores. Local shops welcome the support of innovation and promotion of shopping locally. Matt Fox at Fine and Dandy told us: “As small business owners, we need to be creative and think outside of the box to stay in business. I welcome any tools the city can provide to help us do that. Even more helpful would be campaigns to shop small and shop local, encouraging New Yorkers to keep their dollars local rather than giving them to Amazon.”
The MTA board agreed on a package for small businesses that are tenants at their properties, like Grand Central Terminal. The deal waives rent for April through to July and brings the rent down to 10% of sales or 10% of their rent for the rest of the year. Read the details here. We believe it is a model for all New York landlords to keep our small businesses from failing.
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This Halloween, show us your spookiest self! This Saturday, October 31, guests who visit the Intrepid Museum wearing a costume will get in free of charge. Click here for more info.
What We’ve Been Reading
Some of the city’s small performance venues are fighting back – because shutdown’s no joke. (TimeOut)
Are we ready to buy into an expanded NYC indoor dining experience? (Grub Street)
It’s amazing what you can find in old properties… (The Real Deal)
Neat review of The Plastic Bag Store in Times Square. (Gothamist)
Why more and more people are realizing that roomies are a mighty good thing. (New York Times)