Mamdani to allocate $20 million for gov agency to help small businesses navigate city regulations

New York City mayoral-elect Zohran Mamdani blamed City Hall for making it too difficult for small businesses to thrive and announced plans to increase funding to a government team to help entrepreneurs navigate the existing red tape.

Asked earlier this week about his plans for small business owners, Mamdani said, “Too often, City Hall is making it harder for entrepreneurs to start to fulfill their dreams,” noting the bureaucratic “hoops” small businesses are forced to jump through.

He pointed to the city’s Business Express Service Teams, or “BEST teams,” which provide one-on-one case management assistance to small businesses. “We’re going to fund those teams with an additional $20 million dollars so that number of those business owners served starts to skyrocket,” Mamdani said.

On Wednesday, Mamdani posted on X, “Small businesses power this city. We’re cutting red tape and expanding real, one-on-one support so working-class entrepreneurs, immigrants, and longtime New Yorkers can open and grow the businesses they’ve dreamed of.”

In May, Mamdani outlined broader policies aimed at supporting small businesses, including cutting fines and fees by 50 percent, appointing a “Mom and Pop Czar” to make running a small business easier, accelerating permits and applications, and calling for a 500 percent increase in small business program funding.

Despite these proposals, some small business owners remained concerned that Mamdani’s socialist policies, particularly regarding property and a city-run grocery store, could make it harder for small businesses to compete and expand in New York City.

“I am not signing any leases now,” restaurateur Stratis Morfogen told the New York Post. “We want to wait and see what [Mamdani] does. His radical changes scare the s*** out of small business owners.”