Issues
Where We Stand
Positions
Positions
The coalition takes positions on the city, state, and federal measures that decide whether immigrant- and minority-owned businesses can keep their doors open. These are the issues our members have asked us to fight on.
Oppose · New York City
City-run grocery stores
Five city-owned supermarkets, one per borough, selling produce, meat, bread, and milk at 30 percent below retail on rent-free municipal land. No private grocer can match a subsidized competitor across the street.
The lawsuitsThe city plans to spend $70 million opening five government-run grocery stores, one per borough, beginning at The Peninsula in Hunts Point in the Bronx and at La Marqueta in East Harlem. Operators would receive city-owned space rent-free, pay no property taxes, and sell a core basket of staples, all fresh produce, meat, and seafood plus about 20 other essentials, at 30 percent below typical New York retail prices.
The businesses around those sites are overwhelmingly immigrant- and minority-owned. La Marqueta alone is surrounded by Hispanic- and Korean-owned supermarkets and five bodegas within a few blocks, all paying commercial rent, property taxes, and full price for their products. Coalition president Kenneth Roldan estimates as many as 1,000 of them could be put out of business.
The coalition's filings compare the plan to letting Walmart open deep-discount stores in New York, something the city's own politicians and unions have fought for decades to prevent, and note that no land-use study, environmental review, or economic analysis of the effect on existing stores was done before the sites were chosen. The coalition asked City Hall for a seat at the planning table in May and again in August. When no meeting came, it went to court.
“You cannot expect hard-working small business owners to compete with a supermarket that isn't going to pay rent, won't have to pay an electric bill and won't have to buy their products at full price. They cannot possibly compete because no one will be subsidizing them.”
Oppose the restriction · Federal
SBA loan access for legal permanent residents
A federal Small Business Administration policy restricts SBA-backed loan programs for legal permanent residents, cutting off financing immigrant business owners have relied on for decades.
Immigrant business owners have historically depended on SBA-backed financing to invest in equipment, expand operations, purchase property, and hire workers. Restricting that access for legal permanent residents contradicts the agency's own mission and pulls capital out of the neighborhoods that need it most.
The coalition raised this at City Hall on March 6, 2026 and continues to press for the policy's reversal.
Reform · New York City and State
Minority and women-owned business certification
Certification programs meant to open public contracting to minority-owned firms have become increasingly difficult to access and navigate.
Our members report growing discrimination and obstacles in minority business certification programs, with compliance requirements that keep the very businesses the programs were built for from qualifying.
The coalition wants certification that is fair, transparent, and navigable without a consultant, and contracting goals that are measured by dollars actually awarded to certified firms.
Oppose · New York City
Property tax increases on neighborhood retailers
Proposed property tax increases would fall disproportionately on the neighborhood retailers serving minority communities.
Commercial property taxes are passed through to tenants. For a bodega, a restaurant, or a family-run shop, a tax increase on the building is a rent increase on the business. The coalition opposes increases that land hardest on the small retailers serving minority neighborhoods.
Oppose · New York City
A $30-per-hour minimum wage
A proposed $30-per-hour city minimum wage would price small employers out of hiring.
Our members support fair pay and already compete for workers. A $30 floor set by the city, without regard to the margins of a corner store or a family restaurant, would mean fewer jobs in exactly the neighborhoods the policy claims to help.
Streamline · New York City and State
Permitting delays and environmental review
Delayed building permits and lengthy environmental reviews add months and money to every expansion, renovation, and new location.
The coalition has raised delayed permits, lengthy environmental reviews, and increased operating expenses directly with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Congressman George Latimer. Faster, predictable approvals cost the city nothing and keep small projects alive.
Act · All levels
Access to capital and retail theft
Two problems our members raise more than any other: they cannot get capital on fair terms, and shoplifting is eating what margin they have.
The coalition's public campaign puts the daily reality of small business ownership in front of policymakers: the difficulty of obtaining capital, and the cost of shoplifting and retail theft that stores absorb alone. Both belong in any serious plan for affordability.
Stay Informed
Alerts on hearings, rallies, court dates, and the issues the coalition is fighting on.