Mayor Bloomberg | NYC Retail | New Business Acceleration

City expands restaurant program to speed retail business openings

February 17, 2012 12:00PM

From left: Deputy Mayor Robert Steel and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn

New York City officials are expanding a business program aimed at streamlining the process of opening a new restaurant to include the entire retail spectrum, officials announced today. The first step is the launch of a survey to collect information on obstacles that impede businesses opening in the city.

The program is based on the New Business Acceleration Team that Mayor Michael Bloomberg created in his 2010 State of the City speech. By removing some bureaucracy from the permitting process, at least 600 restaurants were able to open an average of 75 days faster through the program, according to the city. The initiative is headed by Caswell Holloway, deputy mayor of operations, Robert Steel, deputy mayor of economic development, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Now, those same principles will be applied to other retailers, once the city gathers background information from existing retailers.

?Creating a pro-growth, business-friendly environment has been at the center of Mayor Bloomberg?s economic development strategy, and by expanding the highly successful [New Business Acceleration Team] model to retail we will help even more businesses get open faster,? Deputy Mayor Steel said. ?We want to make it as efficient as possible for businesses to comply with necessary regulations so they can serve more customers and hire more New Yorkers.? ??Adam Fusfeld

Source: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/02/17/city-expands-restaurant-program-to-speed-retail-openings/

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