Mamdani’s Small Business Czar Wants Economic Justice for Workers

Minaya said he plans to take a “whole-of-government approach” to make it easier to start and grow small businesses in the city.

“Small businesses are key to creating thriving communities, and everything we do at SBS should have that as a focal point,” he told New York Focus.

There are signs that Mamdani’s SBS will put more emphasis on workers. In a notable early shift, Mamdani put the department and several others under the portfolio of Julie Su, the newly created deputy mayor for economic justice. Under previous mayors, SBS reported to the deputy mayor for housing and economic development, a position that Mamdani has dismantled as he pursues a pro-worker agenda.

“When we talk about the smallest businesses in New York and all small businesses, a lot of the folks that own those businesses are workers themselves,” Minaya said. “It was very intentional to name the economic justice portfolio, and to include SBS within that portfolio, because small businesses are not excluded from an economic justice message.”

That shift has sparked concern among some of the city’s corporate titans, who worry that Mamdani will abandon the familiar playbook of tax breaks and incentives aimed at encouraging growth in favor of more stringent regulations to guarantee workers’ rights. Minaya suggested those concerns are misplaced.

“I think the recent executive order issued by the mayor suggests that’s not the approach,” he said. “That we’re really looking to see how government can not be a hindrance, but be a help to small businesses.”

Also on Minaya’s to-do list: Implementing the major reforms to the city’s street vending system that will take effect in the coming months, thanks to a set of bills approved by the City Council in January despite former Mayor Eric Adams’ initial vetoes. One bill will significantly expand licenses for both food and merchandise vendors, and charges SBS with training vendors on how to comply with the law. Another bill taking effect in July will create a new Division of Street Vendor Assistance within the department.

Mamdani also campaigned on creating a “mom-and-pop czar” to serve the smallest businesses. The mayor plans to appoint another person to that role, City Hall spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said.

Mamdani said in a statement that small businesses are the city’s “lifeblood.”

“They’re where working people build dreams — and for too long, City Hall has made that harder than it needs to be, burying storefronts in red tape while corporate chains get the fast lane. That ends now,” Mamdani said. “With Kenny Minaya as Commissioner of Small Business Services, we’ll cut the bureaucracy and make it easier to start and run a small business.”

The city’s street vendors are overwhelmingly foreign-born, and about half of the city’s business owners are immigrants. Mamdani has made those New Yorkers central to his coalition — filming a memorable early campaign video in which he argued that the broken street-vending system had forced halal carts to raise their prices, a phenomenon he dubbed “halalflation.” 

In addition to his stint at Make the Road, Minaya has worked as a housing attorney at the nonprofit Catholic Migration Services. His parents, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic, have owned and operated a bakery in Inwood for 42 years. Growing up, Minaya got an early education in city bureaucracy as he helped his parents hire expediters to secure licenses or defend themselves against the occasional summons.

“These are cost drivers for small businesses,” he said. “And the affordability agenda applies to them as well.”