Furhan Ahmad Releases Small Business and Cultural Spaces Plan for Assembly District 66

Candidate backs commercial rent stabilization, tax relief, and eviction protections, plus utility relief for small food businesses.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Furhan Ahmad, candidate for New York State Assembly in District 66, today released his plan to protect the independent businesses and cultural institutions that define the West Village, Greenwich Village, SoHo, NoHo, TriBeCa, Hudson Square, and the Meatpacking District.

District 66 runs on its small businesses. The corner restaurant, the family-run shop, the gallery, the bookstore, the music venue: these are not interchangeable. When one closes, the neighborhood loses a piece of itself, and most of the time it does not come back.

Furhan's plan rests on a simple idea. Commercial tenants deserve the same basic protections residential tenants spent decades fighting for: stable rents, relief from taxes that squeeze the smallest operators hardest, and protection from being thrown out for no good reason.

"My father drove a cab to keep our family going," said Furhan Ahmad. "I know what it means to work every hour you have and still feel the ground shift under you. I’ve talked to small business owners in this district who feel that anxiety every time a lease comes up. They should not have to wonder if a rent hike or a sudden eviction is going to end something they spent a lifetime building."

The plan commits Furhan to the following in Albany:

Support the New York City Small Business Rent Stabilization Act, which would create a commercial rent guidelines board and a rent stabilization system for small businesses in the city.

Support Commercial Rent Tax relief, which would exempt small retail and food service businesses with base rent under one million dollars from the Commercial Rent Tax charged south of 96th Street.

Support the STORE Act, the Stop The Outrageous Retail Evictions Act, which would bar landlords from evicting small commercial tenants without good cause.

Advocate for formula retail restrictions that limit chain saturation and preserve the independent character of District 66's commercial corridors.

Advocate for utility relief for small businesses, especially small food businesses, which carry some of the heaviest energy costs of any storefront and are often the first to fold when bills spike.

Support climate resilience funding and infrastructure investment that protects small businesses from flooding and storm damage, so that owners are not wiped out by a single storm.

"Protecting these businesses is not just an economic question, it is about what kind of neighborhood we want to live in," Furhan added. "I want my neighbors to be able to walk out their door and still recognize the place they fell in love with. That is worth fighting for in Albany."

Shivani Dhir
Furhan for Assembly
+1 516-754-0205
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