Weighed down by business fines? NYC's new mayor says he has a plan for that

No clear prices posted at a New York City laundromat? That’ll cost the business owner almost $400. A bodega failing to put an item-weighing scale clearly in sight? That’s a $100 fine. And don’t even think about letting your air compressor make excessive noise unless you want to pay $560.

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday promised to curb fines levied by the New York City government, signing an executive order instructing his staff to figure out how to reduce municipal inspectors’ bite and grant more time to fix problems they identify.

Adams, speaking at an Asian-goods emporium in lower Manhattan, said inspectors can "turn the American dream into a nightmare — every day, all day, in the way of small businesses, not allowing them to flourish and grow."

He said bureaucratic introspection is particularly necessary to redress the economic havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic since early 2020.

Maria Torres-Springer, Adams’ deputy mayor for economic and workforce development, provided the fine schedule. Adams has tasked her with overseeing an analysis of fines levied and violations enforced by the departments of buildings, environmental protection, sanitation, fire, and consumer and worker protection. Each agency must list the 25 violations responsible for the greatest number of summonses and fines issued to small businesses.

Asked about the balance that inspectors must strike when enforcing the rules, Torres-Springer acknowledged that "many of them have a public purpose."

But she said the city would "look at these rules, look at the most commonly enforced violations and say, ‘do they still serve that public purpose. If not, how do we reform it? If they do, are we sure there are first-time warnings, and cure periods? What do the fine schedules look like for first, second and third offenses, and are they reasonable?’ "

Adams, who was sworn in on Saturday, the review would be done within 90 days, with implementation by June.

Torres-Springer said: "What we are here to say as part of this new administration is that you are not alone anymore."

For her part, Torres-Springer had been a senior official under Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio, as chief executive of the city's Economic Development Corporation, and earlier, commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services.

In February 2020, de Blasio announced his "Fix It, Don’t Fine It" program, under which the city eliminated certain fines for first-time violations and expanded the categories of violations with so-called "cure periods," meaning a violator can fix the problem and avoid being fined.

In a news release touting the program, de Blasio’s office said that the administration cut fines to small businesses by over 40% since 2014 and promised to cut an additional 10%.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.