New Grant Program Devotes $15M To Queens Small Business Recovery

QUEENS, NY — A new grant program announced Tuesday will direct $15 million to Queens small businesses struggling to make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

The Queens Small Business Grant Program will give qualifying restaurants, stores and personal care businesses up to $20,000 each for operational expenses.

Funds will go to small businesses and vendors that are minority-owned or are located in one of the Queens neighborhoods that has been hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic or in designated low-and moderate-income communities.

On top of the $15 million in grants, an additional $2.5 million has been earmarked for unspecified small-business support later in the year.

The program was launched by the city's Economic Development Corporation in partnership with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Pursuit Lending. Its funding comes from Mets owner and billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.

“No borough has been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic and its disastrous economic fallout than Queens, where countless small businesses — and the thousands of families these entities support through local hiring— are facing unprecedented uncertainty through no fault of their own,” Richards said. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, and no expense must be spared to prevent even a single closure."

To be eligible for the grants, businesses must meet the following criteria:

• Be located in the borough of Queens in an LMI zip code or COVID-19 hardest hit zones
• Be a restaurant (located on the first or second floor), retail or a personal services business (located on the first floor)
• Have employed 20 or fewer full-time employees in 2019
• Have earned gross revenue of $1 million or less in 2019. If you are a restaurant, you must have earned $3 million or less in gross revenue in 2019
• Have filed 2019 personal and business tax returns (as applicable)
• Have no open tax liens or unresolved judgments

Click here for more information on the grants and how to apply.