$4M Grant Program To Help E Harlem Small Businesses Survive Virus

EAST HARLEM, NY — A new grant program with $4 million in funding is accepting applications from East Harlem businesses struggling with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, neighborhood officials announced Monday.

Grants of up to $20,000 are available for East Harlem businesses with 20 employees and annual revenues of up to $1 million through the new East Harlem Small Business Grant Program, City Councilmember Diana Ayala announced. The program is funded through the 2014 sale of the former East 125th Street Pathmark site by Extell Development.

"While we focus on long-term solutions to the economic devastation this pandemic has brought to the East Harlem small business community, this grant opportunity will provide some immediate relief to the businesses that have struggled and faced enormous challenges during the past several months," Ayala said in a statement.

Grant money will be provided through a partnership between the city Economic Development Corporation and East Harlem nonprofit Union Settlement. Businesses can apply for funds through Union Settlement's website. Funding must be used to offset operational expenses such as rent, payroll and insurance costs.

Businesses must be located within Manhattan's Community District 11 to qualify for the grant program. The district is bound by 96th Street to the south, 142nd Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the west, the East and Harlem rivers to the east. Randall's Island, Ward's Islands and Marcus Garvey Park are also included in the district.

New York City became the last region in the state to enter the state's phased reopening plan in June. All but essential businesses shut down in March. The economic shutdown was especially damaging to "mom and pop" small businesses that already operated on thin margins before the pandemic. A recent study estimated that as many as one-third of the city's small businesses won't make it through the economic fallout.

Extell Development recently filed plans to develop an office building at the site of the former East 125th Street Pathmark. The development firm, known mainly for its supertall condo developments, will build a nine-story office tower with more than 350,000 square feet of commercial space at the site. The Pathmark closed in 2015.