A barbershop in New York City needs three separate permits just to cut hair. A restaurant needs a standalone license to add ice cream to the menu. These are the kinds of bureaucratic tangles that Mayor Zohran Mamdani targeted on July 20 when he unveiled OPEN for Small Business, a package of more than 50 regulatory reforms for the city’s roughly 180,000 small businesses.
OPEN stands for Overhauling Procedures and Expanding Navigation. The reforms span nearly every sector, with 25 changes aimed at food service and food retail, seven for transportation, five for other retailers, and four for childcare providers, among others. The package grew out of a six-month review launched by Executive Order 11 in January, during which city agencies surveyed more than 500 business owners who pointed to delays, unclear rules, and inconsistent enforcement as their biggest frustrations.
What actually changes
Mamdani signed a new executive order alongside the announcement. It immediately expands the NYC Business Express Service Team, or NYC BEST, to give entrepreneurs a single dedicated case manager who stays with them from permit applications through inspections. It also requires city inspectors to hand out physical copies of the Business Owner Bill of Rights at every inspection. According to the administration, a 2025 survey found just 9% of business owners had ever received one.
“Small business owners deserve a partner in city government,” Mamdani said at a press conference at La Bodega in the Bronx. The executive order also creates OPEN as a permanent interagency task force charged with delivering annual reform recommendations.
A first step, not a finish line
Business groups offered measured praise. Jessica Walker, president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement, “Fifty is a strong start on a list of six thousand.” The city’s leading restaurant group went further, calling the package “extremely underwhelming,” according to amNewYork.
That tension matters. Mamdani pledged during his mayoral campaign to cut small-business fines and fees in half. Neither the OPEN report nor the executive order says how far this package moves the city toward that target or sets a deadline for reaching it. And some of the 50-plus changes cannot take effect through executive action alone. They require cooperation from the City Council, state government, or regulatory agencies.
Small business owners should not rush to drop any existing permits or fees. Until specific rule changes are formally adopted, current requirements remain in force. What they can do right now is contact NYC BEST (call 888-SBS-4NYC or visit nyc.gov/business) to connect with a case manager, and ask for the Business Owner Bill of Rights at their next inspection.
The biggest costs for NYC small businesses, including commercial rent, insurance, and utilities, are not addressed yet. SBS has been directed to develop recommendations on those issues by the fall. That report, and whether the City Council acts on the reforms needing legislation, will determine whether OPEN lives up to its name.
