The uncertainty around commercial rent relief in New York remains the biggest threat to the costume industry's short-term survival. With Broadway closed until June 2021, and film & television productions shutting down due to Covid outbreaks; our orders will not sustain our businesses through the pandemic.

Thats why we strongly support NYS Assembly Bill A 10901, introduced by Assembly Member Harvey Epstein and NYS Senate Bill S 8865 introduced by Senator Brad Hoylman. Mr. Epstein and Mr. Hoylman created legislation that calls on landlords and commercial tenants to face the rent crisis together—to share the burden of saving the city we love.

In summary:

• Under the bill, a small business or small non-profit (covered tenants) with 25 or fewer employees that has suffered a demonstrable loss in income resulting from state mandated closures or state imposed restrictions would affirm its losses to the state Department of Financial Services (DFS). Upon verification by DFS, the covered tenant would pay its landlord the lesser of 20 percent of its revenue or ⅓ of the contractual rent per month, beginning March 7, 2020, and continuing for 180 days past the end of the NYS on PAUSE period.

• The landlord would waive 20 percent of the contractual rent. An impacted landlord would be eligible to apply to DFS for lost income beyond the 20 percent. $500,000,000 of expected federal aid would be dedicated to the establishment of a DFS program providing relief to tenants and landlords.

All you have to do to tell your representatives why you support this legislation is fill out your address information on the right and click "Start Writing". On the next page you'll see an automatically generated sample that you can send as is or edit to make more personal.

Thank you for taking the time to write to your representatives, and joining the fight to save our businesses.