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http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/03/17/03/2857-82/index.xml

Updated 2009-03-17 04:28

Foto: J.B. Nicholas/Metro

Weiner’s study looked at nearly 6,000 stores in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Though it avoided Manhattan, the report concluded the problem was citywide, as proven by the string of shuttered storefronts along West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village. Weiner’s study looked at nearly 6,000 stores in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Though it avoided Manhattan, the report concluded the problem was citywide, as proven by the string of shuttered storefronts along West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village.

More mom-and-pops forced to close doors

Hard times are forcing mom and pop to close up shop, said U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) yesterday.

A survey of 31 outer-borough shopping strips found 723 storefronts — or more than 12 percent of the total — vacant or in the process of closing.

“Too many community shops — the backbone of the city’s economy — are hit by this downturn,” said Weiner, who released the report to coincide with President Barack Obama’s new plan to help small-business owners. Traditionally small businesses account for 70 percent of new jobs.

Working with merchants’ groups, Weiner’s staffers found Brooklyn and Queens particularly affected. An event in Astoria yesterday was held in front of Pamela’s Pizza, which had been on Steinway Avenue for 32 years. Pamela’s shut down last June after its rent was raised by $4,100 a month. The shop has been vacant ever since.

“We were asking $10,000 a month in June, but with what’s going on in the market we now put the price back down to $6,000,” said real estate broker Tony Malo.

“There are a lot of stores vacant. People are afraid to start new businesses,” he said.

“If you came to Astoria two years ago, you couldn’t find vacancies. Now you have a lot of stores, and the prices keep dropping.”

PATRICK ARDEN