To All CLA Program Clients:
Thank you for all that you do to enrich New York City’s diverse small business community. As you may be aware, the Commercial Lease Assistance Program has been defunded in the upcoming budget. Now more than ever it is imperative that the City continues to fund this invaluable program, which provides small business owners with access to legal services in connection with their commercial leases.
We encourage you to RAISE YOUR VOICE and call upon the City Council to restore funding to this vital program. You may do so by following the steps outlined below:
- Use the New York City Council’s “Find My District” Tool below to identify your Council Member (note: enter your business address to determine the Council Member for your business’s district and your home address to determine the Council Member for your residential district);
- Once you have identified your Council Member, copy their email address or phone number from their City Council page;
- Fill out the draft script below, making sure to input your business’s information into the bracketed portions and remove all brackets prior to sending via email or using as a phone script;
- Send the email to your business’s Council Member and your personal Council Member or call your Council Members and use the template as a script;
- Advocate for the CLA Program on social media using the hashtag #FundCLA and tagging your Council Member. Click here for our social media guide.
| Council Member Lookup: | Email or Phone Script: Hi CM [Council Member Name], My name is [Your Name], and I am a constituent of yours. I own [Business Name], which is a [Type of Business] located at [Specific Address] [OR I live at [address]]. As a constituent, I am [writing or calling] to urge you to help secure the restoration of funding for the Commercial Lease Assistance (CLA) program. I am a client of the CLA program, so I understand firsthand how essential these services are to small business owners like myself. To ensure that small businesses have the support that they need, it is vital that programs like the CLA program continue to be funded. [Optional: Insert any additional information you would like to share with your Council Member about the CLA Program, its importance, and/or your small business’s experience working with the CLA Program.] Sincerely, [Your Name, Business Name] |
See below what other New York City small business owners are saying about the CLA Program.
