Mayor Eric Adams Appoints Small Business Services Commissioner

In an effort to support small businesses and job growth in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday that Dynishal Gross has been appointed as commissioner of the city’s Department of Small Business Services (SBS).

Gross, who has previously served as acting commissioner and executive deputy commissioner of SBS, will lead the 350-person agency, effective immediately. She will be taking over from Kevin Kim, who announced he was stepping down in May.

“Small businesses are the beating heart of our economy, pumping life into commercial districts and communities across the five boroughs,” Adams said in a statement Tuesday. “I cannot think of a better leader to steer SBS through this critical next chapter than Commissioner Gross, who is an economic development expert, battle-tested, and has served small businesses and New Yorkers well for her entire career.”

Adams and Gross also announced updates on the city’s efforts to drive down storefront vacancies. Out of New York City’s 183,000 small businesses, 55,000 were created in the first two years of Adams’s administration, they said.

The city’s storefront vacancy rate dropped to 11.15 percent in the second quarter of this year, down from 11.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island all have storefront vacancy rates below 9 percent, according to the city’s data from Live XYZ.

Overall, restaurants and hospitality, grocery and convenience stores, barber shops and hair salons, business services, and health care storefronts have seen the highest rates of growth, according to Adams’s statement.

In addition, Adams said he plans to give $4.8 million to 64 neighborhood organizations to further small business development. That brings SBS’s total awarded grants to date to $35 million as Gross takes over to spearhead the efforts.

“With mission-driven partners, inside and outside of government, and infinite good work to be done, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the work of the Department of Small Business Services, and its amazing staff, in pursuing equity of opportunity for all New Yorkers,” Gross said Tuesday.

The news comes as Adams faces allegations of a bribery scheme and a federal investigation into New York Police Department leadership. As a result, some leaders in commercial real estate are worried Adams will be unable to execute on initiatives like City of Yes, the most comprehensive zoning changes in New York since 1961.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.