A group of Manhattan small business owners yesterday denounced the fact that close to 80,000 of the city's Latino businesses find themselves in danger of having to close due to abusive practices by real estate speculators, which have driven the exaggerated rise in rental costs.

In an action carried out in Upper Manhattan, bodega and other small business owners supported the proposal of the area's City Council representative, Robert Jackson, which would spell out the rights of small businesses in the negotiation of commercial rental contracts. Jackson received a petition as part of a campaign that hopes to gather 100,000 signatures.

As it was explained, the proposed bill would provide for mediation and, if it proved necessary, arbitration of rent negotiations between the owners of businesses and building owners.

Ramón Murphy, president of the Association of Bodega Owners, said that small businesses constitute the base of the city's economy, “but if the situation continues as it has been going, bodegas will disappear from New York.”

Murphy said that currently there is no law that allows for mediation of disagreements with building owners, and for a way to arrive at a fair lease contract.

Jackson pointed out that in on the single block where the action took place yesterday, there were a total of five empty commercial spaces. “This is the work of owners who prefer to 'warehouse' these spaces in the hopes that they can later raise the rents,” said the Councilman.

Miguel Martínez, the other City Council member from the area, was represented by Bienvenido Lara, who expressed support for Jackson's initiative. Representatives of Korean and African-American businesses, among others, also participated.