The proliferation of chain stores and bank branches is an increasing threat to the character of diverse neighborhoods throughout New York City. By highlighting successful innovations that have been adopted in other cities and exploring the distinct pressures faced by business owners, this program aims to provide local merchants, community members, and municipal representatives with tools and strategies to safeguard small-scale retail, drive economic development, and establish a constituency pushing for policy reform.

Moderator: Adam Friedman, executive director, New York Industrial Retention Network. Panelists: Vicki Weiner, director of planning and preservation, Pratt Center for Community Development; John Shapiro, partner, Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates; Walter Edwards, chairperson, Harlem Business Alliance; Makale Faber Cullen, director of social ventures, Center for the Urban Environment; Tom Cowell, economic development policy analyst, Office of the Manhattan Borough President.