Small businesses continue to languish in the pandemic's aftermath, and some city leaders say Mayor Eric Adams is not doing enough to help them recover.

“It feels good for politicians to say small businesses are the backbone of our city, but people want to see action and they want to see results,” said Councilmember Justin Brannan, who represents parts of Brooklyn and chairs the Council's finance committee, during a budget hearing on Tuesday.

Frequent shutdowns at the height of the pandemic devoured profits for thousands of small businesses in the city, many of which remained months behind on rent and sank further into debt. Both city and federal aid seemingly excluded many businesses, particularly those owned by women or people of color, according to the Small Business Administration. In one incident, a city-funded pandemic loan for small businesses in low-income areas seemingly disregarded parts of Chinatown.

Now, rising rents and inflation are making the prospect of rebounding from the pandemic particularly bleak for small businesses.

In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would ask the federal government for $150 million to support community development financial institutions, which grant loans to people and businesses in low-income communities.

In the upcoming budget, the City Council called for more funding for training and apprenticeship programs, industrial business service providers, and minority- and women-owned businesses. But Adams is pushing for drastic cuts across multiple city agencies to account for an anticipated uptick in migrant arrivals to the city, which he says will cost billions in government funds to address.

During the hearing, Councilmember Julie Menin, who represents parts of Manhattan, said Adams’ most recent budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year “did not include funding for any of the Council’s proposals.”

“Whether they are born here or from halfway around the globe, the promise of prosperity and earning a living from building a business from the ground up is critically important,” said Menin, who also chairs the Council’s committee on small businesses.

Councilmembers also criticized the city’s lack of investment in minority-owned businesses. Black- and Latino-owned businesses received less than 2% of city contract dollars in fiscal year 2022, according to the most recent report from the city comptroller.

The Small Business Residence Fund also hasn’t dispersed any funds specifically set out for designated minority and women-owned business enterprises — and the New York City Small Business Opportunity loan fund is being paused because of overwhelming demand, according to Kevin D. Kim, commissioner of the city's Department of Small Business Services.

During the hearing, the SBS commissioner touted findings in a recent report from the city’s Economic Development Corporation that show more than 33,000 new businesses opened in the last year and 99.7% of private-sector jobs have recovered as of April. He said that the city awarded roughly 1,600 contracts to minority and women-owned business enterprises.

“As the mayor says often, ‘New York City isn’t coming back. We are back,’” Kim said.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The current budget proposal allocates $197.4 million to SBS, representing less than 1% of the entire spending plan. Federal funding for the SBS has also dropped and is set to dwindle to $43.3 million in the upcoming fiscal year, compared to $117.4 million in 2023.