In a unique collaboration, first year students in CUNY’s Hunter College have collected over 100 oral histories of small business owners to highlight the challenges these entrepreneurs face in a rapidly changing city. With the guidance of professors, the students created this visually compelling website to document their findings.

For policy makers, the stories offer a personalized narrative to highlight the loss of small, independently owned storefront businesses in New York, and underscore the variety of ways these businesses serve neighborhoods, especially for immigrant entrepreneurs. As the site says:

‘Small, independently owned storefront businesses are the cornerstone of a vibrant urban landscape. They preserve the identity of a block or a neighborhood. They offer stability, and contain history. They provide goods and services that are not otherwise available. They donate to local causes, sponsor neighborhood celebrations, and host local events. They provide a foothold in the US economy for immigrant entrepreneurs and workers. They provide jobs, and support livelihoods.’

Beyond the business owner profiles and background data, it’s worth taking a look at the students’ bios, many of whom grew up in the neighborhoods profiled and understand first-hand the importance of independently owned stores in providing job opportunities, stability, and opportunity, especially for immigrant families.

(Full disclosure: the project is under the supervision of Hunter professor Mike Owen Benediktsson, this author’s husband. And no, urban policy and planning is not our only topic of conversation at the dinner table.)

Photo: Macaulay Honors College at Hunter: Seminar 2, People of New York City