On Metro North, 15 of 27 retailers are paying reduced rents, and in the subway system, 20 of 50 tenants are paying reduced rents. Of the LIRR’s 24 retail tenants, 10 are currently paying pandemic-adjusted rents, an MTA spokesman said. indicates a lagging relationship between the return of ridership levels and the recovery of tenant sales figures,” the MTA said in a February report. “ retail sales analysis of existing tenants across all three railroads.

Still, retail brought in $80 million in revenue each year to the cash-strapped transit agency before the COVID outbreak.īut as of February, retail brought in less than half the rent revenue the MTA got in 2020, according to testimony from MTA head of real estate David Florio.Īgency data shows a slow but steady return of riders to the subway system, but retail is not recovering at the same rate. In 2019, the agency told the Daily News that four in 10 of the subway system’s retail spaces were empty or shuttered. Retail woes on the transit system aren’t new. Had the policy been allowed to expire in April, MTA officials said, “many tenants remain unable to pay the unadjusted lease rent.”

“Jumping from 20% to 100% will likely result in increased tenant defaults and arrears, placing the MTA in the position of defaulting and terminating tenancies and incurring untold legal expenses,” the MTA’s real estate division said in an assessment written in February. Of the MTA’s 171 retail tenants, 78 currently have a temporary rent adjustment agreement with the agency. The rent adjustment program limits retail tenants’ rent to 20% of an agreed-upon rate or 10% of a shop’s gross sales - whichever is higher. The policy applies to businesses throughout the suburban train system, too. Temporary MTA rent adjustments put in place in October 2020 will last through the end of 2023, instead of expiring this month, as previously planned. Shops and eateries throughout the city’s subway system are getting an extra rent reprieve as many struggle to return to prepandemic profits.

Nyc subway station