The Jewish Federation Connecting with Community series presents "Where Have All the Small
Stores Gone?" with Professor Leonard Quart, who will talk about the challenges facing small businesses in
New York City.
Leonard Quart will speak about the small businesses in New York City and their precarious times. Retail rents
are up in Manhattan by 40 percent since 2005. Huge, nondescript chain stores and banks have replaced small
Mom and Pop and specialty stores. Quart will analyze what has happened to small shops, why France has been able to preserve a small store culture, and what politicians are doing, with little success, to hold the line against the overwhelming surge of chain stores.
Quart is professor emeritus of cinema studies at Grad Center CUNY and the College of Staten Island, a contributing editor to Cineaste, and the co-author of American Film and Society Since 1945 – 4th Edition (Praeger, 2001). He
also contributes to The Berkshire Eagle.
This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program.