91% OF NYC'S GROUND FLOOR OPERATORS ARE IN DISTRESS

A 2026 survey of NYC food vendors found that 91% of respondents placed themselves at Critical Risk or Stressed. Only two out of twenty-three called themselves resilient.

These are your ground-floor tenants. Nearly half reported taking home less money than last year. Sixty percent said their location security is shaky or uncertain. Permits, rent, and rising costs are compressing margins that were already thin. When the margin disappears, the operator doesn't call you first. The missed payment does.

The vacancy pipeline doesn't start with an empty unit. It starts here, with an operator absorbing pressure that the rent roll hasn't registered yet.

Marco Shalma has spent 20 years tracking ground-floor retail behavior at street level across New York City. The Streetscape Risk Protocol identifies tenant default risk before it reaches the rent roll. We Eat Here

Source: New York Eats Here Vendor Survey · N=250 · NYC · 2026