New York City businesses want TikTok to stay despite security controversy

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- From small Mom and Pop shops to high-end Midtown jewelers, business owners in New York City said TikTok translates to free advertising for them.

"Smaller businesses like us, we don't have that marketing budget that a lot of places have," Jonathan Perez, who owns Ollin NYC in East Harlem, told PIX11 News.

Perez said the app has been a platform for his family to share their immigrant story with followers, and "because of all this, we were able to open a second location."

President Biden signed a law Wednesday that requires ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell the app or be banned from the U.S. market. Some lawmakers have cited national security concerns since ByteDance is based in communist China.

"The banning of TikTok is going to hinder our growth if anything, and I think it's going to hinder a lot of small businesses growing in general," Perez told PIX11 News.

Maksud Agadjani, the founder of TraxNYC Jewelry Store in the Diamond District, said TikTok has allowed him to reach new audiences. He currently has 1.9 million subscribers. He told PIX 11 he isn't worried about the app's security and added that lawmakers should focus on other things.

"There are big problems in America, and this is not in the top 100. It's like someone who has a home that has a fire, termites, a plumbing problem, and they're changing the curtains somewhere, you know? It doesn't make sense," Agadjani said.