As a native New Yorker, Nico Heller has watchedthe city change dramatically over the years.When the pandemic hit in March 2020, it becamehard for him to witness small business ownersand New York City establishments suffer.“Businesses are really, really struggling,” Heller toldIn The Know.
“I felt that now was the time to go superhard on profiles and shine a light on these businesses”.Heller’s mention of profiles is inreference to his Instagram coverageof independent New York businesses —aptly under the hashtag #MomNPopDrop.He started it in 2018.
The initial process was havingsmall businesses film themselves and submit footagefor Heller to post to his 434,000 followers.When he realized business ownerslacked the time to take photos or film footagehe started visiting the establishments himself.The business owners that Heller’s beenhelping couldn’t be more thankful for him.“It makes me so happy to hear about myfollowers and other New Yorkers whocaught wind of it and started flocking to thesebusinesses,” Heller said of his page’s success