Business Survivability in The Waterfront, New York City
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in The Waterfront is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.
Quick Summary
- Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
- Best business: a Veterinary Clinic in The Waterfront (~84% average survival rate, ~86% at best locations)
- Neighborhood rank: #59 across all neighborhoods in and around New York City
- Neighborhood average: ~79% two-year survival across all business types
- Coverage: This ranking carries one row per business type and neighborhood. Its score is the projected chance of lasting two or more years, averaged across the price points StreetSpring scores separately in the tool (most types have 5). The 10 business types here are base types; the tool offers 500+ business types, counting each type at each of its price points.
- Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
- Detailed methodology
Last reviewed: September 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring
In this article:
- Summary
- Is The Waterfront a good place to start a business?
- How to find the best location
- Best businesses to open
- How much money could a business make?
- What businesses should open next?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in The Waterfront is a Veterinary Clinic with a ~84% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~86% chance; next is a Kosher Restaurant with a 79.73% chance, followed by a Diner with a 79.62% chance.
Is The Waterfront a good place to start a business?
Out of all neighborhoods analyzed in and around New York City, The Waterfront ranks #59 for business survivability with a ~79% average Survivability Score.
- The top business types in The Waterfront, when placed at their ideal addresses, achieve survivability rates ~6% above the neighborhood-wide average.
- Still, those same business types at weaker addresses in The Waterfront can score well below the neighborhood mean. Even the most viable concept here requires the right address to reach its potential.
- StreetSpring's model incorporates The Waterfront's 7.5% vacancy rate as a direct input: higher vacancy concentrations suppress foot traffic and reduce survivability for nearby businesses.
Employment and vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
How can you find the best location to open a business in The Waterfront?
Using StreetSpring, you can identify the exact address in The Waterfront that gives your specific business concept the highest survivability score. According to StreetSpring's 2026 data, this is the optimal address for a Veterinary Clinic in The Waterfront:
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis of hundreds of location-specific factors, this area offers the highest projected survivability for a Veterinary Clinic in The Waterfront. Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. Factors evaluated include competition at every distance band, consumer spending forecasts, mobility patterns, and market share projections.
Check if this location is still available →
What are the best businesses to open in The Waterfront?
| # | Business type | Chance of lasting two or more years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Clinic | 83.83% |
| 2 | Kosher Restaurant | 79.73% |
| 3 | Diner | 79.62% |
| 4 | Southern Food Restaurant | 78.85% |
| 5 | Tanning Salon | 77.63% |
| 6 | Dessert Shop | 77.50% |
| 7 | Smoke Shop | 77.40% |
| 8 | Juice & Smoothie Bar | 77.29% |
| 9 | Nail Salon | 77.14% |
| 10 | Seafood Restaurant | 77.03% |
#1-5: Highest Survivability in The Waterfront
- Veterinary Clinic is ranked #1 for top businesses to open in The Waterfront: 83.83% chance on average, best at ~86%, challenging at ~81%.
- Kosher Restaurant — ~78%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 79.73% across The Waterfront.
- Opening a Diner in The Waterfront shows 79.62% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~77%.
- Southern Food Restaurant (Ranked #4): 78.85% average in The Waterfront. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~76%.
- Tanning Salon is ranked #5 for top businesses to open in The Waterfront: 77.63% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~75%.
#6-10: Strong Performers in The Waterfront
- Dessert Shop — ~73%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 77.50% across The Waterfront.
- Opening a Smoke Shop in The Waterfront shows 77.40% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~74%.
- Juice & Smoothie Bar (Ranked #8): 77.29% average in The Waterfront. Best-case storefronts: ~80%. Challenging locations: ~73%.
- Nail Salon is ranked #9 for top businesses to open in The Waterfront: 77.14% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~75%.
- Seafood Restaurant — ~74%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 77.03% across The Waterfront.
Top 3 Compared Nationally
- Veterinary Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
- Kosher Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
- Diner — See how this compares to other cities →
How much money could a business in The Waterfront make?
Best location vs. average location
Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, prioritizing survivability score in your site-selection process in The Waterfront could lead to you making ~6% more than if you selected an average location, and ~15% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.
How StreetSpring calculates location value
- However, each business concept should be evaluated for fit within each potential location.
- Survivability data consistently shows location accounts for more variance in business outcomes than any other controllable factor.
- Choosing locations with superior Survivability Scores directly correlates with higher revenue potential.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does.
What businesses should open next in The Waterfront?
The top businesses to open next in The Waterfront:
- Veterinary Clinics — 83.83% average survival rate, ~86% at the best address
- Kosher Restaurants — 79.73% average survival rate
- Diners — 79.62% average survival rate
Neighborhood-level averages are a starting point — the exact address will determine your actual survivability score. We apply advanced machine learning to one of the largest commercial real estate outcome datasets in the country. StreetSpring scores 500+ business types: 153 base business types, most of them at 5 price points, which is 569 type-and-price combinations you can choose in the tool. A 7.5% vacancy rate in The Waterfront reflects the current commercial environment; StreetSpring weights this directly in every survivability score for addresses in this neighborhood. Survivability scores are live, not static — StreetSpring updates them weekly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in The Waterfront and how each address is scoring right now.
See the Survivability Score for your new business
Related Articles:
- See the New York City Business Survivability Rankings
- See the New York City Neighborhood Survivability Rankings
- Explore Veterinary Clinic survivability across New York City neighborhoods
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions about opening a business in The Waterfront.
What type of business should you rent your The Waterfront storefront to?
The analysis is clear: in The Waterfront, Veterinary Clinics, Kosher Restaurants, and Diners consistently score highest on survivability, giving landlords the best chance of retaining tenants for two or more years.
- Survivability data consistently shows location accounts for more variance in business outcomes than any other controllable factor.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does. StreetSpring allows property owners to evaluate any address against 500+ business types — so you can prioritize the categories that score highest at your specific location.
Related: See How Landlord Representatives in New York City Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity
Should you rent your The Waterfront storefront to a Veterinary Clinic?
Yes — our 2026 model places a Veterinary Clinic at the top of the survivability rankings for The Waterfront storefronts, with a best-case score of ~86% and a floor of ~81% at the most challenging addresses.
- No other tool calculates survivability at the storefront level across 500+ business types the way StreetSpring does.
What should I consider when opening a business in The Waterfront?
Among all the criteria to weigh when opening a business in The Waterfront, Survivability Score carries the most predictive weight — choose the address with the highest score your budget allows.
- Among all the inputs that shape survivability, Revenue Capture Score carries the most predictive weight.
- Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine — not available through any other platform.
- StreetSpring's address-level survivability data is available free of charge — start with your top candidate locations in The Waterfront.
See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.
Powered by machine learning models trained on real business outcomes, StreetSpring delivers actionable insights. Aggregated survivability rankings for New York City are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.
Full dataset for New York City: /resources/data/new-york-city-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.