Area Businesses Hope Same-Sex Marriage Law Will Up Sales

Same-sex marriage doesn't become legal in New York until the end of the month, but local businesses are already looking forward to a financial boost.  

Down at 702 Washington Ave., BCakeNY, a bakery specializing in custom design cakes, owner Miriam Miller is keeping her fingers crossed for a surge in wedding cake orders.

"The more people that get married the better, especially for the business," she said.

“We have a few orders for cakes in August, but I don't know if its because the law passed. We'll see,” she added. “Usually what happens is we get orders far in advance, so it might be too early to tell".

, a shop at 533 Park Place, sells everything from skateboards to art supplies and home accessories. It's also one of the best-known florists in Prospect Heights. Owner Mike Sclafani said the marriage bill could pan out well for him.

“Floral (work) is a major part of the business,” Sclafani said. “We aren't sure yet if we'll see a lot more business, but weddings are always great for us.”

Co-owner Valentine Leung said she thinks there will be a little lag time before wedding orders start showing up.

“I think people are waiting at the moment,” she said. “I feel that it's a holiday weekend and people aren't doing too much. I think maybe in the next few weeks people will start placing some orders. Hopefully we'll start seeing something.”

But at least one sector of the industry may already be seeing the uptick. Reverend Deborah Steen Ross, an interfaith minister based in Morningside Heights in Manhattan, said her phone hasn't stopped ringing since the same-sex marriage bill passed last Friday.

“Lots of people are calling for, looking and inquiring about getting married,” she said. “We are very much proponents of gay marriage, we are very delighted about the number of wedding coming up and we want to do what we can to help.”