[...] in a city where small businesses — and commercial rent control proposals — have come and gone for decades, the buzz about saving storefronts is spurring debate between those who feel New York's distinctiveness is at stake and others who say the changing retail landscape represents the free market at work. [...] to landlords and real estate brokers, a booming city that draws big retail benefits both residents and visitors, and government has no business trying to protect one type of shop over another. "The market is going to dictate whether or not a mom-and-pop's going to survive ...