Photo by Ruth.
January 23, 2017 Weather: High winds and rain, with a high of 41 degrees.
Notices:
A free talk on sculptures in the Bloomingdale neighborhood on Monday and many more local events are on our calendar.
The weather is no joke today: wind gusts of up to 60–70 mph are expected, so stay inside if possible and watch out for flying debris! More info here.
Hostelling International USA (HI USA) is awarding $2,000 scholarships to New York City residents who are 18-30 years old, with a specific international educational or service learning journey in mind and who meet specific financial need requirements–are welcome to apply. These scholarships are part of a national effort by HI USA, an organization that believes that travel should be accessible to everyone; ” this is just one way we’re helping make it possible”. Application deadline: March 15. For more information go to www.hiusa.org/travel-scholarsh
News:
Central Park is getting electric trash carts. “A new fleet of 52 Cushman electric carts — 48 two-seaters and four four-seaters — will soon be humming through the park…The arrival of electric carts is merely the latest in a 35-year evolution of the conservancy’s trash management practices. ‘Back in the 1970s and early ’80s, the staff was doing more damage to the park than good,’ said Douglas Blonsky, the park administrator and the president and chief executive of the conservancy. That was when every one of the hundreds of drums were served by big trucks.”
The State Senate overturned the city’s 5-cent plastic bag fee (which had not yet gone into effect). “The bill passed 42-18 after a contentious debate on the senate floor, during which several senators for NYC spoke in favor of ‘home rule,’ while opponents of the bill said it was an illegal tax and a power grab. Senator Liz Krueger, who represents the Upper East Side, challenged Felder on the floor, arguing that the state shouldn’t meddle in the city’s business. ‘Why should we override history, precedent, perhaps the constitution,’ Krueger said, continuing, ‘take an action where this house overrides a local government’s law applying only to itself?'” The fee would go to the shop owner, not the government, so it’s hard to call it a “tax.” The bill will now be considered by the assembly.
Debreh Gilbert, a UWS resident with Alzheimer’s, went missing last week. See video of her husband the moment he learn she was found.
The Barnes and Noble on 82nd Street and its customers donated more than 2,000 books to the Children’s Aid Society’s Early Childhood, School Age, and Adolescence programs through the store’s holiday book drive.
Sen. Krugers’s argument makes no sense (so to speak). If the 5 cent fee goes to the merchant and not the city than what is the point? What do they do with the money? Is this just a added 5 cents for the business? For what end. If it went to the city to pay for the cost of recycling or such that might make sense, but if not than you are just charging people an extra 5 cents for no real purpose. Food needs to go in plastic bags for safety and practicality. How does food get delivered to your apartment without plastic?.
“How does food get delivered to your apartment without plastic?”
The stores have paper bags, cardboard boxes, and the like for these purposes.
The bag fee is not directed only at plastic bags (as is implied in the story and other media headlines) – it applies to most paper bags as well (but not paper bags from a liquor store – go figure). This reality runs counter to one of the purported benefits of the law which is to reduce landfill. The disconnect is that paper bags go into recycling not landfill. This whole initiative was not very well thought out.
But what I don’t get is why is the fee being collected but kept by the store? What is point of the fee if it is not going to the government? Any idea?
The point is to reduce plastic bag use.
But the law also contemplates a fee on paper bags,
which get recycled. Makes no sense whatsoever.
The point is to encourage people to bring their own re-usable grocery bags when they shop in order to cut down on the plastic bags littering the landscape. It has worked in other cities. This wouldn’t apply to bags for fruits, vegetables, presciptions, etc.
Originally they wanted to make it a tax but that was nixed by the council and the 5 cent charge was the compromise.
The aggravating thing is that the legislature ruled that municipalities in NY over 1 million people can’t institute a bag charge – which means it only applies to NYC. Why does the legislature get to tell us that we can’t institute the fee?
Oh, joy, that missing Woman with Alzheimer’s was found. Thousands of spouses, children with disabled parents need mo’ help; & vice versa. n.b. Home Helps, domestic staff in N.Y.C.’re oft foreigners. Protect Planned Parenthood. “Learn English, or leave”. That Wind, pushed me up, part of a too steep hill, twixt 2 slums. Remember hurricane @ 1953 ? Help me, also. How many Umbrellas, raingear’re made in U.S.A. ? n.b. crafting a Rug from plastic bags.Some of Central Park was lovelier, in some ways, @ 1958. Happy supper ! {Protect our electrical grid.} Remember when U.W.S. was mo’ Jewish; &, the Spanish language wasn’t forced on mainland U.S.A. ? Aha, I’ve done clay sculptures ! Did someone write a book @ Dogwalking ? Better apts. needed for Senior Citizens; disabled citizens; handicapped citizens; with less vexing paperwork/documents.
Glad the bag tax got torpedoed, I don’t want to be forced to carry a bag with me all the time or pay the store a nickel for something that probably cost them a few tenths of a cent.
If I leave my apartment knowing that I’m heading out to Fairway or Citarella I always bring a bag or two or three but I’m not going to carry one around all day because I might want to buy something.
Maybe it’s OK for the women who carry around their bottomless handbags but I prefer to travel light.
Quite honestly don’t see the huge problem.
In France like much of Europe BYOB has been the norm for ages. You either bring a shopping bag or pay to “purchase” one at checkout. Failing that if you can scrounge up any type of container that will do (have seen people coming out of Ed’s with shipping boxes), and there you are.
You can purchase in France and elsewhere all sorts of bags in various sizes that can be easily folded away into a handbag, back pack or whatever. My personal favorites are those great string bags.
https://www.pinkofperfection.com/2011/04/french-friday-string-shopping-bags/
I am with you. I have to carry enough necessities
with me when I am out all day without having to
carry plastic bags and cumbersome paper ones.
Also, I use the plastic bags for wet garbage and
paper bags for paper garbage. How will I recycle
if I do not get these bags when I shop? I could buy plastic bags but then that will add much more
plastic and cause more production of said product.
The fee was overturned by the state senate, not the assembly…and has not been signed into law by the governor, so it has a way to go.
That said, I am not sure the state can set the price at what a merchant should set its goods. If I own a store and want to give the bags away for free, why should the state care? Conversely if I want to charge 10c for them, again how is that the state’s business? Reality is, it would be simpler if the city mandated a tax on the bags, but in true NYC Council fashion, they could not take the most sensible way out.
It applies to plastic AND paper bags
A whole lot of complaining but no action.
Thank you for those that supported the B&N book donation.
I’m sorry if the bag fee gets overturned. In cities with these charges, the level of street pollution has fallen significantly – a success from my perspective. The damage done by plastic bags to sewage systems, sea animals, and other parts of the world is significant.
I can’t justify the paper bag fee, except that it may have been considered a way of making sure that plastic bag pollution isn’t simply replaced with paper bag pollution, and in any event, recycling does not eliminate the environmental burden – it only reduces it.
Like so many things, it would have been better to fix this than overturn it, if indeed it needed fixing. I have avoided plastic bags for years, and it hasn’t been hard. I have a nice collapsible bag that weighs almost nothing, is tougher than a plastic bag and easier on my hand, and collapses to a tiny ball, so there hasn’t been any negative impact on my life. For those that remain concerned about the impact of plastic bags, we can still do that, even if the rule is overturned.