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New York City - Bloomberg Signs Into Law Storefronts No Air Conditioning With Open Doors Policy |
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New York City - Remember all those wide-open cold-air-spewing storefront doors that got so many people hot under the collar this summer? Well at of today (technically 90 days from today when enforcement starts) that is illegal.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the no-open-doors-in-the-summertime-when-the-air-con-is-on law Wednesday. The law does not apply to small stores or restaurants that are famous for leaving entire building fronts wide open but makes it an offense for big stores to air condition the sidewalk.
The law was first introduced in the City Council in 2006 but went nowhere. As recently as this Spring, it was seen inside City Hall as a headline grabber with little chance of ever becoming law. But then the increasingly green mayor said he might actually sign such a law and the wheels of lawmaking at the City Council went into high gear.
The first offense results in a written warning, the second a $250 fine, and the third a $400 ticket. Chump change for a big chain like the Gap or Victoria's Secret but the law is more about moral suasion than fine collection.
Advocates pitched it as a small way to assist the region's electrical grid during peak summer usage -- the most persuasive argument: Why should a mega-corporation pump air conditioning into the street when it could trigger a blackout in, say, a working class neighborhood in Queens? When we asked that very question to people on 34th Street in July as they walked past one chilled-air-spilling-door after the next, though, nearly every one of them said they liked the cold air on a hot summer day. Even if it meant the risk of a blackout when they got home.
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Read Comments (19) — Post Yours »
1
Sep 03, 2008 at 07:40 PM ash Says:
the guy is a living hell for everyone wish he retired already fron public life
2
Sep 03, 2008 at 07:59 PM leiby Says:
how will they prove that the ac was on ?
3
Sep 03, 2008 at 09:06 PM Lock & Load Says:
Bloomberg needs a life.....
4
Sep 03, 2008 at 10:10 PM critical Says:
leiby Says:
how will they prove that the ac was on ?
09-03-2008 - 7:59 PM
-------------------------------------
the same way a police officer says u were speding at 95 mph
5
Sep 03, 2008 at 10:19 PM yenta pesha Says:
they are full of hot air!!!
6
Sep 03, 2008 at 10:25 PM Anonymous Says:
"they liked the cold air on a hot summer day. Even if it meant the risk of a blackout when they got home.">>>>>>>>>>>>.
WOW. Such self centered people that they would not care that 8 million people could be without electricity just so they can get cool air for 10 seconds walking by a store. LIke Jackie Mason would say - what shmucks!
7
Sep 03, 2008 at 11:55 PM political analyst Says:
I don't see how this is bloomberg's business?
8
Sep 04, 2008 at 12:05 AM Anonymous Says:
This is what happens when you elect democrats to office. OBAMA will do the SAME but on a national level. LETS STOP this madness while we can.
GO McCAIN
GO SARA
9
Sep 04, 2008 at 12:25 AM McCain-pailin 08 Says:
we don't want big goverment interference. that's exactly what the liberals want! they want to butt into everyones life.
vote republican
10
Sep 04, 2008 at 01:14 AM anon Says:
bloomberg as soooo much $$$ that he does not have an inkling of an idea as to what tax and fines mean...
I say VETO him.,
who's with me??
11
Sep 04, 2008 at 03:14 AM Anonymous Says:
we shall all unite to save our country,
ummmmm, and maybe even save the world
vote republic
12
Sep 04, 2008 at 08:57 AM Anonymous Says:
The next thing our green mayor will demand are meters to regulate how much air we breathe lest we use up too much from the planet. Would that mean asthmatics are allowed to live longer than athletes because they can't breathe as much air as a sprinter?
Ridiculous isn't it? And so is Mighty Mike, who wants to change the law so he can rule us for 4 more years.
G-d help us. And vote REPUBLICAN...it's our only chance.
13
Sep 04, 2008 at 09:22 AM Yachtzel Says:
Makes even less sense than congestion pricing! It's about time our legislators check their IQ's.
14
Sep 04, 2008 at 10:50 AM Anonymous Says:
WHat is everyone's problem? All he is saying is you can not leave the door OPEN (24x7) if you are running air conditioning. WHat is wrong with that? Stop wasting our electricity! He is not demanding the thermostats be set at 72 degrees vs 68! He is not saying to not have any air conditioning. All he is saying is DO NOT LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN! If you disagree, please visit California during their NUMEROUS power grid failures and then maybe you'll see how it is affecting EVERYONE.
15
Sep 04, 2008 at 11:01 AM Choizik Says:
Life will end as we know it once Bloomberg leaves office!
16
Sep 04, 2008 at 01:01 PM GHU Says:
to screaming genius at 10:50..
bloomberg HIMSELF stated that this law would not make any appreciable difference
17
Sep 04, 2008 at 02:13 PM CR Says:
"This is what happens when you elect democrats to office."
Mike Bloomberg was a Republican before going Independent (although he should definitely be a Green with antics like this).
"WHat is everyone's problem? All he is saying is you can not leave the door OPEN (24x7) if you are running air conditioning. "
The problem is that if I leave my door open and waste AC BTUs I am the one who pays the elevated electricity bill. It is my choice, not for some bureaucrat with a "lets change the world and make Moshiach in our image" outlook.
"If you disagree, please visit California during their NUMEROUS power grid failures and then maybe you'll see how it is affecting EVERYONE."
SoCal's rolling blackout problem is a result of the State Govt. getting too involved in overregulating the power industry. First there was "deregulation" that left PG&E with no spare capacity with which to top off during peak demand. Now there are rules preventing the purchase of "dirty power" from Mexico or US states without the draconian envionmental regs. of the Golden State. Again, no way to top off during a demand surge. Now, whose fault is that again?
18
Sep 04, 2008 at 04:22 PM Anonymous Says:
"Mike Bloomberg was a Republican before going Independent"
Mike was a Democrat before switching to Republican, just before the his first election.
You are right we need more electricity, it all gets down to drilling for more oil and gas. Look at China, they have five times the population we have, and their country economy is prospering. Wanna know why, they limited economic restriction and they drill for gas a Coil. Blomberg wants more restrictions. I say "Drill Here Drill Now", better said last night "Drill BABY Drill"
Lets VOTE Republican
19
Sep 04, 2008 at 07:11 PM anon for this Says:
CR, the problems in California were not due to overregulation; rather they were due to a poorly planned deregulation that involved selling electric generating plants to private companies. The problems arose because this encouraged plant owners to "game" the system. By making some plants unavailable to generate electricity, they forced the electricity planners to buy electricity at the last minute for hundreds of times as much money, to avoid more blackouts. One of the companies that made money doing this was Enron. Basically California became an object lesson in how not to deregulate.
Anonymous, 9/4 4:22: Very little of our electricity comes from oil, so drilling for oil won't make electricity cheaper. As far as how China does it, they build lots of coal plants & hydroelectric dams. Pollutants from the coal plants cause a lot of respiratory diseases. And since we don't have the Yangtze River we can't build an enormous dam like that. We could & probably should build more nuclear plants though.