How much does NYC hate business?
Here's the fine schedule being implemented to terrorize NYC businesses for the terrible offenses of giving someone a plastic straw, and also NOT giving someone a plastic straw.
Didn't post a sign about plastic straws? That'll cost you too. pic.twitter.com/vIaL4wX4Qa— Kalman Yeger ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם (@KalmanYeger) October 1, 2021
Those much-maligned single-use plastics had a brief reprieve during the pandemic. Now they’re back in politicians’ sights.
Those much-maligned single-use plastics had a brief reprieve during the pandemic, when an unfounded fear of COVID’s surface transmitting powers prompted jurisdictions to suspend their bans on bags and straws. One unfortunate consequence of our halting return to normality is that those items are back in officials’ sights.
Come November, a straw law passed by New York City in May 2021 will go into effect, leaving businesses open to fines for any number of straw-related infractions. That includes the grievous offense of providing a patron with a single-use, non-compostable plastic straw when the customer has not first requested one.
Spurred by some bad stats and bizarre social theories, cities and states started passing these “straw on request” laws in earnest in 2018. Plastics manufacturers and restaurant associations often got on board with them as an alternative to more restrictive bans.