The Bigger Better Bottle Bill Prevails!

New Bottle Bill Expands Recycling Program

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Robert Sweeney announced June 11 that the Assembly had passed a “bigger, better bottle bill” to alter the way the bottle deposit recycling system will function in New York State.

The bill, which was first initiated by students from Queens College a month ago, passed in the Assembly 98 to 40 after nearly two hours of floor debate.

The new program expands the current five-cent deposit system to include non-carbonated beverages like bottled water, iced tea, sports drinks and juices. It also requires unclaimed deposits to be turned over from distributors and bottlers to the state. The revenue will be used to fund and support environmental programs.

A big win for the Queens College New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG).

See my previous post on The Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill for more info.

Homeless On The Decline In Queens?

Homeless On Decline In Queens For Third Year

According to new data released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Hess, homelessness is in decline for the third straight year throughout New York City.

“Tackling homelessness in its many forms has been a priority for our Administration – and I’m pleased to announce further progress in our efforts to help people leave the streets for a better life,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The good news, from both humanitarian and quality of life perspectives, is that a quarter fewer New Yorkers live on city streets today than when we started measuring in 2005. We will continue to bring innovation and focused management attention to this
longstanding urban challenge.”

New York City has an estimated 3,306 unsheltered individuals according to HOPE 2008 – a ratio of one unsheltered homeless individual to 2,485.

Heh... Where do I begin? First of all anything regarding the poor, homeless or impoverished is skewed to make the numbers look better. Are the homeless on the decline? Maybe the homeless themselves are on the decline but homelessness may actually be increasing. From my own experiences in the past year or so, I could argue that I have seen more homeless now than ever. Toting signs saying "Lets Do Lunch, On You". Perhaps the sight of people digging through trash cans and recycling bins for deposit cans is common, however over the last year or so I have seen a drastic increase ( hence why the Bigger Bottle Bill proposed by NYPIRG will be beneficial). I could go on and on about this but I will spare you, at least for now.

These estimates were done based on Surveys. Anyone who has ever taken a Sociology class or a Psychology class knows that people lie on Surveys.

Well at least its good to see an attempt of shedding light on the problem of homelessness.