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.

NYPIRG - 10 Plagues Of The Subway

List compiles '10 plagues of the subway'

The New York Public Interest Research Group's Straphangers Campaign has released a "10 plagues of the subway" list to document problems faced by commuters.

The list, which includes overcrowding, flooding and dirty seats, documents common complaints from riders of the city's subway system, New York Newsday reported Friday.

"I've already been chastised for leaving out rats, cockroaches and subway preachers," said Gene Russianoff, a senior attorney for the Straphangers Campaign.

Russianoff said the perils of traveling with an infant also made it onto the list.

"It's dangerous to have a stroller with people running up and down the stairs," said subway rider and mother-of-four Rosa Lopez, 28. "And elevators are out all the time."

New York transit officials questioned about the list said they are always working to improve the subway.

"We have been, and continue to, work hard to provide the type of mass transit experience that the greatest city in the world deserves," said Charles Seaton, a transit spokesman.

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.

Go Take a Hike MetroCards!

The basic transit fare may still be $2 on Sunday, but for the majority of New York City's straphanging multitudes that's when it will once again cost more to ride buses and subways.

Only 14 percent of bus and subway riders pay the basic fare.

As of March 1, tickets on the Long Island Rail Road will increase. The following day most fares for subway and bus trips will rise, while higher bridge and tunnel tolls will kick in March 16.

The new round of hikes was ratified just before Christmas when the Metropolitan Transportation board voted overwhelming to charge more.

Read the Whole Story Here: MetroCard, LIRR hike takes effect this weekend

Well once again the MTA is crying poverty, but we all know the truth is that they funnel out millions and millions of tax payer dollars hence the budget "crisis".

The Long Island Railroad apparently felt that they weren't expensive enough as is. I thought $12.00 round trip was expensive, I guess not.

With the tunnel and bridge tolls rising as well, this is like a triple whammy.

When the Recession finally hits when there is no more points of interest left to cut, things will get bad. This is especially true since inflation is still on the rise. Now with the government nickel and diming us the economy is really going to fall flat.

Apparently this was a battle NYPIRG could not win.

But hey now with these toll increases, maybe they can fix the Throgs Neck Bridge before it falls into the water. While they are at it they should build that RFK bridge that was proposed awhile back.

NYPIRG: Expand Recycle Bottle Bill Refund

Students from the New York Public Interest Research Group chapters at Queens College and Queensborough Community College are urging lawmakers to update New York’s Bottle Bill.

Students Urge Lawmakers to Expand Bottle Bill

NYPIRG usually has strong points and make their concerns heard. This suggestion is great because most of the waste you find on todays streets are water bottles, while most cans and glass bottles are recycled. The more benefit people get from recycling the more likely they are to do it. The 5 cents is almost irrelevant I think if they up it to 10 cents we will see much cleaner streets and parks in Queens.


Update: Survey of Beverage Containers