Cuomo Gets It Right: Shelving the ‘Bag Tax’
Kudos to Gov. Cuomo for halting this ridiculous tax on bags (“Gov bags NYC 5¢ fee, eyes statewide plan,” Feb. 15).
Our City Council and mayor must live on Fantasy Island. Don’t they and environmentalists realize that New Yorkers put their trash into plastic bags before throwing them down the garbage chute?
If people have to pay for these bags, they’ll just take their garbage and throw it down the chute directly. Our apartment buildings will become infested with vermin. Better to start fining people who litter the streets with their bags — we have enough roaches to begin with.
Mayor de Blasio and City Council members ought to start living in apartment buildings regular New Yorkers live in and see for themselves what conditions are like to begin with. Ed Greenspan Brooklyn I’m glad to see Gov. Cuomo sacked the fivecent fee on plastic bags. What he must do now is outlaw the use of plastic bags completely. I don’t understand why politicians wanted to do away with paper bags. These paper bags are biodegradable and recyclable.
I find it hard to believe that supermarkets can’t afford to replace all their bags with paper. Please, Cuomo, make plastic bags illegal and leave paper bags alone. Kim Cody Whitestone New York should want to become a leader in pro- tecting the environment.
Countries like Australia, China, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, Botswana, Ethiopia and Kenya have banned plastic bags. Italy, France, Ireland, Scotland and Mexico have all imposed fees, which have led to a huge increase in people now bringing their own bags to go shopping.
Parts of Long Island have banned the bags, as well as many places in California and other states. Recyclable bags last for many years. Mine have lasted for four years so far. Judy Tolan Bayside
Like most people living in NYC, I live in an apartment building. We must place our garbage in plastic bags before putting them in trash containers. This tax would have forced people to pay money so we could comply with building rules. It would only end up costing everyone big time. Marge Duffy Manhattan