PARTY POPPERS
Push to ban environmentally harmful balloon launches
These state lawmakers are looking to burst your bubble.
Several pols are trying to ban the release of helium-filled balloons at everything from weddings to kindergarten graduations — arguing the celebrations are bad for the environment.
A bill introduced this month by state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx) would make it illegal for anyone to “release or intentionally cause to be released” more than 25 standard latex balloons within a 24-hour period.
And the release of even one foil-covered Mylar balloon would be outlawed, too.
Biaggi said the remnants of burst latex balloons “infiltrate ecosystems,” killing birds and other animals that mistake them for food or get tangled in their ribbons, while “electrically conducive’’ Mylar balloons cause blackouts if they hit power lines.
Biaggi said her bill “has not received any opposition, which is a good sign that both legislative members and constituents are open to making this change in favor of protecting our planet.”
A companion bill was sponsored in the state Assembly by Suffolk County Democrat Steve Englebright in February.
Still, the proposals don’t spell out any fines or other penalties for offenders — meaning that they amount to little more than hot air.
Englebright, chairman of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, told The Post that he opted against including penalties because he wanted “to use a gentle approach . . . at the outset.”
But competing legislation introduced in January by state Sen. Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn) includes fines of $10 per balloon over 25, up to a maximum $50,000. That bill mainly targets businesses.
At the Party City party-supplies store on West 14th Street, supervisor Kimberly Martinez said customers routinely “come in and order 200 to 300 balloons” but aren’t asked what they plan to do with them.
Martinez said that while a ban could hurt business, “I feel like people will still buy balloons and release them regardless.
“No one really actually follows the law the way they are supposed to,” she said.
At least five states — California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia — already bar balloon releases
A ban was also signed into law last month by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, a moderate Democrat who is close to Gov. Cuomo and is considered a bellwether on controversial issues.
A spokesman for the governor would say only, “We’ll review the legislation.”