City Councilman Mark Gjonaj is rightly pushing to set aside the city’s new 5-cent fee on paper bags at grocery stores and the like in the face👍 of the coronavirus threat.
The Bronx Democrat, who heads the Small Busine𒀰ss Committee, say he’s behind the fee in principle “to encourage New Yorkers to use the more environmentally friendly option of reusable bags in normal times, but the science is clear: Reusable bags are more susceptible to carrying the coronavirus.”
Right: Reusable bags in fact are a scientificallyꦆ proven breeding grounds for germs — something no one needs during a pandemic. (And if you wash your bag obsessively, it’s using up more resources than ꦏthe use of paper or plastic bags.)
And the fee hits 💜lower-income families hardest, when many have lost their paych𝓀ecks thanks to the shutdown.
So Gjonaj’s bill would, he says, “temporarily lift the fee so that w🔯e don’t discourage New Yorkers from using the safer paper-bag option during the pandemic.” (The fee would kick bacಞk in next year.)
New Yor⛎k would still lag: , New Hampshire and Maine have all banned reusable bags from entering grocery stores for the duration.
Now if Gov. Andrew Cuomo would just use his emergency powers to suspend the state ban on plastic bags …