A recent Crain’s article [“Rat pack: New York will host rodent-fighting summit,” May 15] followed Mayor Eric Adams’s announcement that New York City will be hosting a nationwide summit in an effort to reduce rats across the five boroughs.
Since the mayor’s 2023 declaration of war against the city’s rat infestation, this has been a hot topic, especially for small business owners combatting vermin in stores. That is why Albany legislation to expand the state’s bottle bill would be a detriment to public health.
The legislation seeks to increase the redemption value of bottle deposits, as well as expand the types of containers consumers must leave deposits for.
Among the new categories added would be sports drinks, noncarbonated teas, hard cider, wine and liquor bottles. The legislation would also force New York’s 4,500 small, independently owned wine and liquor stores to accept and store returns.
Despite the bill’s intention, struggling city mom-and-pop-owned wine and liquor stores simply do not have excess retail space to store returns. How can a downstate store, which is typically 300 to 600 square feet and located in tenement buildings, adapt?
If stores must eliminate perhaps one-third of their sales inventory to accommodate this measure, it will put many of us out of business.
Dirty bottles attract vermin and further compound the rat infestation currently facing Gotham’s residential neighborhoods.
Despite the city’s best efforts, rodent complaints still spiked 1.5% during 2023, to 41,748.
While liquor stores certainly support preserving the environment, we also need to stay in business. This legislation will have the opposite of the Pied Piper effect, leading rats to flourish in New York City while further burdening small neighborhood retailers and public health.
Michael Correra is a Brooklyn liquor store owner and executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association, which advocates for 3,500 small wine and liquor retailers across the state.
Michael Correra , 2024-06-05 18:03:03
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