Friday, June 1, 2007

Doorman to Costco: Please accept EBT

He's still at it, folks.

Gioia Calls On Costco To Join Food Stamp Program

This is great. Looks like new customers will spend almost 2 months of their food stamp money just to sign up for the club!

It's hard to believe that someone who grew up in Woodside is this out of touch with reality.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does Eric Gioia have no shame? What a disgraceful grandstanding pig!

Anonymous said...

Does this Gioia have advanced degrees in Moronics?

He needs a crainialrectumy. But, on his own dime, not the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

"This is great. Looks like new customers will spend almost 2 months of their food stamp money just to sign up for the club!"

Excellent point!

Anonymous said...

No, this guy is listening to Team Gioia, his wife the fund raiser who has no time for the community (what is the point, he is a bright young boy with a great future).

Now how about something the community really needs, like a little respect, like someone to stand up to the bulldozers.

Naw, THAT would be a real leader who would destroy his bright future to help the downtrodded people in his district, you know, the ones he took an oath to serve?

georgetheatheist said...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From the Office of Councilman Eric Gioia.

Our beloved Public Servant will appear in a self-directed Passion Play. He is practicing the role of the Messiah, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, replete with crown of thorns and loincloth.

Date soon to be announced.

Motorists are urged to make alternative travel plans since Roosevelt Avenue will be closed to all vehicles as the Councilman carries his cross from the Manton Post Office on 61st Street to the summit by Berkeley Towers. The Police Department will ban all traffic along the route.

The highpoint of this sacred event will be when our Beloved Servant, bound to the crossbeam cries to the Heavens: "Bloomberg, Bloomberg! Why hast thou forsaken me?"

Jeremy Kareken said...

Yeah, I'm souring on Gioia, who seems to have stopped representing this area while he runs for public advocate.

And his whole foodstamp thing was based on bad assumptions. You can easily live for a week on foodstamps, if you spent your time budgeting and cooking and none of your time issuing press releases. You don't pay for food in this country/city, you pay for convenience. Food itself is dirt cheap! The poor need better access to education and jobs, not food, as we can clearly tell when we see obesity rising with poverty.

Anonymous said...

I actually think this is a great idea. The social service agency in which I work has a business membership at Costco in order to make bulk purchases for running the agency. Now our agency can bring participants with us when we go on shopping runs and they can benefit from the savings that Costco offers as well.

Anonymous said...

Actually, no you can't because so far Costco has only said they would "consider" it.

Anonymous said...

actually jeremy i gotta say you are completely wrong. the reason that there is obesity in poor communities isnt because they eat too many big meals like you believe but rather because they eat very unhealthy since they have little money. they fill up on cheap foods like chips, whole milk, fake cheeses and processed food rather than nutricious foods which cost more. i agree that food stamps are meant to be sumplemented with some of your own money, but you are wrong if you think they are fat because they eat too many sirloin steaks and healthy foods

Anonymous said...

Someone explain to me why a supermarket should NOT accept food stamps. Forget the membership fee as an isue. I am speaking strictly about accepting the food stamps. It seems like an issue of fairness, plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

Supermarkets have to apply to the government and be approved in order to accept food stamps. As for the people in poor neighborhoods choosing unhealthy foods over healthy ones, McDonald's and Burger King do a good amount of their business in the ghetto, and those meals are as expensive as wraps from a health food store.

Anonymous said...

Hey Queens Crap-

DUH! Did you ever consider that costco, has BILLIONS of bucks in revunes a year, and that as a good citazan thet can wave the puny fee, without even knowing it on their bottom line- huh bonehead?

and he is NOT out of touch, Bj's and costco plus sams are, they need to relize that they can make a big differance to people on stamps,. he knows that the hood shopping sucks, and that these folks and their families can eat a lot better then now..
\
pardon my spelling..


BTW I own the stk and called investor relations and suggested thet do it.

Unknown said...

As a College Student being accepted for Food Stamps has been the best thing that has happened to me. I work and go to school, I work as much as I can and I still can't cover rent. My school doesnt offer housing either. I don't eat Mcdonalds or even fast food. I rarely ate fruits and veggies that were fresh because I couldn't afford them.
I can use my stamps at Farmer's Markets in the City, and anywhere that sells food.
I have a costco membership because it was a gift to me from my parents.
Why shouldn't I be able to use my card at Costco? I still pay my taxes like everyone else. Why can't i have the same rights?

Anonymous said...

I realize that this subject is now almost 2 years old, however I feel it necessary to comment. I survived 9/11 and lived in NYC until 2004. I breathed the dirty air during and after 9/11 and am now battling cancer. Reluctantly I went on food stamps recently, hoping to use the system like it's designed - for a short period of time. In my case I'd already purchased my membership before my savings account was transferred to Blue Cross thanks to our wonderful health care system (yes, that's sarcasm - I have "good" health insurance through my employer). How would you feel if you were me and you just read the negative comments about using food stamps at Costco? What goes around, comes around. Before you stereotype others why don't you spend the energy thinking about, say, how fortunate you are NOT to have to use food stamps? Don't think you're immune to such a life. Learn from my mistake in thinking I was immune to anything. Be compassionate. Please?