From NY1:Grocery stores and gas stations could soon be shelling out sacks of cash on electrical upgrades.
The Daily News reports state legislators are mulling over a bill requested by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would require stores to be blackout ready.
It could cost store owners up to $20,000 to rewire buildings to make them able to quickly switch to alternative power sources.
They would not be required to install backup generators.
The city says the legislation would ensure residents have food and fuel in an emergency, and that stores would benefit because they could continue making money.
The bill affects grocery stores with 60 or more employees or 20,000 square feet of space and gas stations with 25,000 gallons of fuel capacity.
The legislation is based on task force findings after the city's 2003 blackout.
Sure thing, why upgrade the power grid? Make the small business schmucks pay for it!
12 comments:
Unfunded mandate.
How about the city provide for food and fuel in an emergency. This is the kind of thing that government SHOULD do.
Seems as if the city is expecting another blackout in the near future.
New York City continues to overbuild in spite of its overstressed infrastructure because it benefits the real estate industry and its "biggies"....many of whom don't live in the middle of the mess they create!
Hizzoner, Bloomberg lives the good life in Bermuda, London...and when actually in New York (when he's not running the city via his Blackberry")...
his posh east side crib.
Meanwhile the rest of us suffer for his aloof disregard for us.
We are forced to endure:
a frayed power grid; crumbling bridges and tunnels; inadequate parking; poor air quality; noise pollution; excessive population per square foot; lousy sanitation; low summer water pressure; longer emergency service response times; bad roads; overcrowded schools; public transportation systems bursting at the seams; yadda, yadda; etc.
I'm with you "ew-3".
WTF do we pay taxes for?
Let the city provide what it's supposed to and not penalize us residents for its failures!
Don't pass your crap along to us!
'scuse me, but groceries with 60 or more employees? 25,000 gal. storage capacity? These are NOT small businesses (maximum storage tank size is 4,000, I believe)
You need to have fewer than 500 employees to qualify as a small business in the USA.
500 employees? Crappy, you're being disengenuous. When you say small business/Grocery in NYC your talking about the corner deli. Indeed, 500 employees would be large for any industry in New York! Later for the rest of the nation - they're on their own.
This is what you get with unbridled development, especially "as of right" residential, without an infrastructure that could support it!
"""How about the city provide for food and fuel in an emergency"""
LOL NEVER happen.
-When the sh*t hits the fan the cops & broke ass city and federal government wont be around to do anything and there IS NO plan B aside fueling some private jets to Bermuda and Europe.
I would figure New Yorkers would learn something from Katrina and the last winter storm but Nope. --SHAME ON SOME OF YOU PEOPLE OR SHOULD I SAY SHEEP ?
I guess why this Hitler Moses mayor and his liberal democrat hacks are still in office
If your a private middle class home owner living outside Manhattan (like in Maspethe MV or Glendale)you better have a gun, food & water along with some good fire extinguishers.
That's because the mayor wants all the middle class dead and the private structures that can't house less then 4 immigrant family's of 12 gone.
The mayor see's Manhattan as the only "New York". An elitist society of tower people & tourists and the 5 boroughs as a cheap labor pool uneducated illegal immigrants that he can be easily controlled or "dealt with" if they don't get on board with plan.
This is the way I see it anyway
Sure - why should we expect Bloomturd to inconvenience his pals at Con Ed.
I'm just telling you what qualifies as a small business in order to participate in many govt programs.
Where exactly is the magic cutoff?
I don't think it should be a "Law" or a "Requirement" but I actually think its not a bad idea, just as usual, poorly implemented.
Here's a different option:
The city give tax breaks or other incentives to grocery stores and gas stations to add alternative power options in case of a black out.
I'm sure most businesses would love to have that option but can't afford it with all the "nickel & dimeing" the city does to them already.
I would love to be able to put solar panels on my roof and not have to rely on con ed but its too expensive, even with the little tax incentives already on the books.
Basically it is a good idea for business to have back up power. I was amazed how many people could not get gas during that big blackout in 2003 (I think thats the year). Any gas station that had power would have made alot of money. The thing is that it is a good idea to keep you gas tank as full as possible and not drive to almost empty. It's even safer in a rear end collision because there is less air in the tank. Ready New York and other programs try to educate people about being prepared for natural or man made disasters because when the crap hits the fan you can bet that the Gov won't be able to handle it. It's better to have a good suppy of batteries, generator, non perisable food etc. then to curse the dark. I said it before, keep plastic bottles three quarter filled with water in the spare space of your freezer to keep things cold if power goes out. Also good to use in your picnic cooler. I don't think business should be required to rewire buildings either. And, does it make sense to rewire the building and not have a backup generator?
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