Doors Open, Air-Conditioning On? Fines Coming

August 12, 2008, 4:28 pm
Doors Open, Air-Conditioning On? Fines Coming


A ritual of summer: Open doors invite customers in but let cool air out. (Photo, 2006: Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)Updated, 6 p.m. | For many concerned about energy conservation, it’s a pet peeve: Shopkeepers who blast the sidewalk with air-conditioning as a way to lure customers on hot days.

Now the City Council is expected to pass legislation on Thursday that would impose fines on stores that leave their wide doors open with the air-conditioning on.


http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/ ... es-coming/

I think that's a bit to nitpicky of a law.

Our city council has done some really useless things in their history, and this ranks among the dumbest. First, stores do it to draw people in to buy stuff, which, I don't know if the council realizes, is a big part of how the city earns taxes. You know what uses way more power? All those neon signs in Times Square. Why not shut those off, too? Second, overall, very, very few stores do this. I can only think of a couple, and they are national chain stores, not little delis or boutiques, and they're all in dense shopping/tourist areas like 34th Street. The city council wastes more power showing up for work every day and doing absolutely nothing of benefit to anyone.

Might be good if the City Council would just be abolished in the next City Charter. Too often it is providing a Pedestal for a political freak show, and a few too many of those folks belong back under the rocks they came from. Many others are simply busybodies, lacking the education to understand the consequences of their "make a difference" agenda(s), while still others are likely simply corrupt. Wish they would go away..

Tom