Attention all New Yorkers with late-model hatchbacks…
Watch out for the Green Police!
I just read about these guys…pretty interesting. New York City has twenty officers collectively known as the Green Police. The Department of Environmental conservation has tasked the Green Police with cracking down on those who are not following the city’s environmental (read: green) regulations. The two main groups that the squad focuses on are auto emisions violators (see above) and those in the food vending business.
Auto emissions is pretty straight forward. There exists a maximum level of pollutants that a car can exhause…as set in law. If a Green Policeman pulls you over (they do have the authority, for what it is worth…different story there) with suspicion of being over the limit, they can gauge your emission level with a gauge. Over the limit? Fined. At that point, you have thirty days to reduce emissions to the acceptable level, to avoid paying the fine. This is desirable, since the fines are in the $700 range… and that covers the first time offence. If you choose not to take any action, the fine is raised to nearly double, at $1300. Sort of big time. I’m pretty sure that monetary incentive is enough to keep repeat offender incidences at a low level.
That covers group one. The next focus is somewhat less black and white.
How do food venders fit in to the Green Police’s mission? Well, there are a gang of food vendors in NYC and a gang of Federal regulations of food-stuffs. Take seafood for instance. Shellfish harvesting is tightly regulated…food venders can be asked to provide distributor info, in order to prove the validity of their yum-o food. Fish are not exempt, either. Protected species are required to be of certain predetermined sizes, lengths, ages, etc., and are most definitely under the magnifying glass of the Green Police.
Long story short, interesting concept. I’d be pretty wary of messing with these guys…or the regulations they enforce. Or alternately, I’d get out of the fish business.