City Council bans Styrofoam, bars e-cigarettes as Speaker Christine Quinn makes tearful exit

nydailynews.com ^ | december 20, 2013 | erin durkin

[lowbridge]

The City Council banned Styrofoam and banished electronic cigarettes in a flurry of last-minute lawmaking Thursday at Speaker Christine Quinn’s emotional final meeting.

Quinn said a tearful goodbye to the Council with her trademark feistiness. “The city is a better place because of all of you, and I just want to say thank you,” she said. “We were tough. We didn’t take any s---.”

Before her farewell, the Council passed a record 26 bills and resolutions.

Under the foam container ban, polystyrene coffee cups and takeout containers will be outlawed. “Most foam ends up in landfills, where it can sit for literally 500 years or longer,” Quinn said. “The only thing in the world that lives longer than cockroaches or Cher is Styrofoam.”

[dfwgator]

What do they ship styrofoam in?

[dfwgator]

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed. And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?”

Plastic… a———.”

-George Carlin

[ThePatriotsFlag]

When is “protesting” going to start? If this was my town, I’d be in the streets getting arrested for drinking from a styrofoam cup. Are all New Yorkers just dumb sheeple?

[trebb]

“...Most foam ends up in landfills, where it can sit for 500 years...” - Why is that a problem?

For sure - Twinkies need something from their original era to keep them company. Maybe they should start packaging Twinkies in foam and make them the perfect prepper snack...

[1_Rain_Drop]

"What do they ship styrofoam in?"

Bubble wrap! of course.

[1_Rain_Drop]

"Simple, pour Blackberry Brandy on it."

Isn't styrofoam made out of an oil product?

Why not toss styrofoam into the used motor oil recycling department and just watch it melt?

[af_vet_rr]

No, smoking will stay legal on account of the tax revenue it generates. E-cigarettes cannot be tolerated because they interfere with this.

I'd be willing to bet the tobacco companies tossed some money into the pockets of some folks who voted to ban the e-digs as well.