The Tax May Not Be In The Bag

The big bold plastic bag tax (the one whose yearly windfall inexplicably jumped from $16 million in early discussions to somewhere around $100 million) seems to be blowing in the wind like something out of Alan Ball’s head*:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has decreed the nickel-a-bag proposal “is off the table,” according to City Council sources.

Aides to Quinn privately confirmed the development, which could add to the mayor’s woes of filling a $1 billion revenue gap in the new budget due July 1.

“We’re not going to go negotiate a budget here,” the mayor said when asked about the development.

“And Christine Quinn is certainly pro-environmental. I think that happens to be an environmental thing as well as a revenue-raising thing.”

The mayor warned the budget will have to be balanced, either through “fees and taxes, which nobody likes, or you reduce your expenses, which means less services, which nobody likes.”

*And if Bloomberg has his way, such scenes may be lost forever.