At The Risk Of Spoiling My New Year’s Resolution To Be Less Sarcastic . . .
. . . New York’s milk price gouging law has been a huge success*:
A whopping 86 percent of supermarkets, delis and bodegas throughout the five boroughs are charging above the state-mandated price ceiling for milk, according to a City Council survey released yesterday.
The survey found that 43 out of 50 stores checked last November were charging an average of 40 cents above the state limit, which is set each month by the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
“It is no secret and it has been widely reported that the price of food has been consistently increasing in New York and across the country,” said council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).
“While food prices are rising, it’s incredibly important that we make sure important staples, critical things to families like milk, are as affordable as possible.”
Current metropolitan-area limits for June are set at $3.93 per gallon, $2.01 per half-gallon and $1.04 per quart, with lower prices upstate.
Shoppers cutting every corner to make ends meet — many of whom did not know there were legal price limits — were appalled to learn they were getting gouged.
“I have two children. We buy a lot of milk. If it’s overpriced, it’s unfair for mothers and their children,” said Gloria Williams, 36, who was shopping in Murray Hill.
. . .
The complex state law does allow stores to make a case for above-the-limit prices before they are considered in violation.
Most of the major supermarket chains have done so, but many smaller shops do not.
In fact, a manager at one small store — the Food Market at Second Avenue and 41st Street, where a half-gallon was selling for $3.29 — was clearly unaware of the regulation, saying, “This is a free country. I’m allowed to charge whatever I want.”
*So was ditching the resolution worth it? Probably not.
Posted: June 6th, 2008 | Filed under: Consumer Issues, Grandstanding