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| Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a rally for a new law banning Styrofoam.
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Reuven Fenton and Selim Algar report for the NY Post:
It won’t kill the environment — or your hunger.
The city’s Styrofoam ban, which went into effect Tuesday but won’t be enforced until July, will mean smaller portions because aluminum replacement containers don’t come in the same size, vendors warn.
The foil containers are 15 percent smaller, and sides and starches could suffer as a result.
“I’m going to have to figure out how to serve it so the customers stay happy,” said Fathy Abouel Magd, 27, at his cart at 50th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.
He warned that “maybe” he’ll pack less rice with each order.
Faced with the same dilemma, nearby vendor Mohamed Ali, 48, said he will eventually have to settle on the smaller container or opt for a pricier, jumbo model.
“There’s no size in between that’s the same as the Styrofoam,” he said.
And that’s not the only issue.
Magd noted that Styrofoam clamshells close with ease, whereas the aluminum alternative requires a time-consuming pincer movement around the rim.
“When it’s busy, I will have to close the foil around the lid, and that takes time,” he said.
“With Styrofoam, it’s one, two, three, shut.”
Ali said he’ll work to refine his technique.
“Day by day, I’ll get faster,” he vowed.
On the plus side, Ali noted that the aluminum container has a transparent top that allows customers to eyeball their grub before digging in.
Mayor de Blasio hailed the ban Tuesday at a press conference at the Hamilton Avenue Marine Transfer Station in Brooklyn, arguing it would break the city’s longstanding dependence on a product that hurts the environment.
“We all know that global warming is real. And we understand it was caused by the fossil-fuel industry continuing to push a product that’s harming us. And that’s what this is made of, fossil fuels, petroleum. This is part of the problem right here,” he said.
The new law forbids the use of Styrofoam cups, plates, trays, clamshell containers and peanut packaging.
But it won’t be enforced for six months, in order to let businesses adjust, officials said.
Vendors who continue to use Styrofoam during the transition period will be issued warning cards.
After that, they’ll face fines that start at $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
