Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection

This bill would prohibit grocery stores from increasing the price of any item more than once in a 24-hour period.

This bill would prohibit employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees, and it would rescind any non-compete agreements that predate the effective date of this bill. Employers would be subject to a $500 civil penalty for each violation of this bill.

This bill would require the Office of Street Vendor Enforcement (OSVE) to create a portal that would allow all agencies enforcing street vending laws and regulations to share enforcement-related information. OSVE would also ensure that each enforcing agency has the capability to verify the authenticity of vendor licenses.

New York City’s Truth-In-Pricing Law currently requires that certain products display item pricing (a price tag on each individual item), while others show the selling price at the point of display. This bill would repeal the item pricing requirement, so that all consumer commodities would be subject to the same requirement: to display the total selling price of an item at the point of display. In all cases, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would have the power to conduct inspections to verify that advertised prices match the price charged per item. It would still constitute a violation for a seller to charge a higher price than advertised.

This bill would prohibit the sale and rental of class three e-bikes. A person who violates this prohibition would be liable for civil penalties up to $2,000.

This bill would prohibit private employers from considering whether an individual has received a vaccination when hiring, terminating employment, or setting the terms and conditions of employment. The bill contains several exceptions for certain settings and circumstances: Employers would be permitted to require employee vaccination in health care settings, some child care settings, where the employee works in the employer’s home, and to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable federal and state laws. In addition, the bill would not apply to government employers. Finally, the bill would authorize administrative remedies for violations, as well as a private right of action.

This bill would allow vendors to place their pushcarts two feet from the curb unless there is an obstruction in or on the sidewalk, in which case it would allow vendors to place their pushcarts as close as possible to the obstruction. Currently, the law requires pushcarts to abut the curb, endangering the safety of vendors who must exit their carts onto the street, and potentially, into oncoming traffic.

This bill would require businesses that provide shopping carts to their customers to permanently affix a tag to their shopping carts that identifies the owner’s name, store address and phone number or e-mail. It would also require these businesses to implement a shopping cart containment measure approved by the Commissioner of Consumer and Worker and Protection. Failure to add the required tag or adopt a shopping cart containment measure would subject the business to a $100 civil penalty per cart. The Department of Sanitation would be required to contact shopping cart owners to retrieve shopping carts it has removed from the streets and impose a civil penalty of $100 for each shopping cart that is not retrieved within 48 hours of notice.

This bill would prohibit unfair methods of competition and unfair, deceptive, abusive or unlawful acts or practices in or affecting business, trade, or commerce. This bill would be enforced by a private right of action.

This bill would require the commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to suspend or revoke a stoop line stand license after the fifth violation of stoop line stand restrictions within a 12-month period. Suspended stoop line stand licenses would be suspended for at least a year. If a license is revoked, the former license holder would be ineligible to apply for a new stoop line stand license for one year.