Air Conditioned Stores Still Leaving Doors Open In Summer

It is sort of nice to get a blast of cool air while schlepping your way through the steamy sidewalks, but it's also wrong—very, very wrong. It's like enjoying a free hit of crack, basically. Despite that relatively new bill (passed in 2008) that fines air-conditioned establishments $200 per door/window left open, some companies are still risking it to lure in customers with their sweet manufactured breeze. (To clarify, under the legislation any business that's 4,000 square feet or larger, or part of a chain with five or more stores in the city, must keep their doors shut when the air conditioning is on.)

According to the NY Times, nine stores in Manhattan and the Bronx have already been fined this summer—they report that the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs has inspected 105 stores, where 26 were issued warnings and 9 were fined (they were already warned last summer). Those stores were Jeans Plus, Jimmy Jazz, Bronx Kidstown and V.I.M. in the Bronx, and Filene’s Basement, DSW, Forever 21, Armani Exchange, and Brooklyn Industries in Manhattan.

As the Times discovered, the doors left open can mean a big difference in temperature change to the outside world—on a 97 degree day, the temperature within 10 feet of one retailer's open door was a cool 79 degrees! As noted last year, there aren't many alternatives, but one Brooklynite said when he was growing up, "We used to see shops with a sign in the window depicting a penguin standing on an iceberg and the words: 'it's COOL inside.'"

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By Jen Carlson in News on July 9, 2010 11:58 AM

Comments [rss]

Colin

I started a satirical website to highlight businesses leaving their doors open:

http://actheworld.com/

If you have photos of businesses doing this, please send them in!

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

its pointless.

our entire economic system is designed for over production, consumption and waste.

Go on you measly mouthed poor people, turn your air-conditioners off, have business close their front doors, be miserable, reduce your carbon foot print for the moment.

In the meantime some land developer will throw up 30 stories worth of air conditioned luxury condos that make a mockery of conservation. Or some 'enterpernuer' will raze a wooded area in upstate NY throw up some oversized McMansions an hour from any downtown area.

capitalism and conservation dont mix.

schizofriendly

capitalism and conservation dont mix.

yes

healthstudent

"capitalism and conservation dont mix."

Actually, they do. Social responsibility is a key component of a capitalistic market. Waste doesn't benefit the company or the consumer, and the market will reflect that.

ozik

This shouldn't be an "inspector" issue, it should be a cop on the street issue. Hell, meter maids should be able to write these tickets and tape them to the front doors.

schizofriendly

it should be a cop on the street issue.

yes.

healthstudent

Agreed. If the traffic cops were allowed to ticket businesses the same way they stalk cars on the UES, the city would have a damned surplus.

Cannibal

Most of the chain stores have guidelines written in the employee and manager handbooks that say that the doors MUST be open in nice weather to increase business. If a regional or district manager stopped by the store and found the door closed, the manager on duty would be written up for non compliance of company standards and face possible termination.

You need to call 311 on any business wasting power like this. Once they get fined enough it will negate the 1-2% sales increase get by keeping the door open. This is reckless, irresponsible and disgusting and its going to leave the outer buroughs in the dark.

cutlass

Worst offender is that god damned, bedbug infested Abercrombie and Fitch by the Seaport. And it's not so much that they have the cold air blasting out as that it's heavily perfumed cold air. Please close your doors and keep the bedbugs and the perfume inside.

Art Vandelay

"What's the problem?"

Uhh, how about straining the power grid for one thing? It angers the hell out of me to be asked to reduce my own power usage only to have some idiot retailer blatantly wasting electricity in the hopes of drawing in a few more customers.

I just close those doors myself when I see them. If everyone did the same thing, they'd soon stop.

I'm thinking of making some "I love global warming" stickers for the worst offenders.

Cannibal

You should. And may I suggest Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters as your first target. Gotta love how they have books like An Inconvenient Truth and Going Green at Home steps away from the open front door/sidewalk air conditioners...

zincink

I remember that penguin sign. Sometimes they would put it on fridges

tsol

When the Times campaign for the city to stop forcing landlords to have the heat running even on warm days days in the spring and fall?

LB

What the hell is the difference ? If businesses want to drive up their energy cost what's the problem ?

Cannibal

I am to assume you dont live in NYC or use electricity?

Spirit of 76

You may not have noticed from all the warnings and blackouts in recent days, but we don't have unlimited electricity. Businesses like these help overload the grid. Anybody who knows anything about physics will also tell you that AC only moves heat around, so it gets cooler inside, but warmer outside, and adds heat from the operation of the compressor and fans. And wasting electricity adds to the city's carbon footprint, not that I expect somebody like you would care.

In order for this to be effective, they need to raise the fines. $200 is a joke, a small expense to attract more customers. They need to raise it to $2000 for a second offense, $5000 for the third, etc.