RyeCity REVIEW THE
February 2, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 5 | www.ryecityreview.com
EVERY VOTE COUNTS ArtsWestchester’s latest exhibition “Give Us the Vote” marks the centennial of the women’s suffragist movement and starts conversation about voting rights for marginalized groups throughout history. For story, see page 6. Photo/Taylor Brown
By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer
Bill looks to force pharmacies to handle leftover pills By JAMES PERO Staff Writer A new proposal from Westchester County lawmakers would require that chain pharmacies take back leftover prescription drugs in an effort to help guard against drug abuse and waterway contamination. In particular, lawmakers hope the bill—which was referred to committee on Jan. 22 at a Board of Legislators meeting—will help stem the tide of a fatal opioid epidemic in the county and nationwide. According to documents regarding the introduction of the program, in 2015, 107 West-
Cuomo issues REOI for Long Island Sound tunnel
chester County residents died of fatal drug overdoses, and 83 percent of those deaths were caused by heroin—many of such users started with using prescription opioids. While some of such leftover prescription drugs make their way into the hands of abusers, others are flushed down the sink or toilet and eventually make their way into waterways. According to a U.S. geological study from 2002, 80 percent of streams tested across the country contained at least one pharmaceutical. If signed into law, the bill— called the Product Stewardship Program—would apply to phar-
macies with three or more locations to participate, and failure to comply could result in $1,000 daily fines. Neighboring Rockland County has already implemented a similar program according to Westchester Board of Legislators documents. A current draft of the bill would also allow residents to mail their drugs to a pharmacy instead of delivering in person. In addition to prescription drug drop-off days, in which the county allows residents to return their drugs to designated locations, lawmakers have kickstarted similar efforts to help blockade against drug abuse in the past year, including joining a lawsuit
in 2017 against large pharmaceutical companies. In the suit, which includes eight other counties in New York state, lawmakers allege that pharmaceutical companies’ negligence flooded communities with powerful prescription pain medication, which has been a major contributing factor to addiction rates and fatalities across the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2015, opioids were responsible for 33,000 deaths across the country; in Westchester, opioid-related deaths jumped 200 percent between 2010 to 2015. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com
After announcing his plan to pursue a Long Island Sound tunnel at this year’s state of the state address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has taken more steps to make the idea come to fruition by soliciting private proposals. On Jan. 26, the state Department of Transportation, DOT, issued a request for expressions of interest, REOI, seeking input from private investors on engineering, environmental, operations and financial considerations for a future proposal. An REOI is used to assess interest in a project and to solicit ideas and information from interested parties. “Improving and expanding our transportation infrastructure is essential to moving New York forward,” Cuomo said. “We are taking another step to advance an ambitious project that would reduce traffic on the impossibly congested Long Island Expressway, improve connectivity, and help ensure the region’s future economic competitiveness.” The REOI comes just after the release of an 87-page document in January 2018 highlighting how much it would cost to construct the bridge or tunnel and how much revenue it would generate in tolls per year. According to the DOT’s study, an 18-mile tunnel connecting Westchester County and Long Island could cost approximately between $31.5 billion and $55.4 billion, and could potentially produce $500 million in tolls per year. In 2016, Cuomo secured $5 million for the DOT to test the plan’s feasibility. Cuomo said earlier this month that the construction of a tunnel is “feasible” and would help alleviate the amount of traffic com-
On Jan. 26, the New York State Department of Transportation issued an official request for expressions of interest to solicit ideas from private investors on constructing a bridge or tunnel from Westchester County to Long Island. Photo courtesy NYSDOT
ing from Long Island. Unlike in previous statements, Cuomo’s announcement last Friday does not mention any link to Connecticut, only to Westchester from Long Island. The DOT’s study proposes connecting either the city of Rye or the village of Port Chester to the town of Oyster Bay in Long Island, among other ideas. However, city officials and residents have always opposed any plan to build a tunnel to Rye as the idea has emerged several times since the 1930s. Master builder Robert Moses and former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, a Republican, pursued the idea the 1960s, but it fell by the wayside. After facing significant opposition from both local and state-elected officials in Westchester and Long Island, Rockefeller’s proposed Rye-Oyster Bay bridge never transpired. As of press time, Gov. Cuomo’s office has said REOIs are due no later than April 2, 2018. CONTACT: franco@hometwn.com