New York requires retailers to fix what it broke

 

The state legislature is known for lacking nuance and failing to roll out reforms in an incremental fashion. Our lawmakers, especially those from downstate, tend to go all-in with their ideas and legislations and worry not about domino effects and unintended outcomes. That’s why local taxpayers are on the hook for so many unfunded mandates and businesses are saddled with so many regulations.

 

Consider the latest set of rules to be placed upon employers – the Retail Worker Safety Act.

 

This act came about because of how the Senate and Assembly totally transformed, even gutted, public safety in recent years. Lawmakers instituted a variety of changes to criminal justice with the primary goal being social justice reform, that have had, in many circumstances, considerable unwelcome consequences despite the best of intentions. You’re familiar with the culprits like bail reform and raise the age which have lead to culprits on the streets -- criminals are now more emboldened than ever because of catch and release and other slaps on the wrist. They know they can get away it. You can understand that most viscerally in the fact that the Governor had to send the National Guard to the subways of New York City and is now having 750 more police officers stationed on NYC’s subways and platforms during the overnight hours.

 

Rather than addressing this situation properly by going back and making some reforms to the reforms that they went all-in with, the legislature, which is not one to lose face and admit failure by doing so, has sought bandages – like those deployments of potential force on public transit -- to cover the wounds. The Retail Worker Safety Act is another one of those first aid measures.   

 

Since the advent of criminal justice reform, retail theft and violence have gone out of control. Larceny offenses in NYC have spiked by 51% since 2017 while robberies, grand larceny and petit larceny in the Big Apple are up by 86%. And, the value of those thefts and brutality of that violence have become more disgusting. Retail workers are put, in many places, in harm’s way, something that had been unheard of just a few years ago.

 

So, the state is now mandating that retail businesses – not so much the police and courts they relied on before – ramp up the security and protection of their workers.

 

Effective March 3 of this year – or June 1 if a chapter amendment goes into play – any retailer with 10 or more employees in the state must comply with the act (it does not apply to retail businesses that primarily sell food or beverages for consumption on the premises).

 

It requires retailers to create and distribute to all employees a workplace violence prevention policy. It must address the situations that place employees at risk such as working late at night or in the early morning, exchanging money with the public, working alone or in small numbers, and uncontrolled access to the workplace. The policy must provide methods that the employer can use to prevent workplace violence while giving remedies to employees who are victims of it.

 

The act also requires retailers to provide violence prevention training to all employees when hired and then again every year (if the business has 50 or more employees in the state) or every two years (if employing less than 50). The training has to be interactive and include measures that employees can use to protect themselves when faced with violence, such as de-escalation, active shooter drills, emergency procedures, security devices, and training on previous and specific incidents of violence.

 

Then, on January 1, 2027, retail employers with 500 or more workers statewide must provide access to panic buttons on the premises -- or wearable, cellular-based panic buttons -- that request immediate assistance from local law enforcement (a proposed amendment would include a change to the recipient of the alert to a security officer, manager, or supervisor).

 

It’s said that the New York State Department of Labor will provide samples of policies and training that can then be tailored by the employers for their specific workplace. Those samples are not yet available. Regardless, retail businesses should start developing their plans now in the event the act goes into effect just 6 weeks from now (though June is still a possibility). Consult with your employees, lawyers, and trade organizations to ensure compliance.

 

It’s no doubt frustrating to shop owners and store managers, especially those just learning of it now, to face yet another in a long line of piles of paperwork and policies and hours of training to appease the state...a state that absolutely broke retail safety and now wants that industry to fix it.      

 

 

From the 17 January 2025 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun

The winter of the ice volcanoes

 

Cold winters like this – with temperatures in the teens and twenties being the norm -- tend to make some people question why they live so far north. Those who stay know that, despite their nastiness, our winters are interesting in their own right and beauty can found in such harsh conditions.

 

One of the coolest sights of the winter months is out in force this year after a few warmer winters that weren’t conducive to their best development: Niagara County’s Lake Ontario shoreline is now home to countless ice volcanoes and more are being made.

An ice volcano is not a true volcano since it’s not a geological phenomenon. But, they are called volcanoes by laymen and scientists alike because there is no better way to describe what happens when the conditions are right and they are in their full fury.

When the waves come roaring in with heights in excess of 5 feet, they will go under ice sheets that have formed along the shore. The power of the waves will plow through a weak point in the ice – a hole or a crack – and spew through that spot.

Done repeatedly, that hole will grow in size and it is not uncommon to find blowholes up to 4 feet in diameter. Most become much smaller over time (and after subsequent freezes), but the waves still must seek the point of least resistance, so the water continues to break through the ice sheet in that spot in varying amounts of pressure and spray distance -- in a really good wind you can see eruptions 10 feet in height.

In a sustained storm, small conical mounds (over 5 feet in height) can appear over a day’s time because of this ... the spewing water creates its own mountains. Over days of good wave action, working ice volcanoes can make mountains up to 20 feet in height and they will continue to shoot water until the waves come to an end and the volcano becomes capped due to the lack of water exploding out in volume and consistency.

Ice volcanoes can be found anywhere along the Lake Ontario shore, but the best in Niagara County are to be found at Golden Hill State Park and Olcott Beach. That is because the shoreline in those places is somewhat protected by Thirty Mile Point and the breakwall, respectively, which inhibits a great deal of the predominant westerly winds and allows for a certain calmness which in turn allows substantial ice sheets to form along the shore. When the wind shifts to the north or northeast, that’s when the volcanoes will appear.

To see them in all of their glory, you will want to be there on the windiest, nastiest day possible, so prepare for the occasion — dress warmly and bring a facemask or scarf. You do not want to go on a calm day or one with a southwest wind as you will not see any eruptions (although you will still get to marvel at the size and shape of the volcanoes).

At Golden Hill, the best spot to see them is in the area near the boat launch, which is the entrance a quarter mile east of the main entrance to the park (where the campsites and lighthouse are) on Lower Lake Road in Barker. There is a spacious parking lot at the boat launch (and there is no admission fee charged even in-season). In Olcott, park in the hamlet or along Krull Park and walk to the area of the swimming beach.

 
A word of advice: do not venture out onto the ice sheet to look at or climb the volcanoes or mountains. The areas around the volcanoes can be incredibly strong from the build-up of ice or they can be very weak (there’s a reason water is blowing through that area) and they can easily cave in, and often do, just from their own weight.

So, the next time Mother Nature turns on us and you don’t mind taking the ride out to the lake and facing the elements head on, get out and enjoy the ice volcanoes. If you are there at the right time and under the right conditions, they can be pretty awesome ... and in the future you’ll be hoping for more cold and windy winters.

 

 

From the 11 January 2025 Greater Niagara Newspapers

It might be time to recertify your pistol permit

 

When my fellow handgun owners and I applied for pistol permits we did so with the understanding that they were lifetime permits, revocable only by our moving out of state or committing a crime.

  

Then along came the NY SAFE Act in 2013 which changed the whole landscape of gun ownership in the Empire State. Among the tenets of that law was the requirement to recertify those once-unlimited pistol permits every 5 years.

 

This began in January of 2017. The New York State Police were granted control of these pistol permit renewals. This move, atypical to standard pistol permitting which is run by county clerks’ offices, saw the creation and administration of an online process through which handgun owners could affirm that they still own the guns appearing on their permit.

 

For those of you who immediately took part in that recertification process in early 2017 (and then again in early 2022), you’ll need to renew soon, maybe even this month.

 

If you just did the math, you might be scratching your head now: 2025 is the 3 year mark, not 5.

 

It is. But, the State tweaked the rules yet again back in the late-summer of 2022. Now, those who hold a concealed carry permit must recertify every 3 years, not the 5 that continues to pertain to other permit holders.

 

Many are unaware of this change to their status and they likely find it frustrating because concealed carry permit holders already went through deeper consideration in order to become permitted. We were vetted.

 

At this time, recertification is not an arduous task. The process was made easy and many of the reservations we originally had before its launch never appeared – there were and are no extra classes, interviews, and references required for recertification. That could change one day (this is New York, after all) but for now it’s just some basic data entry and affirmation.  

 

To recertify your pistol permit, visit the website https://gunsafety.ny.gov/ and click on “pistol permit recertification” then, scroll down the next page and click on “online recertification”. You will be taken to the online form.

 

The whole process takes just a few minutes; just be sure to have your driver’s license and pistol permit handy. As you log-in you will enter your driver ID number. Then, you will be checking your personal information and verifying every handgun that you own – manufacturer, model, serial number and co-registration with spouse if that applies.

 

Many will find this to be an exercise in futility because we all know that the state already has the information – it was entered when you got your permit, it is updated every time you purchase a pistol, and you just verified everything a handful of years ago. Even so, don’t tempt the fates and ignore this simple process.

 

And, do it now or soon. Be sure to check your records as to when you last certified your permit and tackle this before your expiration date comes. Back in January of 2018, with the initial deadline looming, the State Police said they wouldn’t take criminal enforcement action against permit holders who unknowingly failed to recertify. But, that was 2018. This is 2025. At lot has happened since then – a new Governor, a new State Police Superintendent, and many more attempts, some successful, at new gun laws.

 

 

From the 04 January 2025 Lockport Union-Sun & Journal and Wellsville Sun