Attorney General tells businesses: ‘If you price gouge, you’ll pay’
Warns vendors not to take advantage during snowstorm
If business owners are planning to triple their prices for food, gasoline, batteries and other items residents will need to get through Winter Storm Hercules, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has a message for them: Don’t even think about it!
Even before the snow storm started bearing down on New York Thursday night, Schneiderman issued an open letter to vendors and business owners warning against price gouging. He defined gouging as the inflation of the prices of necessary goods and services.
The state’s general business law prohibits increasing costs of essential items like food, water, gas, generators, batteries and flashlights, or services like tree trimming or removal, emergency structure repairs, or snowplowing, during natural disasters or other events that disrupt the market.