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Council Bans Metal Bats in High School
By RAY RIVERA
The New York City Council passed a bill yesterday to ban the use of metal bats in high school baseball games, securing enough votes to override a potential veto by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The vote set up a possible legal challenge from the metal-bat industry.
Industry officials, who opposed the bill, said they believed that the Council was the first legislative body in the nation to pass such a measure.
The vote was a long-sought victory for the bill’s original sponsor, James S. Oddo, a Staten Island Republican, who began pushing for a ban more than six years ago against intense opposition led by bat manufacturers. He had originally sought to include Little League and independent leagues in the ban.
He later narrowed his bill to draw broader Council support.
“I know this is not the most pressing issue on the minds of New Yorkers,” he said shortly before the vote, “but I really believe in this bill. There is risk in all sports, and there is risk in baseball playing with a wooden bat, but when the risk becomes unreasonable, people have to act.”
The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, who rallied support for the measure among council members, said, “We think this is an appropriate safety step for us to protect our high school athletes.”
The bill passed 40-6 with two abstentions. Two-thirds of the 51 members on the Council, or 34 votes, are needed to override a veto.
Speaking before yesterday’s vote, Mayor Bloomberg declined to say whether he would veto the legislation.
“I have been called by professional baseball players, who are friends of mine, on both sides of the issue,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “I’ll look at the data and try to decide whether or not it’s an appropriate thing for the city to do, to get involved, and if so, what the science says.”
The use of aluminum bats, which were first introduced in the early 1970s, has been debated for years both from a competitive standpoint and increasingly for safety reasons. Critics of the bats say balls fly off them faster, giving pitchers less time to react. In 2003, for instance, Brandon Patch, an 18-year-old American Legion pitcher in Montana, was killed when a line drive off a metal bat smashed into his left temple. His mother and uncle supported the bill.
But industry officials say there have been no reliable studies showing that metal bats pose greater risk of injury than wooden bats. A number of coaches, leagues and athletic organizations, including Little League International and the New York Catholic High Schools Athletic Association, opposed the bill.
“This is not a safety issue,” said Jim Darby, a spokesman for Easton Sports, a leading bat maker based in Van Nuys, Calif. He added that his company and the industry would “look at all the different options out there” to block the legislation, including possible legal action.
In voting against the bill, Councilman Tony Avella of Queens said, “As much as this is an emotional and sensitive issue, sometimes you have to have facts, and the statistics are just not there.”
Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. of Queens responded by calling the ban “common sense.”
“Anyone who has been on a ball field knows aluminum bats hit harder,” he said.
In other City Hall actions yesterday, the mayor postponed signing a bill to regulate the city’s growing pedicab industry. The bill limits the number of pedicabs to 325, down from what industry representatives estimate is now 500. It would also require drivers to post their rates, force owners to carry liability insurance and ban the small electric motors that some riders use to provide a boost for tired legs.
The pedicab industry said the bill threatened its drivers’ livelihood. Several people raised those concerns at a public hearing before the planned signing, causing the mayor to delay it.
“The mayor listened, and in light of the concerns he heard, he decided that since he has more time to act, he’ll take advantage of that,” said Stu Loeser, the mayor’s spokesman.
The mayor has until March 30 to act on the bill, Mr. Loeser said.
The mayor did sign several other bills into law yesterday, including three measures intended to make nightclubs safer. One requires certain cabarets and dance halls to install video surveillance cameras at entrances and exits. Another requires clubs with multiple violations to hire independent monitors at the clubs’ expense to help them comply. The third bill allows the city to use nuisance abatement laws to shut down businesses that sell fake identifications to minors.
The Council, meanwhile, passed a pair of bills requiring business owners to provide helmets and safety equipment to employees who use bicycles as part of their work and to post bicycle safety rules and guidelines.
Another bill that passed would put into law the city regulation adopted by the Board of Health in December that bans trans fats in restaurant cooking. Mr. Vallone, the bill’s sponsor, said putting the ban in the city’s legal code would make it harder for future administrations to overturn it.
By RAY RIVERA
The New York City Council passed a bill yesterday to ban the use of metal bats in high school baseball games, securing enough votes to override a potential veto by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The vote set up a possible legal challenge from the metal-bat industry.
Industry officials, who opposed the bill, said they believed that the Council was the first legislative body in the nation to pass such a measure.
The vote was a long-sought victory for the bill’s original sponsor, James S. Oddo, a Staten Island Republican, who began pushing for a ban more than six years ago against intense opposition led by bat manufacturers. He had originally sought to include Little League and independent leagues in the ban.
He later narrowed his bill to draw broader Council support.
“I know this is not the most pressing issue on the minds of New Yorkers,” he said shortly before the vote, “but I really believe in this bill. There is risk in all sports, and there is risk in baseball playing with a wooden bat, but when the risk becomes unreasonable, people have to act.”
The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, who rallied support for the measure among council members, said, “We think this is an appropriate safety step for us to protect our high school athletes.”
The bill passed 40-6 with two abstentions. Two-thirds of the 51 members on the Council, or 34 votes, are needed to override a veto.
Speaking before yesterday’s vote, Mayor Bloomberg declined to say whether he would veto the legislation.
“I have been called by professional baseball players, who are friends of mine, on both sides of the issue,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “I’ll look at the data and try to decide whether or not it’s an appropriate thing for the city to do, to get involved, and if so, what the science says.”
The use of aluminum bats, which were first introduced in the early 1970s, has been debated for years both from a competitive standpoint and increasingly for safety reasons. Critics of the bats say balls fly off them faster, giving pitchers less time to react. In 2003, for instance, Brandon Patch, an 18-year-old American Legion pitcher in Montana, was killed when a line drive off a metal bat smashed into his left temple. His mother and uncle supported the bill.
But industry officials say there have been no reliable studies showing that metal bats pose greater risk of injury than wooden bats. A number of coaches, leagues and athletic organizations, including Little League International and the New York Catholic High Schools Athletic Association, opposed the bill.
“This is not a safety issue,” said Jim Darby, a spokesman for Easton Sports, a leading bat maker based in Van Nuys, Calif. He added that his company and the industry would “look at all the different options out there” to block the legislation, including possible legal action.
In voting against the bill, Councilman Tony Avella of Queens said, “As much as this is an emotional and sensitive issue, sometimes you have to have facts, and the statistics are just not there.”
Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. of Queens responded by calling the ban “common sense.”
“Anyone who has been on a ball field knows aluminum bats hit harder,” he said.
In other City Hall actions yesterday, the mayor postponed signing a bill to regulate the city’s growing pedicab industry. The bill limits the number of pedicabs to 325, down from what industry representatives estimate is now 500. It would also require drivers to post their rates, force owners to carry liability insurance and ban the small electric motors that some riders use to provide a boost for tired legs.
The pedicab industry said the bill threatened its drivers’ livelihood. Several people raised those concerns at a public hearing before the planned signing, causing the mayor to delay it.
“The mayor listened, and in light of the concerns he heard, he decided that since he has more time to act, he’ll take advantage of that,” said Stu Loeser, the mayor’s spokesman.
The mayor has until March 30 to act on the bill, Mr. Loeser said.
The mayor did sign several other bills into law yesterday, including three measures intended to make nightclubs safer. One requires certain cabarets and dance halls to install video surveillance cameras at entrances and exits. Another requires clubs with multiple violations to hire independent monitors at the clubs’ expense to help them comply. The third bill allows the city to use nuisance abatement laws to shut down businesses that sell fake identifications to minors.
The Council, meanwhile, passed a pair of bills requiring business owners to provide helmets and safety equipment to employees who use bicycles as part of their work and to post bicycle safety rules and guidelines.
Another bill that passed would put into law the city regulation adopted by the Board of Health in December that bans trans fats in restaurant cooking. Mr. Vallone, the bill’s sponsor, said putting the ban in the city’s legal code would make it harder for future administrations to overturn it.
Don't they have more important things to be doing?
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