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Borough President Adams targets price gouging of sanitizing products

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is trying to tackle distributors that are raising the prices of sanitizing products amid the coronavirus outbreak.

News 12 Staff

Mar 14, 2020, 8:52 PM

Updated 1,501 days ago

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Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is trying to tackle distributors that are raising the prices of sanitizing products amid the coronavirus outbreak. 
Adams held a press conference on Broadway to denounce the increase in prices on products that kill germs. However, a manger of a local food bazaar says the prices in him store are based on what they're being charged by distributors.
A customer reported that a can of Lysol at the store was going for $12.99. Adams says that's nearly twice as much as what it should cost.
The Attorney General's Office says they've sent out dozens of cease and desist letters to businesses that have been found to be price gouging.
The manager of the food bazaar says Lysol is a product they never carried before a Brooklyn-based distributer, Top General Merchandise, reached out to supply them with the products. After that, the manager says the store priced the products based on the prices they paid the distributor.
Adams says he is looking into the distributor and that it's unacceptable to make necessary health products more expensive.
"You're basically creating an economic divide between those who can afford and those who cannot afford during this time of crisis. A crisis is a [time] when we come together for public health, not for the profit," he says.
According to the Attorney General's Office, businesses who are found to be price gouging repeatedly could face fines of up to $5,000. They say so far businesses who have received cease and desist letters have been cooperative.
News 12 reached out to Top General Merchandise but has not heard back yet.


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