Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point. This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products. The Binney & Smith Company, now makers of Crayola products, started as the Peekskill Chemical Company at Annsville in 1864. Peekskill's manufacturing base operated well into the late 1900s, with the Fleischmann Company making yeast by-products under the Standard Brands corporate name. The population is 22,441 according to the year 2000 census. The well-publicized Peekskill Riots of 1949, involving the Civil Rights Congress benefit concert of Paul Robeson, specifically occurred in the neighboring suburb Van Cortlandtville.