Bill would exempt NYC pizzerias from new emissions standards that start this month
NEW YORK -- A Staten Island lawmaker wants pizzerias and other restaurants to be exempt from New York City's new emissions standards.
The new emissions rules take effect April 27, requiring existing coal and wood-fire eateries to install air filtration systems that dramatically slash the emissions coming from their ovens. The rules also impact residential buildings, which have started converting their boilers.
"All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood- and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality. This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible," the city's Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement when the guidelines were announced last summer.
- Web Extra: Read the approved rules here
Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo introduced the Preserving Our Culinary Traditions Act, which would waive the burning of wood, coal, natural gas, propane and other fuels used to prepare food.
"In keeping with the rich culinary tradition of New York City's residents and in-state residents hailing from far and wide, it is perfectly reasonable to exempt the use of said appliances to allow eateries to continue adhering to proper cooking protocols to preserve the rich flavors, textures, and aromas of these dishes' far-flung homelands - not to mention shielding business owners from having to shoulder the costs of updating at least some of their equipment just to comply with mandates, with costs coming out of their own pockets," Pirozzolo wrote in a memo submitted with his bill.
Records show about 100 restaurants use coal or wood-burning ovens in the city. For some, like Capizzi Pizzeria in Hell's Kitchen, the changes could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
"You know how many pizzas I have to sell to pay for that $20,000 oven?" owner Joe Calcagno told CBS New York last summer. "We're talking about a very inexpensive meal. So we're going to have to pass it on. Already our customers already endured so much with the supply chain and with everything else."
The DEP said it did consider the cost to restaurants when drafting the rules, but made no mention of reimbursements for the evaluation or installation.
