Health Department Accused of ‘Heavy-Handedness’
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A City Council member is accusing the city’s health department of being “heavy-handed” in enforcing restaurant cleanliness.
During a budget hearing yesterday, Council Member John Liu, who represents parts of Queens, said the agency has employed “very heavy-handed approaches that don’t necessarily promote good health” and “rob small businesses of due process.”
The comments came during a discussion of the health department’s 2009 budget, which reduces funding to HIV and AIDS programs by $1.3 million and scales back other programs, including outreach to new mothers. Mr. Liu inquired about the health department’s nearly $16 million budget for food safety and restaurant inspections.
The issue of restaurant cleanliness made headlines last year when reports surfaced about a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell that passed inspection despite being infested with rats.
Confronted by Mr. Liu, the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, dismissed any notion of heavy-handedness, and offered a graphic description of why inspectors shut down one particular restaurant where an employee infected diners with salmonella. The employee did not wear gloves when handling the food, and “people got sick,” he said.
Dr. Frieden said the restaurant in question also had a faulty refrigerator and was infested with cockroaches. “Most concerning of all was that they did not seem concerned,” Dr. Frieden said, adding that the restaurant pursued an appeal instead of working to fix the problem. The health department has procedures in place to help restaurants comply with agency standards, he said.
In response to the specific example, Mr. Liu conceded, “I concur that yes, the restaurant should be shut down.” But he said restaurants that are closed by health inspectors are forced to sign “consent orders” that amount to admissions of guilt.
Dr. Frieden countered by saying that restaurants have the right of appeal. “Our goal is not to fine or close restaurants,” he said, “it’s to keep the food clean.”
Mr. Liu contested the answer. “The department is not above the law,” he said, before the hearing resumed.
