New Rules Proposed for Restaurants
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEW YORK (AP) – The state should grade restaurants A through F for sanitary conditions and require them to post their grades so consumers will know what to expect, a politician said Sunday.
“Having a letter grade posted for all diners to see will provide a real incentive for dirty restaurants to clean up their acts,” said state Senate Minority Leader Jeff Klein, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to eat at an establishment with an F hanging in the doorway.”
New York City records show that at least 235 restaurants in the city failed a health inspection in the nine days after video of rats in a Manhattan fast-food joint embarrassed officials into suspending an inspector who had given it a passing grade.
Mr. Klein said information about restaurant inspections is available for Internet-savvy consumers but individual restaurants are not required to post their scores.
“It is appalling that the Department of Health does not have an adequate system in place to alert consumers to a potential health hazard,” he said.
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokesman Andrew Tucker said the department would review Mr. Klein’s report but added that a grading system for restaurants “does not accurately depict the cleanliness of a restaurant over time.”
“Our system lets New Yorkers see the actual list of violations and decide whether they want to eat at a particular restaurant,” Mr. Tucker said. “And our scoring system weighs more heavily those violations that are most likely to make a customer sick. Restaurants that have egregious violations that cannot be corrected are closed.”
Mr. Klein released an update of his 2005 report, “Restaurants That Are Enough to Make You Sick: An Analysis of Unsanitary Conditions at New York City Restaurants.”
The 2007 report looks at the inspection records of 700 restaurants that are now listed by the city Department of Health as not being in compliance with sanitation standards.
Mr. Klein released the report at a news conference in front of Cafe La Fonduta, an East Side restaurant that he said was assessed 160 violation points during a March 5 inspection.
No one answered the telephone Sunday at Cafe La Fonduta, which is open Monday through Friday only.
