“C” you later, filthy food carts.
A Queens lawmaker has drafted a bill that would mandate posted letter health grades for street-meat sellers.
State Sen. José Peralta (D-Queens) is introducing a measure this week that would require local health departments to come up with a letter-based scale similar to the city’s current restaurant-grading system, following a Post report on the worst of the wurst violators.
“Consumers should know if what they are eating meets certain safety standards,” he said. “If they have an ‘A,’ you’ll eat there. If they have a ‘C,’ maybe not.”
At present, patrons have no way of knowing whether the dirty-water dog they’re about to digest actually deserves the sobriquet. The city Health Department does not publish online inspection results, let alone grades.
The Post obtained violators’ dirty details through a Freedom of Information request.
The grading system, Peralta said, would push vendors to clean up.
“They’re going to want to achieve the letter A and say, ‘I have the best cart in 10 blocks,’ ” Peralta said.
The sidewalk chefs would have to post their grades on their wagons, he added, and fines for violators who don’t would start at $50. Cart owners who clean up their act can pay $250 for an immediate reinspection as well.