In the cloud that is this year’s race for mayor, New Yorkers now have one silver lining: an agreement that will help return some fairness to the city’s system for grading and fining restaurants.
Restaurant owners have long complained that the current system is arbitrary, granting inspectors way too much power to impose costly violations that have little to do with food quality or establishment cleanliness.
The grading policy, and the Health Department’s unresponsiveness to legitimate complaints, has in turn fed this city’s reputation as being hostile to small businesses.
Since the department imposed letter grades three years ago, fines have skyrocketed, from about $30 million a year to $40 million. But under an agreement announced earlier this week by City Council Speaker Chris Quinn, the total annual costs to restaurants will go down by $10 million. The fines for minor violations would be fixed at $200.
This deal is a welcome surprise, especially given the arrogance Mayor Bloomberg’s Health Department has demonstrated over the years. Perhaps being slapped down by two courts in its attempt to impose a 16 oz. limit on soda has finally instilled a measure of bureaucratic humility on arguably the least accountable city agency.
It’s also good to see the City Council recognizing that unreasonable fines and overregulation are poisoning this city’s future, and are stepping up to the plate to do something about it.
If campaign season helped bring such an epiphany, hallelujah!