NYC burns pizzerias with new rule cutting smoky pollutants by 75%: ‘You’re going after pizza?’
NY Post
New York City has quietly approved a controversial green plan to require pizzerias and matzah bakeries using decades-old wood- and coal-fired stoves to cut their smoky pollutants by 75%.
Mayor Eric Adams’ Department of Environmental Protection said the fresh edict takes effect April 27, with some city businesses having already coughed up more than $600,000 for new smoke-eating systems in anticipation of the expected mandate.
“You are going after pizza? Glorious New York pizza?” groused Mike Dabin in a recent online comment to the city DEP. “Can’t you go after Diesel Trucks instead of pizza ovens?”
Businesses using wood and anthracite stoves can apply for a variance but need evidence to prove they are unable to comply with the mandate.
Pizza lovers and some entrepreneurs went bonkers when The Post first reported on the proposed rule last summer, worried that the dough needed to comply with the measure would put beloved spots out of business — or at least affect the taste of their tomato and mozzarella slices.
But Adams has defended the mandate for the Big Apple, which was recently named the most expensive city to get a slice of pizza in the country.
