By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
The city voted to implement a controversial plan that will see restaurants rated for cleanliness based on a letter system.
The Board of Health voted on Tuesday to green light a proposal that would see the city’s 24,000-plus restaurants rated with publicly posted letter grade reports, after a 6-2 vote in favor of the plan with one voter abstaining.
The plan goes into effect in July with restaurants required to prominently post ratings in restaurant windows or entryways. Prior to the plan, numerical ratings, which will correspond with the letter grades, have been available online or through the department’s office.
A is the highest grade; B is allocated to a less immaculate, but acceptable eatery; C means the restaurant failed its test.
Restaurants with higher grades will also be inspected less often than those receiving low marks.
“New York City restaurants are among the world’s best, and these simple reforms will make them even better,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, who is the city’s Health Commissioner.
“Giving consumers more information will help make our restaurants safer and cleaner. The grade in the window will give you a sense of how clean the kitchen is — and it will give every restaurant operator an incentive to maintain safe, sanitary conditions.”
A boon to the health industry, the city says the goal is to reduce the risk of food-related sickness with an estimated 10,000 emergency-room visits a year as a result of a bad bite.
But not everyone is happy about the plan.
Emmanuel Philippis, who owns Burger Creations in the Village, said health inspectors docked him 10 points for not having napkins in a container by the kitchen at the time of an inspection last month, even though there were other towels nearby.
“There needs to be some consistency and transparency to the letter grades,” said Philippis. “I don’t think a napkin violation at a certain moment should be considered on the same scale as a rat violation. There needs to be explanation for the letters.”
David Ichab, manager at Johnny Rockets on East 8th Street, agreed: “If you have numbers, people know exactly what is going on. Letters can be misleading.”
But he said the proposal had its merits.
“I think it will be good for good businesses though,” he said. “Some restaurants look nice, but you see their kitchen and it doesn’t look so good.”
The inspection process will not change under the new system. But specific rules and procedures have not yet been written.
Currently, about 30 percent of the city’s restaurants would qualify for A grades, 40 percent would get Bs and 26 per cent would get Cs, according to the city.
