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Read the press release here.

Restaurants with 'A' Grades Exempt From Fines

By Della Hasselle | January 20, 2011 12:45pm
Park Avenue Summer, on 63rd and Park, received an 'A' from the Department of Health as they update their grading system.
Park Avenue Summer, on 63rd and Park, received an 'A' from the Department of Health as they update their grading system.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle

By Della Hasselle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Restaurants that have earned an 'A' grade will no longer have to pay inspection violation fines, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced during his State of the City speech Wednesday.

"The cost of fines cuts into the tight profit margins that small businesses run," Bloomberg said in the speech.

"So from now on, we will add a new incentive: any restaurant that earns an 'A' — either on its initial inspection or on a re-inspection — will not have to pay one penny in fines for any violations found on that inspection. Not one penny."

The incentive comes on the heels of months-long grumbling by citywide restaurant owners who said that the new grading system, which translates any points garnered against the restaurant into fines, was eating away at their pocketbooks.

Even 'A' grade restaurants were racking up fines, and some restauarants ended up owing thousands of dollars because of more frequent inspections, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The fines may have been burdensome for restaurant owners, but they've been helping the city's bottom line. The city collected $32.9 million from restaurant owners last fiscal year after the new system was put in place — up from approximately $5 million from the year before, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The new grading system, launched in July by Health Commissioner Tom Farley, aimed to inspire restaurants to keep a clean kitchen by transforming a confusing points-based system into an easy-to-read grading system that the eateries must post.

Now, the new reward for those restaurants who have earned their A's is being welcomed by the city's restauranteurs, the Journal reported. Two months after the inspections began, the majority of restaurants had received favorable grades.

"My god, that's awesome news," Paul Grieco, co-owner of Hearth restaurant and Terroir wine bars, told the paper. "The fines seem obscene."