Councilman David G. Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) directly questioned New York City Health Department Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley on a number of issues at a City Council budget hearing yesterday, including whether the restaurant inspection process has been reformed as a result of numerous issues and complaints raised by Greenfield and other elected officials, restaurant owners and the news media over the past year.

During the Council Health Committee hearing, Councilman Greenfield noted that fines issued to restaurant owners for health violations have increased dramatically over the past few years, from $27.7 million in Fiscal Year 2009 to $52.4 million in Fiscal Year 2012. He asked Commissioner Farley whether an increase in unsanitary restaurants, additional enforcement or other factors were behind this increase. Commissioner Farley noted that the frequency of inspections went up after the letter grade system was instituted and predicted that revenue from inspection fines will drop to about $40 million in the current fiscal year.

However, Commissioner Farley and other Health Department officials were unable to provide Councilman Greenfield with concrete ways that they have reformed, improved or amended the restaurant inspection process directly as a result of feedback and complaints raised over the past few years. For example, Councilman Greenfield previously informed the Health Department about a number of valid concerns and issues that local restaurant owners shared with him at a town hall meeting in his district last year, and the City Council subsequently held an oversight hearing on this issue.

“We have received very specific complaints about arbitrary rules, different standards from different inspectors, lots of focus on non-food safety items and other issues. There have been many complaints from this body, restaurant owners and the media involving abuses or unfairness in the ways some restaurants have been treated,” said Councilman Greenfield at Tuesday’s hearing. “Have you addressed them, or are you ignoring them?” In response, a health official would only say that the department has clarified a variety of rules and has increased training for inspectors.

Finally, Councilman Greenfield requested that the Health Department break down the approximately $40 million in fines the Health Department collected this fiscal year from violations issued during inspections to see what percentage was due to non-food related violations such as having an uncovered light bulb in a storage closet. “This would be very useful in terms of educating restaurant owners as to what the most common fines are, and might lead to research as to why some violations are being enforced or not being enforced,” noted Councilman Greenfield.

Over the past year, local restaurant owners have provided Councilman Greenfield with numerous examples of egregious actions by health inspectors or fines that were clearly unfair. This includes an owner cited for having a wet floor he had just finished mopping and fines issued for food that was too hot even though it just came out of the oven and was still cooling. One restaurant owner recounted an inspector indiscriminately using bleach to destroy a large shipment of cheese that had just arrived because the inspector claimed it was not at the correct temperature. The owner begged to return the cheese to the supplier but the inspector refused, causing a loss of thousands of dollars. The store owner’s frustration was compounded when the next inspector said that he would not have thrown the cheese out.

“I have worked hard on behalf of restaurant owners to bring greater consistency and fairness to our inspection process, so it is a huge relief to see that the city appears to be issuing fewer fines this year. At the same time, I am disappointed that the city has not done more to ensure that the system is fairer for restaurant owners while serving its intended purpose of keeping the public safe. I am committed to working in the Council to pass legislation that reforms the restaurant fine system so that we are not putting good restaurants out of business,” said Councilman Greenfield.

(YWN Desk – NYC)