Big Brother

No Surprise: Restaurant Group Opposes Health Department Grades

Photo: Daniel Maurer

The Times has more on the city’s plans to sic inspection grades on restaurant windows. Interesting stats: Of last year’s 52,657 inspections, 9,301 restaurants failed, 1,057 were shuttered, and operators paid a whopping $26.8 million in fines. (We’d like to know how many places — from swank lounges like Socialista to cherished mom-and-pop operations like B’s luncheonette — couldn’t get back on their feet after they were forcibly closed.) Over in L.A., a similar program has reduced hospitalizations by 20 percent and has proven financially beneficial to grade-A restaurants, which are up from 40 percent to 83 percent over the past years — but the New York Nightlife Association worries that it’ll be an invitation to bribery (40 inspectors were convicted in a 1988 bribery scandal) and that restaurateurs won’t be able to quickly appeal a letter grade once it’s posted. Plus, the letter grade only reflects conditions at a given point in time. Says Mayor Bloomberg: “Come on. If you can’t pass an inspection one time, you can’t pass an inspection every time.”

A Stir Over Plan to Grade New York City’s Restaurants [NYT]
Earlier:Payard, Insieme, and Sarabeth’s Would Be Publicly Shamed by New DOH Postings

No Surprise: Restaurant Group Opposes Health Department Grades