80% of Restaurants Get A's ... but in the Bronx:

Restaurateurs launch $150M lawsuit against 'unconstitutional' Department of Health grading system By JULIA MARSH Last Updated: 6:46 PM, June 11, 2013 Posted: 6:44 PM, June 11, 2013 http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/restaurateurs_launch_lawsuit_against_uODCs1NzzZ0G Forty restaurant owners slapped the city with a $150 million lawsuit today calling the Department of Health grading system... [more]

Restaurateurs launch $150M lawsuit against 'unconstitutional' Department of Health grading system By JULIA MARSH Last Updated: 6:46 PM, June 11, 2013 Posted: 6:44 PM, June 11, 2013 http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/restaurateurs_launch_lawsuit_against_uODCs1NzzZ0G Forty restaurant owners slapped the city with a $150 million lawsuit today calling the Department of Health grading system unconstitutional and an unfair tax on small businesses. "The health inspector following guidelines of the health code creates a revenue scheme for the city of New York in a confusing manner to extract monies through the issuance of violations on hardworking mom and pop stores trying to make a living," the Manhattan Supreme Court suit states. The restaurateurs, including Stephen and Rosetta Lawless who have run The Shamrock Inn in the Bronx for 17 years, claim the fines are unconstitutional because the mayor used administrative fiat to enact the code instead of going through the City Council. Further, the system is unfair because it is imposed in a selective and inconsistent manner. Stephen Lawless noted in the court filing that one inspector told him to store his eggs on the top shelf of the fridge while another inspector said they should be placed on a lower level. "I have been going through hell and back with the board of health," Lawless huffs. Today’s Post exclusively reported that the Health Department was issuing a slew of nit-picky violations that are unrelated to food quality. A whopping 32 percent of last years fines were given out for a miscellaneous category that includes dimly lit light bulbs and improper labeling. Neil Grimaldi, the attorney representing the eateries in the suit, said all of his clients are in the Bronx, though the problem is citywide. “Inspectors have been very oppressive against all restaurants,” he argued. The fines are especially crippling for Bronx business owners who already face a difficult economic climate, he added. Grimaldi said his clients, including Egidio Sementilli of the Italian joint Mamma Lucia in Locust Point, were inspired to file suit after the beverage industry won a challenge to the mayor’s soda ban. A spokeswoman for the city’s law department called the Manhattan Supreme Court filing a “rambling, scattershot attack on the city’s regulation of food service establishments.” She added that it “lacks merit and should be quickly rejected by the courts.” “The grading program has led to cleaner kitchens, with more than 80 percent now earning A grades.” [less]