NYC restaurants flip out over new ‘char broil’ rule that would force them to cut emissions by 75%: ‘Stop messing with my burgers’

https://nypost.com/2025/01/12/us-news/nyc-restaurants-flip-out-over-new-char-broil-rule-that-would-force-them-to-cut-emissions-by-75/

By Carl Campanile

Big Apple eateries say a new “char broil” rule is totally half-baked.

The city’s environmental cops could force restaurants that use charbroilers to cut their smoky emissions by 75% — or figure out a new way to cook meat and fish.

Restaurants that char-broil more than 875 pounds of meat per week would be barred from operating unless they install an emissions control device to curb pollutants if their charbroilers were installed before May 6, 2016, according to a new rule proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection.

“People are getting knifed in the subway and they’re worried about charbroilers?” fumed Junior’s restaurant owner Alan Rosen, who chars meat at three iconic eateries in Midtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Industry sources estimate as many as 200 restaurants could be affected by the new rule from the Department of Environmental Protection, with thousands of dollars in costs associated with upgrading their exhaust systems unless they apply for a hardship variance.

The latest green move follows a similar crackdown on wood-and-coal oven pizzerias, but smoking-mad restaurateurs like Rosen say government overreach and the Nanny State shouldn’t turn items into the Nanny Steak.

“We grill with an open flame,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for almost 75 years. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

“The government should focus on quality-of-life issues and stop messing with my burgers,” he went on. “This is a government that’s gone haywire. This shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar.”

The ruled proposed by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection would force restaurants that use charbroilers to reduce emissions by 75% or be barred from operating.LP Media

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