New rules to curb carbon emissions could cost some New York City pizzerias tens of thousands of dollars and change the New York slice for good, said one pizza shop owner.
"I think these regulations are typically come up with by people who don't own businesses," Brooklyn pizzeria owner Paul Giannone, known as Paulie Gee, told Fox News Digital.
"Part of what makes our pizza cook the way it does is you have to cook with an open flame. When you cook it in a different kind of oven, you won't get the results that will produce a Neapolitan-style pizza," he said. "It'll be a dying breed. People just are not going to deal with this anymore."
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The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted new rules that would require pizzerias with coal- and wooden-fire ovens installed prior to 2016 to cut carbon emissions by 75%, according to the New York Post. Restaurant owners would be forced to install a filter to the specified ovens then hire an engineer to regularly inspect the carbon emissions.
"All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality," DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said in a statement Sunday. "This common-sense (sic) rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible."
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Gee, 69, opened Paulie Gee’s Pizzeria over 13 years ago in Brooklyn. Paulie Gee's has since opened and licensed seven additional locations across the U.S.
Since 2018, Gee has spent $20,000 on emission-control air-filter devices for his wood-fired oven in anticipation of the DEP rule due to installation and regular maintenance.
"I've been compliant all this time," he said. "Not only did I have to purchase the machine, I had to have an engineer look at where it could be installed. I had to get an electrician to run electricity to it. I had to get a plumber to run a water line because you have to have a hose to clean it."
"To some people, $20,000 could crush them, particularly since the pandemic," Gee added. "I just did it pre-pandemic, and it was a lot of money. But right now, there are some people that barely keep their doors open."
The restaurateur said if the city continues to hoist costly regulations on its business owners, taxpayers should be footing the bill.
"Why do I have to spend $20,000? I'm paying a ton of taxes already," Gee told Fox News Digital. "Regulation after regulation puts more pressure on us and makes it difficult to do business, particularly now with the cost of labor has gone up, the cost of the goods we have to buy to produce our products – it's just making it more difficult."
The proposal comes after New York became the first state to ban natural gas connections in new buildings. Beginning in 2026, new buildings with seven or fewer stories will have to use induction and electric devices. Larger buildings will make the transition in 2029.
While a city official told the Post that less than 100 pizzerias would be affected by the new rule, on that list are some of New York’s most famous pizzerias, including Lombardi's in Little Italy, John's of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village and Grimaldi's near the Brooklyn Bridge.
"I don't know how much of a difference a hundred places is going to make," Gee said. "It's a drop in the ocean."
"Is the juice worth the squeeze?" he added.
Although his business has remained successful despite new regulations imposed by the city, Gee said if he were opening a new pizzeria today, he would avoid using wood- or coal-fired ovens.
"I don't advise anybody to do it with a wood-fired pizzeria anymore, as romantic as it is," he said. "I'd go in a different direction."
