If there’s one thing about New York City you don’t mess with, it’s the pizza.
“When it comes to the city of New York, everything that happens with them is always a mystery,” Frank Santora, manager of Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria, said on “The Bottom Line” Monday. “There’s so many more important things to worry about in New York City, like riding on a subway or even walking across the street with the guys on the electric bikes running you over.”
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, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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 and then hire an engineer to regularly inspect the carbon emissions.
“[We] didn’t see this coming, it hit us like a freight train. We had no idea this was even a possibility,” Santora said. “I thought I was dreaming.”
“Then we did a little research,” the pizzeria manager continued, “and I said this is a whole big deal to put the scrubber in. But whatever has to be done, will be done. If we’re going to be required to do it, we do it.”
Air filters, which control emissions, can cost pizzerias up to $20,000 depending on the existing oven. Paulie Gee’s Pizzeria owner Paul Giannone expects to pay more than that due to installation and regular maintenance costs.
“There are other places that don’t need to do that. I heard the mayor say that this is the same smoke that’s coming from the Canadian fires. Well, that’s like saying a drop of water is the same element that’s in the Category 5 hurricane. Should we ban water?” Giannone, known as Paulie Gee, said on “Varney & Co.” Tuesday.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria owner Anthony Piscina expressed his main concern over the potential new regulation surrounding its impact on oven temperatures.
“We’ve got to keep this oven anywhere from 900 to 1,000 degrees [Fahrenheit],” Piscina told FOX Business’ Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy. “We have customers that are miners that come in from Pennsylvania saying thank you for using the coal. This coal supports a lot of people. It makes jobs, it builds the country.”
“We got to be concerned about the air, yes we do,” Grimaldi’s owner continued, “but we got to worry about the people’s jobs also and what the future will bring.”
The NYC DEP did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The proposal comes after the Democrat-led city 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.
Paulie Gee claims he’s glad to have gotten ahead of the potential regulation, but criticized the city for spending money to support a political agenda.
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“These small business owners like us… have to spend an exorbitant amount of money,” Gee told host Stuart Varney. “But if you don’t want to have the expense of that, and many new businesses that want to open up these kind of places, are going to avoid it because of that.”
Business celebrities and CEOs Dave Portnoy and Elon Musk also reacted to the oven crackdown on social media. Musk sounded off on Twitter by calling the proposal “utter B.S.,” and Portnoy tweeted a rant video at the “crazy liberal” city with the message: “Give us pizza, or give us death.”
Fox News’ Megan Myers and Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.