Eateries required to show grades

March 17, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

New York City’s 24,000 restaurants — from its internationally known eateries on down to its most modest pizza counters — will have to display large letter grades near their entrances indicating how clean they are under a system approved Tuesday.

The best will get an A, according to the system approved by the city Board of Health.

Officials say the system is designed to give instant information to potential customers.

“The grade in the window will give you a sense of how clean the kitchen is, and it will give every restaurant operator an incentive to maintain safe, sanitary conditions,” Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said.

Some other cities use similar rating systems or are considering them. A bill was introduced last year in Washington, D.C., to require them in restaurants, and Los Angeles has posted public grades in eateries for years.

LA grades its restaurants with A for scores of 90 percent to 100 percent, B for 80 percent to 89 percent and C for 70 percent to 79 percent. A restaurant that scores under 70 percent twice in a year is subject to closure.

Some restaurant owners and industry officials have called the system gimmicky and unfair.

“They’re doing a disservice to the public,” said Marc Murphy, a vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association and the owner and chef at the Manhattan restaurants Landmarc and Ditch Plains.

He said the letter grading system will only serve to embarrass restaurateurs without giving the public a true picture of the establishment’s cleanliness.