New York City plans regulations to reduce pollution from pizza ovens

Some of the locals in New York City aren't happy after a recent proposal issued to cut down on coal and wood-burning pizza ovens by 75% in order to reduce emissions, New York Post reported.

New rules were drafted by the New York City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) stating that field test data must show that the Emissions Control Device has reduced the existing cook stove's total particulate matter emissions by 75%.

The main objective of the proposal was to reduce air pollution coming from coal and wood emissions. Pizzerias are now required to evaluate whether they can install emissions control devices for their kitchen stoves, but some say those devices would cost a lot.

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As quoted by Fox News, DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said in a statement Sunday: "All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighbourhoods with poor air quality."

"This common-sense (sic) rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible," Timbers added.

What's the issue?

Some critics have said that the old and historic outlets would be impacted, and the smoky flavour of the pizzas might vanish if restaurants replace the coal/wood-fired ovens with cleaner-burning ones. Meanwhile, the officials say it will affect less than 100 of the city's countless pizza joints.

Scott LoBaido, an angry activist, was seen on the streets shouting war slogans while protesting the proposal. He even threw multiple pizzas at NYC Hall in response to the city's crackdown on coal and wood-fired ovens. He said Monday, "Well… this is the New York Pizza Party! Give us pizza or give us death!"

The protest also caught the eye of New York Mayor Eric Adams who said at an unrelated presser, "Well, first of all, I love my vegan pizza with vegan cheese. And something about pizza, like, does anyone dislike pizza? Everyone likes pizza."

"You almost see that pie in front of you, you start to get happy. I think pizzas have saved more marriages than any other food. Sharing a pie with your boo is like, that's the ultimate," Adams added.

"Right now we are at the public moment where the public can weigh in. Let the public weigh in, let the public give their thoughts and then we'll make the final determination. We don't want to hurt businesses in the city, and we don't want to hurt the environment," he said.

While responding to the incident related to LoBaido, the mayor said "the woke-a-- idiots who run this city are doing everything in their power to destroy it."

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As quoted by Fox News, Brooklyn pizzeria owner Paul Giannone, known as Paulie Gee, said, "I think these regulations are typically come up with by people who don't own businesses."

He said, "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. It'll be a dying breed. People just are not going to deal with this anymore."

New York has taken steps to tackle pollution as it also became the first state to ban natural gas connections in new buildings. New buildings beginning in 2026 with seven or fewer stories will have to use induction and electric devices. Meanwhile, the larger ones will make the transition in 2029.

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