REMARKS
Information on fines and violation data for small businesses
2:26:04
ยท
3 min
The attorneys provide information on fines and violation data for small businesses, particularly in the restaurant industry. They discuss historical trends, challenges in obtaining current data, and issues with the fine system.
- Health Department fines increased from $12 million to $52 million annually under Bloomberg's administration
- Recent data shows fines around $22 million annually, still higher than earlier levels
- Top ten violations remain consistent year after year, suggesting systemic issues
- Attorneys argue some fines are for minor issues that don't affect safety or sanitation
- Discussion of fine reform efforts and the need for warning and cure periods
Robert Bookman
2:26:04
And let me answer your question about fines from from the other panel, if you don't mind.
2:26:08
I I am the I have been for 10 years the city council one of city council appointees to health department advisory board.
2:26:15
And in preparation for this hearing, I wanted I asked them to give me the most recent fiscal year total amount of fines, you know, that, you know, so I could compare it to historical data.
2:26:26
I I hope to present it to you.
2:26:27
And I'm on the health department advisory board, a city council appointee, and they still haven't gotten me the data.
2:26:32
You know, I do know that at the beginning of the Bloomberg administration, going back in time now, the annual fines for health department was $12,000,000 a year.
2:26:40
And that's when New York City still was one of the greatest, you know, food places in the world.
2:26:46
It really started hitting the fan by the end of his 3rd term when it was 52,000,000 dollars a year for the same industry.
2:26:51
You guys then started to pass a variety of laws, you know, requiring, you know, lower fines and warnings and stuff like that.
2:26:58
Last data I got with you know, which was pre COVID, they were down to, like, around $22,000,000 a year of fines, which is still $10,000,000 a year more than it was before.
2:27:10
We get as part of this advisory board, we meet 4 times a year, we get the top ten violations.
2:27:15
It's part it was in the statute.
2:27:16
They must present it's the same exact top ten violations year after year, decade after decade, almost to the tenth of a percentage.
2:27:25
There's something wrong there, you know, either, you know, either in their education programs or more likely that there are certain things in the that they give you fines for that are just endemic to operating a restaurant.
2:27:37
Doesn't make you unsafe or unsanitary.
2:27:39
It just means it is.
2:27:41
So there's there's some there's some water, you know, underneath the the the dishwashing station.
2:27:46
No kidding.
2:27:47
You know, that's a fine.
2:27:48
That's points.
2:27:49
You know, on a hot day in the back of a restaurant, which is 20 degrees hotter than it is outside, somebody's taking a a drinking a glass of water.
2:27:59
That's That's a fine because it wasn't on a a little kid's sippy cup, you know.
2:28:03
There's all kinds of stuff like that that's built into the system that even if they're trying to cooperate, you're talking at $20,000,000 a year fines out of the restaurant industry without, without without saying wouldn't our industry certainly has no reputation in New York City as being unsafe.
Andrew Rigie
2:28:19
And I think also if you wanna look at the reports of the fine the fine reform that you've done in the past, you know, often the fines have a range, you know, $200 to $1,000.
2:28:28
And a lot of the reforms have reduced the maximum fine of, like, say, $1,000 to $750.
2:28:34
And it sounds good.
2:28:34
Oh, we're reducing fines, but I'd be very interested to look at those violations and how often they were even, issuing the $1,000 fine.
2:28:42
You know, if they're issuing that same violation and it's $500 each time, you're not really reducing fines.
2:28:49
You're saying you're reducing the top fine amount, but are you actually reducing fines?
2:28:53
And that was a significant number of the violations in a couple of the different, reform packages in the past.
2:29:00
Maybe it's reduced a little bit, but I wouldn't be surprised.
2:29:02
And that's why the warning in the cure period.
Robert Bookman
2:29:04
If it
Andrew Rigie
2:29:04
doesn't pose an immediate hazard to the health, you have 30 days to fix something, cure it, and then you don't get Right.
Oswald Feliz
2:29:11
A fine.
Robert Bookman
2:29:11
Yeah.
2:29:11
That's how the state Ag and Markets does it with all the businesses they regulate.
2:29:15
They come in, they see something wrong, they say this is what's wrong, we'll be back in a week, 2 weeks, 30 days.
2:29:21
It needs to be correct.
2:29:22
And the
Andrew Rigie
2:29:22
fire department even does that with a lot of things.
2:29:23
Yeah.
Oswald Feliz
2:29:24
Okay.