Restaurant-goers would know if they’re in for a fine or filthy din ing experience under a new A-to- F rating system proposed by a state lawmaker.
State Sen. Jeff Klein has reintroduced a bill that would overhaul the state’s restaurant inspection system, modeling it after California’s, which requires stricter inspections and violations posted right on the restaurant’s entrance.
“It’s a simple system that would allow people to see clearly what the grade is as they enter – A, B, C, D or F,” said Klein, a Bronx Democrat. “The only way to ensure cleanliness and food safety is to make a restaurant’s grade public knowledge. That forces the owner to get it right.”
The measure would allow the city Health Department to devise its own criteria.
The legislator criticized the city’s current inspections, which use a Byzantine scoring system that allows eateries to remain open even if live rodents or rat droppings are found.
City health inspections have become a hot-button issue since a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell was found crawling with rats a day after a city health inspector passed it. Ginger Adams Otis