Plan to slice New York pizza oven emissions by 75% causes backlash

A proposal to slice emissions from coal and wood-burning pizza ovens in New York City by 75% has left a bad taste in the mouths of some locals.

A rule change proposed on Friday would require pizzerias to evaluate whether they can install emissions control devices for their kitchens stoves.

Critics say the devices will cost a lot of dough and may affect the flavour of the world famous cheese and tomato pie.

On Monday, a man tossed slices of pizza at New York City Hall in protest.

"Give us pizza or give us death," shouted conservative activist Scott LoBaido, in a reference to an anti-British Revolutionary War slogan.

The act caught the attention of New York Mayor Eric Adams who responded with an impassioned defence of the beloved city staple.

"I think pizzas have saved more marriages than any other foods," he said on Monday. "Sharing a pie with your boo is like, that's the ultimate."

The new rule proposed by the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will apply to coal and wood-fired ovens installed before 2016.

Officials say it will affect under 100 of the city's countless pizza joints.

Restaurants will be required to evaluate their exhaust systems to determine if they can be outfitted with scrubbers capable of trapping pollutants. If so, they will be required to install and maintain them.

"All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood- and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality," the DEP said in a statement on Sunday as it received pushback on the rule.

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

Pizzeria owners told New York news outlets that they expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars to install the emissions-trapping machines.

"I'll do it. Pay for it," Joe Calcagno, the owner of Capizzi Pizzeria in Hell's Kitchen, told CBS.

But he added that the cost will need to be passed on to customers, saying: "You know how many pizzas I have to sell to pay for that $20,000 oven?"

A coal-fired pizza restaurant in Manhattan

Paul Giannone, owner of Paulie Gee's in Brooklyn, told the New York Post that he has already spent $20,000 (£15,600) preparing for the new rule to take effect.

"Oh yeah, it's a big expense," he said.

"It's not just the expense of having it installed, it's the maintenance. I got to pay somebody to do it, to go up there every couple of weeks and hose it down and, you know, do the maintenance."

But he added that the scrubbers he's installed have not changed the taste of his product in any way.

"If someone is trying to say that putting the scrubber in changes the flavour of the pizza they're just trying to save themselves $20,000," he said.

According to historians, coal-fired pizza ovens began operating in New York before wood, which is more expensive to burn, was later introduced.

Both impart a smoky flavour to food, which some restaurants say cannot be replaced with cleaner-burning ovens. The high heat generated by the fire gives added crispiness to the crust and gives it that beautifully blistered look.

The impact of New York's proposed rule change on the environment is unclear, but studies have shown that smoky ovens can increase pollution and the negative health effects caused by breathing smog.

A 2016 study by the scientific journal Atmospheric Environment in Sao Paolo, Brazil, linked air pollution there to the city's love of pizza and BBQ.

New Yorkers waiting for a slice of pizza in 1957

Outside Naples, Italy - the original home of pizza where wood-fired pizzas are trademark protected by EU law - a local mayor made headlines in 2015 when he introduced a temporary ban on pizza ovens in order to fight high levels of pollution.

Police in San Vitaliano were instructed to search wood-fired pizzerias and bakeries to enforce the ban, and to issue fines of over €1,000 to businesses operating without emissions-controlling filters.

The rule in New York is not due to take effect until the public comment period ends on 27 July. Some restaurants unable to retrofit their kitchens will not be forced to follow the new rule.

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Mayor Adams, in his response to the pizza-throwing protester on Monday, said he planned to call him "to tell him he needs to bring a vegan pie to me, so we can sit down, and I want to hear his side of this".

"I love my vegan pizza with vegan cheese." he added. "And something about pizza, like, does anyone dislike pizza? Everyone likes pizza."