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Should Street Vendors Have To Post Inspection Results Online?
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jul 25, 2011
Modified Jul 25, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jul 25, 2011
Modified Jul 25, 2011
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Dirty water dogs have their nickname for a reason, but when it comes to street food, ignorance is bliss—eat it now, ask questions later. That policy might be coming to an end, however, if a proposal for a law mandating that street vendors post their Health Department inspection results online goes through.
City Councilman Dan Garodnick—you may recall his efforts last year to get street carts fitted with the same letter grading system that brick-and-mortar restaurants are subject to—plans to introduce a bill requiring vendors to post their violations online. "It's data that should be public and easily available," he said. And he's not giving up the fight for letter grades, either—the online database would simply be a "clear interim measure until we get letter grades," he explained.
It's unclear exactly how this online posting would work—it's tough to imagine street vendors logging on at the end of a long day to upload their Health Department scores, especially if they're not entirely spick-and-span. We've reached out to Garodnick's offices for clarification, but in the meantime, take a trip down memory lane to the time earlier this year that an anonymous street vendor "told all," with less-than-shocking results.
UPDATE: Dan Pasquini, Communications Director for Councilman Garodnick, explains: "The system would work by the DOH posting results online, probably according to the cart's permit number. It would take some extra effort on behalf of the consumer, but the intrepid New Yorker could still find out the information."
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department of health
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street food
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Jamie Feldmar
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