Trump blasts proposed NYC pizza stove ban: New York ‘has enough problems’
Emily Jacobs
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Former President Donald Trump on Sunday lambasted a proposed New York City rule that critics say would crack down on famed pizzeria’s use of brick and wood-fired ovens.
Trump made the comments during an appearance on Andrew Giuliani’s radio show over the weekend, where the two discussed a recent proposal from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection that would require restaurants with brick and wood-fired ovens installed before 2016 to reduce their carbon emissions.
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“It’s just crazy. Even now they want to take away the pizza ovens, and we have the greatest pizza parlors in the world. They want to stop that in New York. New York has enough problems,” Trump told Giuliani on the AM radio program. “But they now, actually, they’re coming after the pizza parlors. Can you believe it?”
“And [the city is] saying make it differently and we’re gonna give you different ovens. We’re gonna put all sorts of restrictions,” he continued. “And one of the guys said you can’t make pizza that way. So it’s crazy what’s going on, but it is what it is. We’re gonna straighten it out.”
The city has defended the rule, arguing it would impact well under 100 restaurants.
“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,” Edward “Ted” Timbers, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, told the Washington Examiner in a statement late last month.
“This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible,” he noted.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, has defended the rule, telling reporters at a June press conference: “We don’t want to hurt businesses in the city and we don’t want to hurt the environment.”
Jack Birle contributed to this report.