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New York City is looking to set regulations that would force pizzerias to pay thousands of dollars in renovations in order to keep their coal and wood-fire ovens due to air quality concerns, according to a recent report. 

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted new rules that would force pizzerias with coal and wood-fire pizzerias installed before 2016 to install emission control devices which reportedly cut carbon emissions by 75%.
Restaurant owners would soon be required to install a filter to their ovens as well as hire an engineer to regularly inspect the emissions. However, the process is quite pricey, reportedly costing one owner $20,000 on a new air filter in anticipation of the new mandate.
�Oh yeah, it�s a big expense!� said Paul Giannone, the owner of Paulie Gee�s in Greenpoint. �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.�
A city official claimed that less than 100 restaurants would be impacted by the proposed mandate.
�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,� DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said in a statement on Sunday. �This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible.�
One pizzeria owner, who requested anonymity, told reporters that negotiations were taking place between DEP officials regarding whether or not they would grandfather-in or exempt dozens of coal and wood-fired pizzerias from the mandate.
�This is an unfunded mandate and it�s going to cost us a fortune, not to mention ruining the taste of the pizza, totally destroying the product,� the anonymous owner said. 
�If you f**k around with the temperature in the oven you change the taste. That pipe, that chimney, it�s that size to create the perfect updraft, keeps the temp perfect, it�s an art as much as a science. You take away the char, the thing that makes the pizza taste great, you kill it,� he continued. �And for what? You really think that you�re changing the environment with these eight or nine pizza ovens?!�
Many customers agreed with the Pizzeria owner, citing other methods that the government should utilize combat carbon emissions.
�I�m all for responsible environmental practice but tell Al Gore to take one less private jet or something. Give me a break!� said Brooklyn Heights resident Saavi Sharma, 32, referring to the former vice president.
Under the proposed rules, restaurants would be allowed to apply for a variance or waiver, but must �provide evidence� of financial hardship.