Matzah bakeries in New York City that use wood or coal as fuel for their ovens could be facing an expensive new requirement to attach emissions-control devices to the equipment.
NYC Department of Environmental Protection drafted new rules requiring traditional wood-burning and/or coal-burning ovens installed prior to May 2016 to reduce emissions by up to 75 percent.
In addition, it would be necessary to hire an engineer or architect to install the needed emissions-control device.
At least some of the matzah bakeries in Brooklyn are fueled by wood or coal.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters at a news conference on Monday, “Let’s be clear: every toxic entity that we remove from our air is adding up to the overall desire to deal with shrinking our carbon footprint.
“We don’t want to hurt businesses in the city, and we don’t want to hurt the environment – so let’s see if we can find a way to get the resolutions we’re looking for,” Adams said, noting that the requirement was not yet a ‘done deal.’
“Let the public weigh in and then we can have a conversation if we’re going to move forward or not,” he added.
“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,” department spokesperson Ted Timbers said Sunday in a statement quoted by the New York Post.
“This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible.”
Many of the city’s decades-old, top pizzerias use coal or wood-fueled ovens to bake their pies, and so do at least some of the city’s matzah bakeries.
Residents living in the Williamsburg neighborhood have complained for years about smoke wafting from a local matzah bakery run by Satmar Hasidim. The oven at the bakery is fueled by coal.
Another Brooklyn matzah bakery, this one also allegedly run by Satmar Hasidim in the Bushwick neighborhood, also uses a coal-burning oven – and neighbors have complained this year about the smoke from that one as well. The bakery is not operating at present – it closed right after Pesach – but it’s expected to start up again to produce its handmade shmurah matzah sometime this winter, ahead of the Passover holiday.
