City restaurant health inspection grades a shame: expert

Its an A-bomination!

Most restaurants havent improved since the city instituted its letter-grade inspection system a sham that has fattened City Hall coffers but hasnt produced the public-health improvements touted by the city, a City Council analyst charged.

We have a government agency thats willing to blatantly lie to the public, Artyom Matusov told The Post. If we cant trust the Health Department to provide real scientific data ... then we cant trust any agency.

Matusov said some sanitary conditions at city restaurants have gotten worse, not better, since the new system began in 2010.

Performance in six violation categories flies, food not hot or cold enough, unsanitary equipment, improper food storage and improper food protection surfaces has plummeted, he found.

And food-poisoning complaints to the 311 hot line for restaurants, bars and delis surged from 2,066 in 2009 to 2,305 in 2013.

They are intentionally misleading the public about the success of the program, said Matusov, 29, a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government grad.

The city trumpeted data that showed more restaurants got an A grade on their initial inspection since the start of the program.

But that method overrepresents the number of A grades, since As will stick around longer up to a year before another inspection.

The citys restaurant grading system is completely arbitrary ... and most restaurants arent doing well on the test, which itself is convoluted and impossible to figure out, Matusov said.

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City restaurant health inspection grades a shame: expert