Graziella’s of Brooklyn in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of the borough has been baking pizza’s since 2004 with a wood-burning stove.

“We’ve been here 20 years so people come to us for because of the wood burning pizza,” Vito Randazzo, owner, said.

Adam York, who is a customer of the pizzeria, says the quality of the food is unique.

“Oh the pizza is phenomenal,” York said. “And the variety, too. It’s not just the pizza. It’s not your basic average pizza. You’re going to get just different mixtures and the combinations just go so perfectly together.”

What You Need To Know

  • The city’s Department of Environmental Protection, along with several city agencies drafted new rules that would require restaurants with wood and coal burning stoves to cut back on carbon emissions by up to 75%

  • Restaurant owners with coal and wood stoves from before 2016 would have to install emission-controlling equipment and get experts to plan and put it in

  • The rule was created in response to a law city council passed in 2015 — aiming to reduce what’s considered the most harmful emissions from restaurants in the city

The city said the cooking combination, however, is not good for the air quality. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection, along with several city agencies, drafted new rules that would require restaurants with wood and coal-burning stoves to cut back on carbon emissions by up to 75%.

“This expense can go over 25-30 thousand dollars depending on the size of the restaurant,” Randazzo said.

He and other restaurant owners with coal and wood stoves from before 2016 would have to install emission-controlling equipment and get experts to plan and put it in.

“It’s a system that takes all the smoke, goes through a flute and it pressurized with water and it removes about 75-85% of the smoke and impurities out of it,” he said.

“Marriages have been saved by pizza,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “There’s nothing like going to pizza with your boo.”

Mayor Eric Adams was asked Monday about the rule, which was created in response to a law City Council passed in 2015 — aiming to reduce what’s considered the most harmful emissions from restaurants in the city.

“We don’t want to hurt businesses in this city and we don’t want to hurt the environment, nothing is more clear,” Adams said. “With the fire in Canada, let’s see if we can get the resolutions.”

“Looking to some of the public comments,” he added.

The city estimates fewer than 100 restaurants would be impacted. If the rule would be enacted as is, later this summer, those establishments would have to start the consultation process to see what can be implemented.

But the public comment period is first, and that goes through July.

Randazzo has his comment ready

“It has a lot of impact on my business. Bad enough we barely got out of COVID,” he said. “And with all of the high expenses and we’ve passed on a lot of expenses to our customers.”

So far, customers like Adam York have kept coming back.

“Vodka sauce is always my favorite,” York said.

Randazzo, however, said he isn’t sure he can count on loyal customers if he has to raise prices again.