Hochul's plan to ban sale of gas stoves fuels outrage

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Here's something that will leave a bad taste in people's mouths.

Gov. Kathy Hochul quietly snuck a proposal to outlaw new gas stoves into the "New York Housing Compact" she unveiled during her State of the State speech Tuesday — urging people to ditch their kitchens’ gas grills and go electric.

The ban would affect old-timers and millennials who are obsessed with cast-iron pans, which are tricky to use on electric stoves.

"This is plain stupid," said a 70-year-old resident of Sea Gate, Brooklyn, who gave his name as Victor K. "We lost electricity before, during Hurricane Sandy. The only thing we had to heat up our food was gas. What if that happens again?"

Hochul's plan would ban gas stoves, hot water heaters and oil furnaces in both new home and commercial construction by the end of the decade.

"If gas stoves get banned, I want a house with a fire pit and cast-iron cauldron," one Twitter user joked. "Electric cooking is not the way."

While the plan could be an annoyance for home cooks, restaurateur Stratis Morfogen said for professional chefs, it "will tank it and bring growth to a halt and destroy our industry."

"This is just a total farce to appease the woke movement," Morfogen fumed Wednesday.

"Electric can work for fast casual. However, with fine dining, it's impossible to function with an electric kitchen," said Morfogen, director of operations for the Brooklyn Chop House and founder of the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop eateries. "Imagine a guest ordering a 2- to 3-pound whole fish. It usually takes 40 to 50 minutes to cook. Now it will take two hours.

"Can't wait to see the Yelp reviews if this happens!" he added ruefully.

Hochul's snuffing out of gas cookery was not made explicit in the speech — but came in a vague reference to ending "the sale of any new fossil fuel-powered heating equipment by 2030."

If that came to pass, the New York dining scene's goose would be cooked — as chefs would be unable to achieve the precise control they need to cook, said restaurateur James Mallios.

"I have never looked at electric because it has never been able to do the same job," said Mallios, the managing partner of Civetta Hospitality.

"I’ve cooked with electric in outdoor markets — like Urbanspace — and it sucked. It takes forever, and people don't like the results. You can't char — it doesn't work the same way."

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, which represents more than 24,000 eating and drinking establishments, also blasted Hochul's plan.

"Putting aside if chefs prefer cooking with gas or not, the cost to open up a new restaurant would skyrocket if someone had to convert existing gas equipment into electric, which could be further complicated by whether or not the building had an adequate electrical load," he said.

In addition to banning the sale of gas stoves, Hochul's plan would require "all new construction to be zero-emission, starting in 2025 for small buildings and 2028 for large buildings."

The governor's office confirmed Wednesday that the proposal — which Hochul couched in language about helping "residents struggling with high electric bills" — applied to residential, commercial and mixed-use buildings, with no exceptions.

"Governor Hochul has been clear that we have to take bold steps on climate to protect the health and safety of our children, and 30 percent of state greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings," her spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays said, reiterating it would only apply to new construction."This proposal would not apply to existing gas stoves in existing buildings like these restaurants, and would mark the beginning of a process to determine appropriate regulations to best protect our planet, our health, and our economy."

In December 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill to phase out the city's fossil-fuel heaters, with all new buildings required to be fully electric starting in 2027.

But that law specifically exempts commercial kitchens, in addition to emergency and backup power generators.

Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton) accused Hochul and her fellow Democratic lawmakers of "pushing a delusional environmental agenda that will come with harsh realities for the people of New York."

"She's taking the outrageous steps of eliminating gas stoves in new buildings and telling people how they can heat their own homes. Natural gas has been a safe, reliable part of our energy portfolio for years.

"People need to wake up to the seriousness of New York's energy overhaul before it's too late," he warned.

Hochul's proposal came one day before President Biden pushed back against controversial comments from Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, who said new gas stoves could be banned nationwide due to studies that link them to respiratory problems and other illnesses.

"The president does not support banning gas stoves," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.