NYC Targets Laundries

Posted February 27, 2015 at 12:33 pm

New York City Councilman Ritchie J. Torres (D-Bronx), recently introduced a bill that would require commercial laundry facilities located in New York City – and those that make deliveries into the city’s five boroughs – to accept extensive new regulatory oversight, including city-issued licenses, according to news reports.

The bill, introduced on Feb. 26, is designed to improve unsafe conditions at large wash centers that handle hotel, restaurant and healthcare linens, according to its sponsor. Torres told the New York Daily News that, “There are no standards of cleanliness, no standards of public health” in city laundry plants. New York’s industrial laundries, located mainly in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, also would be subject to surprise inspections to enforce compliance.

The legislation would require any person dealing in laundry services to pay a biennial fee of $340 and furnish a bond of $500.

While city laundromats and dry cleaners already are required to get licenses, industrial laundries are not. Union officials, such as Megan Chambers of Workers United, said many city laundry operators mistreat employees and require them to work in substandard conditions, including risk of exposure to contamination. Click hereto learn more.

TRSA is addressing the legislation with TRSA members in the New York City area.

124