EXCLUSIVE: Williamsburg Matzah Bakery Scores Win As NYC Reverses Course On Oven Ban

By FrumNews.com

Williamsburg — With Pesach several months away, Matzah is on everyone’s mind — if you run a Matzah bakery, that is — especially as tariffs on it were recently waived.

For the past several years, FrumNews has reported extensively that New York City was adding a rule that effectively “banned” New York’s Matzah bakeries, forcing them to acquire expensive new equipment to continue operating. (While this law was intended to go after NYC Pizza shops, Matzah bakeries have been collateral damage.)

Now, the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did a small reversal after a year-long battle and a public hearing in December, allowing a Matzah bakery to continue using its wood oven for Matzah.

The Matzah bakery that received a waiver is the famous Kehilath Yakov Pupa & Zehlem Matza Bakery in Williamsburg, famous for its high-quality, handmade shmurah matzah. The bakery argued that based on emission tests, “the facility meets the required emission standard and the requirement to install an emission control device is an unnecessary hardship.”

According to documents reviewed by FrumNews.com, the bakery obtained the waiver from the DEP because it proved it wouldn’t “harm the environment.”

“[The] DEP reviewed the testimony and comments, only one of which was in opposition. DEP also reviewed the application, lab report and cook stove registration, which are attached to this determination,” the DEP said in its approval letter to the bakery. “Your variance application or testimony stated that a small amount of firewood is used when baking matzoh to maintain a religious custom. The application also demonstrates from the lab results that even without an emission control device, this establishment’s emissions do not exceed the 10 ug/m3 upper limit for particulate matter.”

The waiver is also a narrow 100-day window, allowing each oven to use 32 logs over 8 hours per day.

In NY’s Pizza scene, one pizza shop, Don Giovanni, also submitted an application to use coal- or wood-burning stoves at its two shops, which is under review. It that “This cooking method is essential to our business and creates a product that cannot be replicated with gas, electric, or wood-fired alternatives,” Giovanni’s argues in its application. “Our three-decade track record demonstrates that anthracite ovens can operate safely and cleanly. This method is integral to our authentic Italian pizza preparation and the distinct flavor profile our customers expect.”

The key difference is that for Matzah, it’s a Halachic issue, whereas for pizza shops, it’s a matter of preference and cost.

For example, a Brooklyn Matzah bakery would have to incur significant expenses to comply with these new regulations, thereby significantly raising the cost of our locally produced Matzah and pushing customers to non-New York City Matzah bakeries, which can better compete with lower costs.

(These disastrous regulations have had one casualty since they went into effect: the revered Boro Park Matzah bakery, which tragically went up in flames last month. The Fire was at least in part due to the new gas unit installed — that was installed due to the new regulation — which apparently blew up inside the bakery, according to a mashgiach who spoke to Anash.org.)

Last year, FrumNews.com reported that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s office was aware of the oven ban and was considering all legal options against the state of New York to save the Matzah bakeries.

It’s clear now that Matzah bakeries didn’t see that federal relief on the horizon and took this seriously, and are seeking waivers from the city — such as the one we see here.

Some argued for this bill on environmental grounds, including one opinion piece on FrumNews, “this regulation is to save our lungs from further damage,” the author wrote. “The air quality of these levels is harming our quality of life. It is up to us to change that narrative and save ourselves from further damage.”

However, what changed was that the Pupa-Zehlem Matzah Bakery proved to the DEP that their ovens aren’t causing the emissions the city claimed they did.