NYC eateries hope to work with new mayor to reduce fines

You can fight City Hall — but not the city Health Department.

A new report shows that “sanitary” violations issued against restaurants by city health inspectors were upheld 97 percent of the time in administrative court last year. The appeals are heard by an independent health tribunal.

By comparison, 67 percent of the Taxi and Limousine cases against cabbies were upheld. And violations issued by other departments — such as Sanitation, Fire, Buildings, Transportation and Environmental Protection — were upheld just 57 percent of the time.

Local district attorneys could only dream of such success. The felony conviction last year was 55 percent in The Bronx, 58 percent in Brooklyn, 69 percent in Manhattan, 68 percent in Queens and 62 percent on Staten Island, according to data compiled by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Restaurateurs have long complained that the fine-driven inspection system is rigged against them, making it more difficult to challenge violations. And they’re appealing to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio for fairness.

“We look forward to working with the de Blasio administration to reduce fines on restaurant owners,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance.

“It’s a complex inspection system. Plus the city incentivizes business owners to settle cases for reduced fines instead of going through the inconvenient tribunal process. We’re working to overhaul the inspection system so it’s more public health focused instead of fine-driven,” added Rigie.

A de Blasio spokesman referred The Post to an April 2012 report from his Public Advocate’s Office charging that fines against small- business owners — particularly eateries — had spiraled out of control under Mayor Bloomberg, nearly doubling over a decade.

According to the health tribunal analysis, 97.2 percent of violations were upheld and 2.8 percent were dismissed. Of the cases upheld, 61.1 were sustained outright and 36.1 were the result of settlements.

Health Department officials defended their enforcement as firm but fair to protect the public.

“Restaurants are cleaner since letter grading went into effect. The number of violations issued in the last two years has dropped nearly 20 percent, which has led to a fall in restaurant fines collected,” said Health Department spokesman Levi Fishman.