Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sliced up New York City's proposed crackdown on coal and wood-fired pizza ovens while visiting a pizzeria in the city.
DeSantis' comments came as New York considers a proposed rule to curb carbon emissions. The Republican presidential hopeful made his remarks while visiting Grimaldi's in Manhattan for a segment on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime," the New York Post reported.
DeSantis talked to the show host over a couple of slices of pizza.
"They just want to control," DeSantis said. "You have an itch on the left, they want to control behavior. We saw the same thing with COVID. A lot of that wasn't about your health, it's that they wanted to control your behavior. They just don't want people to be happy and make their own decisions.
"I can tell you in Florida, when they went after the gas stoves, we just made gas stoves tax free in Florida, no sales tax. We will do something similar for coal-fired ovens, so if we need New York City pizza to come to Florida, we're going to roll out the red carpet for you guys."
New York City's coal- and wood-fired pizza ovens might have to cut carbon emissions by up to 75% under new rules proposed by the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
"All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air, and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality," DEP spokesman Ted Timbers said in a statement. "This common-sense rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible."
The rule could require pizzerias with such ovens that were installed before May 2016 to purchase expensive emissions-control technology.
Under the mandate, pizzerias with coal- and wood-fired ovens must hire an architect or engineer to evaluate the feasibility of installing emissions control devices to cut their particulate emissions by 75%.
If it's determined that a 75% reduction cannot be achieved, or that no emissions controls can be installed, the report must identify any controls that could reduce emissions by 25% or provide an explanation as to why no controls can be installed.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.