Int. No. 107
By Council Members Rose, Mendez, Richards, Vacca, Rosenthal, Rodriguez and Williams
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring that all restaurants have Braille and large print menus available upon request.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter one of title 17 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 17-198 to read as follows:
§ 17-198 Availability of Braille and large print menus in restaurants. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
1. "Braille" shall mean a system that enables blind and visually impaired people to read through touch as defined by the Braille Authority of North America.
2. "Large print" shall mean a typeface which is a minimum of 18 points.
3. "Main menu items" shall mean any food items that remain on a restaurant's menu for a period of three months or more.
3. "Owner or operator" shall mean the owner, manager, operator or other person having control of an establishment.
4. "Restaurant" shall mean any commercial eating establishment which is devoted, wholly or in part, to the sale of food for on-premises consumption.
b. Braille and large print menus required. The owner or operator of a restaurant which has main menu items shall have available Braille and large print menus of their main meal items in such reasonable quantities dependent upon the seating capacity of the restaurant as determined by the department by rule. A restaurant may choose to also print menu specials in Braille or large print. All Braille and large print menus shall be readily available upon request.
§ 2. This local law shall take effect ninety days after its enactment.
TM/JW
Int. 879/2012
LS 65/2014