After a New York City health inspection: points, grades, cures & OATH

New York City scores inspections in points — every violation adds points based on its severity. Under 14 points is an A; 14-27 is a B; 28 or more is a C. If your initial inspection scores 14 or more, no grade is posted yet: a re-inspection follows (it can come as soon as 7 days later), and only the re-inspection sets the letter in your window. That week is your window to fix everything and keep dated proof.

Some first-time violations can be "cured": you fix the condition and email proof plus an affirmation form to the Health Department within 7 calendar days of the inspection (30 days for the smoke-free-policy posting). If accepted, the fine is waived. Know the trade before you cure: your inspection score and letter grade do NOT change, and an accepted cure means you can no longer challenge that violation at OATH. Curing is usually right for low-point paperwork violations; think harder about anything you might want to contest.

For violations you dispute, you can contest at OATH instead of paying. Points are usually worth more than the fine: if adjudication drops your inspection below 14 points, your grade becomes an A retroactively and the fines are erased. Settling or paying ends the case but keeps every point — on a grade-setting inspection, that means the posted letter stands. In the city's own hearing data (2022-2026), only about 1 in 10 contested food cases is dismissed — but that's much higher for documentation violations you can prove (an expired-but-held permit, a posted grade card, a food-protection certificate) than for pests or temperature problems, so contest the paperwork and fix the rest. Most important: never miss the hearing. About 36% of food-service cases end in a no-show, which sustains every violation and doubles the fine — SpoonSeal puts the hearing date on your calendar so that never happens to you.

SpoonSeal's Inspection Copilot (in the menu for NYC locations) triages your synced results automatically: each violation's point and fine range from the city's official schedules, which ones have an open cure window, its historical OATH dismissal rate, and what your score means for the next inspection cycle. Your dated correction evidence in the Documents vault doubles as your OATH case material.

Sources

• Letter Grading for Restaurants — NYC Health — the point-to-grade thresholds (0–13 = A, 14–27 = B, 28+ = C)
• Food Establishment Inspections — NYC Health
• Inspection Cycle & Letter Grading (NYC DOHMH, PDF)
• NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH)
• Dismissal and no-show rates cited above: SpoonSeal analysis of NYC OATH public case data, 2022–2026.