The Big Apple is ready to bid “adieu” to foie gras.
The City Council is expected to pass a bill Wednesday banning the sale of the controversial French delicacy by all New York City restaurants and vendors on the basis of animal cruelty.
While the legislation is widely supported by animal-rights groups, it has come under fire from local restaurateurs and vendors who sell the goose-and-duck-liver delicacy.
The bill, introduced by Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) in January, ultimately gained key support from Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson only after it was re-worked to include a three-year phase-in period to help affected businesses adjust to the new rules.
“I am excited to be voting … on our legislation to ban the sale of these force-fed animal products,” Rivera said Tuesday. “Let’s be clear that force-feeding is an inhumane practice – plain and simple.”
Violators would be guilty of a misdemeanor and face fines of up to $1,000 and a year in jail for each offense.
Foie gras, which means “fatty liver,” is made by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers. Feeding tubes are stuck down the animals’ throats during the harvesting process — a method animal rights activists say is painful and inhumane.
But critics — ranging from foodies to upstate farmers who produce foie gras — say the ban is for the birds.
Ariane Daguin, co-founder and CEO of D’Artagnan, a top national seller of foie gras and other gourmet game, insisted foie gras products are typically raised humanely throughout the industry.
“The legislation to ban foie gras in New York remains flawed and embellished …, Daguin said.
“Extreme activists and political power plays have won out over education on the harmless and stress-less practices in making foie gras, as well as the negative financial and societal impacts this ban could cause.”
Daguin estimated the ban would cost 400 immigrant workers their jobs while forcing more than a 1,000 restaurants to take a “signature dish off their menus.”
The US Supreme Court in January rejected a challenge to an existing foie gras ban in California.
The bill is part of a larger package of animal-friendly legislation expected to be approved at Wednesday’s meeting after being green-lighted by that the Council’s health committee on Tuesday.
It includes one by Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) prohibiting carriage horses from being worked when heat indexes hit at least 80 degrees and another by Rivera that would prohibit the sale, capture or possession of pigeons and other wild birds in the city.
Allie Feldman Taylor, president of Voters for Animal Rights, said that Wednesday’s expected vote by the Council will mark a “truly … historic day for animals.”