Manhattan, NY — Galaxy Diner, located at 665 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, received a Grade B following a health inspection conducted April 1, 2026, with a score of 21 — placing it at the upper end of the B range and seven points from the Grade C threshold. Inspection data was released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) on April 7, 2026.

What Inspectors Found

Inspectors documented one critical violation during the April visit:

  • Code 02B: Hot temperature-controlled for safety (TCS) food was not held at or above 140°F.

This single critical violation accounts for the entirety of the 21-point score. Under NYC Health Code Article 81 and the FDA Food Code, hot TCS foods — items such as cooked proteins, soups, sauces, and hot-held prepared dishes — must be maintained at 140°F or higher to prevent bacterial growth. Temperatures below that threshold can allow pathogens including Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium perfringens to multiply to unsafe levels.

No non-critical violations were cited during this inspection cycle.

Food Safety Context

NYC Health Code Article 81 governs temperature requirements for food storage and holding throughout the city's roughly 27,000 inspected food service establishments. The FDA Food Code, which New York State and New York City align their regulations with, identifies hot-holding temperature failures as a contributing factor in a significant share of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to food service operations.

A score of 21 carries additional weight because the grading scale compresses risk at the upper end of the B range. The difference between a score of 21 and a score of 28 — which would trigger a Grade C — represents a narrow margin that inspectors and restaurant operators track closely. DOHMH assigns critical violations a higher point value than non-critical ones, meaning a single unresolved critical item can substantially move a restaurant's score.

Inspection History

Galaxy Diner's prior inspection record shows a consistent pattern of Grade A performance before this cycle:

  • 2026-06-12: Score 11 (Grade A)
  • 2025-04-02: Score 12 (Grade A)
  • 2024-02-20: Score 13 (Grade A)
  • 2023-04-05: Score 33

The 2023 result — a score of 33 — would have placed the restaurant in Grade C territory under the current grading framework. The three subsequent inspections showed marked improvement, each landing in the low-A range. The April 2026 score of 21 represents a departure from that recent trend, though the restaurant retains a Grade B rather than a closure or Grade C posting.

Understanding NYC Restaurant Grades

DOHMH posts letter grades at restaurant entrances following each inspection cycle. Grade definitions are based on cumulative point totals:

  • Grade A: Score of 0–13 points
  • Grade B: Score of 14–27 points
  • Grade C: Score of 28 or more points

Restaurants that score above 13 on an initial inspection may request a re-inspection before a grade is publicly posted. DOHMH inspection records are available to the public through the city's open data portal and the NYC Restaurant Inspection Results database at nyc.gov.

More About This Restaurant

View the full inspection history for Galaxy Diner including all past inspections, violations, and grade changes.