Yes. It's a textbook case of regulatory capture and corruption. In New York City, of all places, I know - unthinkable! See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_seeking

And the entrenched interests always use the excuse that they're "protecting" someone or another from something legitimately unwanted (contaminated food, unwanted idling truck engines) in order to defend the status quo wholesale, rather than, say, trying to improve the status quo in a manner which also avoids those potential issues...