Mayor Signing Smoking Ban Today, Last Gasp Set for May 23rd

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Come spring (don't laugh, we can dream) cigarette smokers will be formally cast out of NYC parks, boardwalks, beaches, recreation centers, swimming pools and pedestrian plazas. Today Mayor Bloomberg will sign legislation forbidding smoking in public places, punishable by up to a $100 fine. Since the new law is considered unenforceable by many, it's hoped that future legislation will stiffen the penalties for smoking, perhaps mandating public stonings, or at least humiliating "I AM AN INCONSIDERATE SMOKER" sandwich boards.

The law would go into effect 90 days after the signing, on May 23rd. Mayor Bloomberg himself has said "the police will not be enforcing this. That's not going to be their job. This is going to be enforced by public pressure." Because if there's one thing smokers understand, it's peer pressure. And yet some smokers, like dead-ender Audrey Silk, remain defiant and are planning smoke-ins in the parks come May. "A lot of smokers are starting to get a little upset about it, because we abide by the rules, we don't smoke in bars, we don't smoke in restaurants, but when does it stop?" one New York smoker asks NY1. "Are you going to stop everything?" Please, don't give Bloomberg any ideas!

City Council Republican minority whip Eric Ulrich, who wants government to protect New Yorkers from bicycle riders but not second-hand smoke, tells WCBS, "We have this crazy idea that we can change the way people behave. You can’t have salt, you can’t have sugar. Hop on a bicycle because it’s bad to drive your car. It’s ridiculous. What’s next?" And John Jay College public management professor Daniel Feldman wants to know, "What is the documentary evidence that secondhand smoke on the street is bad for you?"

Well Professor, let us Google that for you! The very first result comes from your colleagues at Stanford, who in 2007 "concluded that a non-smoker sitting a few feet downwind from a smoldering cigarette is likely to be exposed to substantial levels of contaminated air for brief periods of time." Secondhand smoke is estimated to account for at least 35,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers nationwide each year. And a 2004 study found that 57% of adult non-smoking New Yorkers (2.5 million) have elevated levels of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine breakdown), compared to 45% of non-smoking adults nationwide.

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By John Del Signore in News on February 22, 2011 12:35 PM

Comments [rss]

raykiosk

As if the new warning labels were not enough:

http://bit.ly/i4m2Ix

raykiosk

As if the new warning labels were not enough:
http://ray-kiosk.tumblr.com/post/3450940503/pdas-new-cigarette-warning-labels-this-time-the

cmdrogogov

All I can say is that this comes down to one thing: a near-constant twenty year propaganda war has resulted in a large number of people believing something that isn't true.

Cigarettes and nicotine may well be harmful and addictive if treated without respect, but there's already so little you're 'allowed' to do these days. I'm strongly opposed to even one more thing joining them, and I certainly don't feel that neurotic bigotry in defense of this assault on our rapidly-thinning list of private freedoms is an appropriate response.

random transplant

You know that BROWN AND BLACK SOOT you wipe from your nostrils after a day outside in New York?

I never got that from smoking or second hand smoking.

I don't know if there's going to be tickets or not - but the next time two people are screaming at each other in the park you can thank City Council for the quality of life improvement.

silver

You breath a pack of cigarettes a day living in NYC. I want to see the next garbage truck driver arrested for smoking in public.

mideka

you people and your litter laws on cigarette butts. are you joking? have you seen the rest of the litter? cigarette butts are nothing and at least they're there for the homeless dudes to grab some puffs from.

this whole thing is absurd. please go away bloomberg.

and i don't even smoke. but i think people should have the damn right to do so if they please. this is NYC for F's sake!!

bigrig007

"Secondhand smoke is estimated to account for at least 35,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers nationwide each year." IS A LIE. Its never been linked directly. YOUR FACTS ARE WRONG.

heresyourcopy

man this law is stupid. i don't smoke anymore but this pointless, think-of-the-children legislation makes me want to parade up and down times square with a fat stogie.

jibbly

I'll (sort of) side on the smokers on this one. How about just enforcing littering laws already on the books? What the hell are the litter laws anyway?

m015094

Don't litter. It's really that difficult.

Guest

Are they really going to give the old guys who have been smoking cigars in Tompkins Sq park for the past 30 years a $100 ticket?

There are going to be some fun civil rights lawsuits for people that want to take them up.

Barbara Starkweather

I'd be with the smokers on this one, except that everywhere smokers are, there are cigarette butts all over the ground And I have yet to meet a smoker who will admit this is even littering.

It's disgusting, get yourself some will power and stop wasting your money on expensive adult pacifiers, and stop dirtying up the city.

PS- they make you stink !!

1429523

Oh boy! That's some cutting edge commentary there Barbara! Cigarettes make smokers stink! Sky is blue! More at 11!

Guest

i am a smoker who knows that butts are litter and are unsightly and feed anti-smoker sentiment. but i am also an informed citizen who knows that we already have littering laws on the books, which makes this legislation redundant in that respect. i honestly don't think preaching, banning, and name-calling is going to win anyone over to your viewpoint.

Guest

HELLO KIDS! today, we'll take a look at SPIN!

if you actually take a moment to read the research, they are testing a mere 18 inches away from the smoker for a prolonged period of time. not a passing whiff on a pedestrian plaza, not a scent in the breezy beach or parkland, but sitting at the same friggin' table with a smoker for an hour. they also admit that by being upwind or a mere six feet away "you would have little problem".

also note that the key cigarette pollutant (PM2.5) that they test for in the air is also emitted from diesel engines, wood burning stoves, and other combustion. oops, there goes that empirical data!

once again kids, there is no conclusive research that proves smoking in parks is detrimental to anyone's health other than the smoker. this illegitimate ban on a legal, non-intoxicating substance in our public spaces is based on faulty science, insurance lobbyist hysteria, and Bloomberg's intense focus on creating a dynasty as "The Most Health Conscious Mayor Ever!"

cmdrogogov

Please link to the study in question - I want to read it (also thanks for debunking the hurfblurf surrounding the issue)

Guest

>> Standford study. link in JDS last paragraph.

random transplant

Slow down!

The council elders and mayor have decreed that no facts or critical thinking shall be used in this debate.

Such presumptions are not politically correct.

spiv

that midget douchebag's motorcade gives off more harmful gases than supposed second hand smoke does. this is just another step towards the end of personal liberty in this once great city.