The Queen of Disco Donna Summer lost her battle to cancer yesterday—and TMZ reports that she felt that 9/11 was involved. more ›

While the Bloomberg Administration has successfully driven down the number of smokers overall in NYC by 35% since 2002, the Department of Health is frustrated by the fact that the number of Asian smokers has stayed flat. So, the NY Times reports, "On Thursday, the department stepped up its appeals to Asian smokers, introducing graphic ads in Chinese for its annual campaign to distribute nicotine patches and gum, and offering Chinese speakers for those who call 311 to enroll in the program. The department will also seed the ethnic news media with translated versions of its antismoking campaign called 'Pain,' which depicts excruciating smoking-related cancers." And it's not pretty! more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's Smoke Free Air Act goes into effect on Monday, and shockingly, people physically dependent on a substance that is more addictive than heroin have said that they will probably ignore the law that bans smoking in public parks, beaches, the concretewalk, and the Brooklyn Heights promenade. "It's so unfair because we're paying $12 to $13 a pack for cigarettes and now there's nowhere to smoke them…but I'll take the risk and still smoke in public," one man told the Brooklyn Paper. Another suggested: "Should we outlaw cabs, buses, and everything else that admits exhausts and fills our lungs with crap?" Hey, that's not a bad idea. more ›

Sad news from the TV On The Radio camp this afternoon: a statement on the band's website announces that their bassist, Gerard Smith, has died. "We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer," the band writes. more ›

Recently, Brooklyn rockers TV On The Radio announced that they will release their fourth album, Nine Types of Light, and embark on a new tour. But bassist Gerard Smith will not be joining them. The band announced on their website that Smith has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and has been undergoing treatment. They write: more ›

The Camel advertising team has clearly been watching a lot of Mad Men, and is trying so hard (too hard? not hard enough?) to get that thing that Don Draper has. This is actual real-life ad copy for the Williamsburg brand cigarette the company has put out (oh and by the way, there is a Williamsburg brand cigarette, more on that in a sec—first, here's what it's about): “It’s about last call, a sloppy kiss goodbye and a solo saunter to a rock show in an abandoned building... It’s where a tree grows.” As the hipster forefathers would say: alluding to trees growing in Brooklyn is so over. more ›

There is growing speculation that 83-year-old actor Paul Newman is battling lung cancer. According to LA Times blog The Dish Rag, Newman is receiving outpatient treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Rumors about Newman’s ill health have escalated since last week, when Martha Stewart published the above photo on her website, depicting a frail Newman attending a benefit for his Hole in the Wall Gang summer camp for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. more ›