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 ›