Results tagged “smoking”

Some city landlords have begun prohibiting tenants from smoking inside their apartments, because of the dangers of second-hand smoke. A study recently found that secondhand smoke causes at least 35,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers nationwide each year—and New Yorkers are even more at risk because their dense urban environment. As one tobacco expert put it: "Smoke doesn’t know to stop at a doorway. It fills the full capacity of every indoor location in which the cigarette is smoked." So at least one major real estate company is now stepping in to stop the smoke before it starts.

When the Health Department first announced a plan to ban smoking in public parks and beaches run by the city, Mayor Bloomberg seemed caught off guard, and backed away from a full ban, saying, "Our Police Department has enough to do. They can't be going around giving tickets [for smoking]."

On their way to outlawing smoking in public parks, beaches, and in your dreams, officials at the Health Department are moving forward with a plan to require graphic cigarette warning signs anywhere you buy smokes in NYC. The new signs will include information on how to quit, and, like the one seen here, will show the ugly side-effects of smoking. Some 12,000 retailers in all five boroughs are expected to display the signs by December, but the city will give them a two month grace period before issuing fines.

While smoking is already banned inside hospitals, the NY City Council is considering a bill that would prohibit puffing away outside hospital entrances and on hospital grounds. The AP reports, "The measure seeks to ban smoking on hospital property and within 15 feet of any hospital entrance or exit. It would apply to public and private hospitals, as well as residential health care facilities and diagnostic and treatment centers." However, if the bill passes, those 15 feet from hospital grounds should get some ashtrays ready: When smoking was banned on a Buffalo health facility's campus, the smokers moved across the street—and in front of residential houses. One smoker admitted he was going to throw his cigarette butt in the street; when a TV station reporter asked, "Why can't you throw butt in garbage can?" the smoker answered, "I will. I didn't think of that."

You know who's not on board with the Health Department's plan to make tobacco retailers display graphic anti-smoking posters? The New York Post, that's who. The tabloid is sick of the government telling us what's bad for us all the time, and someone in Murdoch's stable has penned a cranky editorial about it, darkly wondering how far this health-nut meddling go: "What's next? Mandatory autopsy attendance?" There's also a rockin' allusion to The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again": "Meet the new Tom—same as the old Tom." That's a reference to Tom Farley, Mayor Bloomberg's replacement for ex-city Health Commissioner Tom Frieden, who recently joined the Obama administration. Farley's assistant promises that with this new anti-smoking campaign, "You're going to see what a blackened lung looks like. You're going to see what mouth cancer looks like. You're going to see what it looks like when you have throat cancer." Awesome, right? But to the Post, this is just a blatant power grab: "Mayor Mike and his new health commisar mean to festoon food stores with massive, disgustingly graphic images because they can, not because they should." Basically, it's 1939 all over again! First they came for the smokers...

The city's health department just wants you to be healthy, which is why you can no longer innocently order a pina colada at Pizzeria Uno while pretending it doesn't contain multitudes of calories. The latest proposal to dispel New Yorkers' ignorant bliss involves requiring any retailers selling cigarettes to display graphic warning signs (like the sample here) about the dangers of smoking, plus information on where to seek help quitting. The proposed measure would require retailers to post the warnings wherever tobacco products are displayed, and also at the cash register or point of purchase. Officials hope it will help more New Yorkers quit; according to DOH stats, tobacco-related illness kills 7,400 people in the city each year. In fact, smoking kills more New Yorkers than AIDS, drugs, homicide and suicide combined! So today the Board of Health voted to solicit public comment on the proposed amendment (which you can read here), and a public hearing will be held on July 30th. What do you think? Too graphic or not graphic enough? (And last year the Health Department unveiled a line of graphic anti-smoking matchbooks.)

If you're considering quitting smoking, you've got just one more day to take advantage of the Health Department's annual nicotine replacement therapy program, which hooks up aspiring quitters with free nicotine patches, gum, and advice on how to kick the coffin nails. The DOH reports that last year’s program prompted 30,000 New Yorkers to call 311 for help quitting smoking, and a new survey says the city has reached its lowest rate of smoking on record (15.8%), with less than 1 million adult smokers in the city—350,000 fewer than in 2002. Health experts credit the decline to skyrocketing cigarette taxes, bans on smoking in many public places, and a growing realization that lung cancer and tracheotomies just aren't that cool. However, a recent report from the CDC warned that adolescents are still particularly vulnerable to cigarettes' charms and have the toughtest time quitting. And a study published last month contends that non-smoking New Yorkers still suffer from second-hand smoke exposure to a "shocking" degree.

The NYC Department of Health has taken an aggressive approach to promoting the benefits of not smoking. This week, it focused on how a pack of cigarettes will now cost over $9, thanks to a federal excise tax, and offered free nicotine patches for the day to help encourage smokers to break the habit.

During today's Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw noted President-elect Obama's recent admission that he slipped up a few times during the campaign and returned to his smoking habit. He then asked Obama if this would be a problem, considering the White House's no-smoking policy. "I have, but what I said was that at times I have fallen off the wagon." Brokaw then interjected, "But wait, that means you haven't stopped." To which Obama replied, "Fair enough. Well then, what I would say is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself healthier and you will not see any violations of these in the White House." Could we be looking at the "no new taxes" promise that will haunt him in 2012? In 2007, a Fox News story revealed what they called "Obama's dirty little secret" and asked viewers, "Would you vote for a smoker for president?"

The health department says the number of violations for smoking inside bars and restaurants jumped by a third in the past year, following an increase in inspectors conducting checks as late as 4 a.m., when barkeeps are more inclined to let drinkers light up. The number of smoking citations issued to bars and restaurants increased to 917 in the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2008, compared to 694 in the previous year. The fines range from $200 to $2,000.

      

After his mother died from cancer, Dr. Robert Jackler of Stanford University worked through his grief by searching out print tobacco ads from the '20s through the '50s. Appearing in publications like Life and the Saturday Evening Post, the ads featured such cigarette-smoking luminaries as Rock Hudson, John Wayne, Joe DiMaggio, Ronald Reagan, and Santa Claus. And of course there were plenty of models hired to pose as doctors and dentists for ads with slogans like, "38,381 Dentists Say, ‘Smoke Viceroys.' They can never stain your teeth." Because if it was only, say, 38,300 dentists, nobody would have bought it.

Following in the tradition of showing one smoker's missing fingers and a smoker with a removed larynx, the Health Department continues with graphic images to scare smokers into quitting: New matchbooks show decaying gums and teeth (we've obscured the image, in case there are people eating... click here for full image). Other image include "ravaged lungs... painful tumors." Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Friedan said, “Throat cancer, gum disease, blackened lungs – these are the realities of smoking. Many countries put these images right on the cigarette pack, where they belong. While the US hasn’t done this yet – and New York City is pre-empted from requiring cigarette package labels – we are putting these images where New Yorkers buy cigarettes, just before they light up, in the hope they’ll think twice about the decision to continue smoking.”

The Washington Square News details the sticker shock NYU students face while living in NYC and having vices like smoking and drinking. One student says, "I smoke up to two packs a day, which is probably $60 to $100 a week," while another says she buys them in bulk when she's back at home in Atlanta ($3.50/pack!). And one sophomore (underage, natch), says she tries to budget for her drinking, "For instance, if she’s planning to go out, she might not go to dinner that night to save money." And if you think these kids should go out for the free, simple pleasures, well, there are dangers there: A chunk of concrete fell in a common room, hitting a foosball table--luckily no one was hurt.

For college kids heading back to school in New York this Fall, don't plan on pulling all-nighters whilst chain smoking--or covering up your pot smoke with a Marlboro, for that matter. The Bwog just got word of a legislation, which was signed by Gov. Paterson in July, that makes smoking illegal in all New York college dormitories. They add that "a pair of RAs also noted that at least for Columbia, the mere possession of tobacco products is forbidden." Who knew that smoking in the dorms was even legal anymore? As Columbia's website states, there are both safety and health concerns with smoking in living quarters, and from now on, "those who choose to smoke do at least 20 feet away from undergraduate housing and dining buildings" (this includes fraternity and sorority housing).

That mayor Bloomberg has an answer for everything. Cabbies want a fuel surcharge to help cover gas costs? Let them drive hybrids. The MTA is promising another fare increase? Let the smokers pay for it. Hizzoner said yesterday that the cost of subway and bus rides won’t have to go up much at all if the state collects taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations. "That just alone would replace one of those fare increases," Bloomberg told reporters, insisting that the tobacco revenue could plug a $700 million hole in the MTA’s budget.

Recovering drug addicts can look forward to climbing even further up the walls starting tomorrow, when all drug treatment centers in New York State implement a smoking ban. Bryan Lapsker, a 21-year-old PCP addict, tells amNY he’s been dreading the change: "Nicotine helps (addicts) get through the day. Now you take the nicotine away from us, it's almost impossible to get through the day. Addiction is addiction, I understand that, but nicotine is a legal substance." The state will now spend $8 million training health care workers how to treat nicotine dependence, and if the regulation’s a hit, maybe they’ll finally take away addicts’ caffeine, chocolate and soda pop, too.

Sure, lung cancer is hellish, but nothing motivates smokers to quit like a cigarette price increase. The city’s health department says the calls to 311 from smokers seeking help tripled during the week the state implemented a cigarette tax hike of $1.25. At over $8 a pack, smoking in New York City costs more than anywhere else in America, setting the pack-a-day smoker back $3,000 a year. The city contends tax increases in 2002 contributed to a five year, 21% drop in adult smoking and a 52% drop in smoking among New York City public high school students.

Get this woman a reality TV show! Christina Szele of Woodside, Queens created such a disturbance during a Jet Blue flight from JFK airport to San Francisco that pilots diverted the plane and landed in Denver, where federal authorities took her into custody. According to an affidavit obtained by the Smoking Gun, things started to go sideways after a flight attendant noticed Szele waiting on line for the bathroom with a book of matches and a cigarette, which were promptly seized.

But it might make them poor! Today, NY State has introduced an additional $1.25 tax--for a total $2.75 NY State tax--on cigarettes, which means a pack of smokes is likely to cost between $8.00 to $8.50 in NYC (NYC has a $1.25 tax). NY1 got some comments from smokers on the streets:

"Wow, it's a lot of money," said one smoker. "Probably not enough to make me quit. I don't know how much it will take to make me quit."

Continue reading "New Cigarette Tax Might Not Make Many Smokers Quit"

An additional $1.25-a-pack tax on cigarettes goes into effect Tuesday, meaning that a carton of name brand smokes will cost a staggering $85. If the average cost of a box of premium brand cigarettes rises to $8.50, 50% of that cost is directly related to taxes ($2.75 to the State, $1.50 to the City).

A woman who was smoking out a Midtown apartment window fell four stories but somehow managed to survive. The Daily News reports that a 34-year-old woman from Delaware (she was visiting her brother) is in stable condition with head trauma.

Smoking sports fans beware, Shea Stadium is cracking down on the nicotine set this season. While the Smoke-Free Air Act has been in effect for 13 years, security at the stadium has turned a blind eye to those lighting up -- but that's all changing. The Observer reports on one fan's encounter with the new guard:

“A security guard told me I can’t smoke and then ripped off a piece of my ticket,” the 26-year-old fan from Deer Park, Long Island fumed. “If they were going to take away my season tickets, I wouldn’t dare try to sneak a cigarette. But if they’re just going to keep giving me warnings, then I’m going to keep smoking.”

Property owners are not holding their breath for a citywide ban on domestic smoking, like the ones barring lighting up in bars or restaurants, but non-smoking is increasingly becoming a requirement for renters in New York City.

Between the 2002 and 2004, New York City residents gained 10 million pounds, becoming Rubenesque at a rate nearly three times that of other Americans, according to a survey by city health officials. Obesity and diabetes rates in the city soared 17% between 2002 and 2004, compared to a 6% rise in obesity rates nationwide, where there was no marked increase in the rate of diabetes.

Considering that most smokers pick up the nasty habit during their impressionable adolescent years, it makes sense to put off exposing the tykes to the temptation until they're old enough to poison themselves. Riding that puff of thought, the State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines wrote an open letter earlier this month to film makers this week asking them to refrain from including smoking scenes in G, PG, and PG-13 rated movies.

A married couple in the Upper West Side's Ansonia Building are suing their neighbor over her smoking. They claim her smoking is adversely affecting the hallway environment and the health of their four-year-old boy.

We take this to be definitive proof that the video of a group of teen girls beating a man on an A train was not staged: The victim has emerged. Rafael Cruz, a 27-year-old Brooklyn resident who is a manager at a Midtown H&M, told the Post, "I'm trying to get over it. It happened a month ago." Cruz isn't sure if he will press charges, noting, "Teenagers are allowed to make mistakes, but...

After a video of a man being harassed and beaten by a group of teens was publicized by The Smoking Gun, some wonder if the tape is real. The main reason why most people suspect it could be staged is because the teen who filmed the incident is an aspiring filmmaker. Seventeen-year-old Kadejra Holmes told The Smoking Gun she didn't have anything to do with the attack and then took the video off YouTube. Her...

We always thought that Visine poisoning was an urban legend, but a crazy story from Long Island seems to suggest otherwise. Twenty-four year-old Kristine Anzalone has pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and third-degree criminal mischief after being arrested for allegedly spiking her roommate's drink with Visine and then agitating his dogs to get into a fight. According to Newsday, Anzalone and her husband Christopher lived with a male roommate in a North Bellmore home...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual elevator rescue on Washington Ave. in Brooklyn, a pipe explosion on Richmond Terrace on Staten Island, and a person fatally struck by an A train at Van Siclen and Pitken Ave. in Brooklyn.
• NYC already has 91,000 practicing attorneys, but we can expect a lot more. Nearly 11,000 freshly minted JDs sat for the bar this summer and more than 70% of them passed.
• A 63-year-old man riding his bike north up 6th Ave. today struck an open car door and was thrown into oncoming traffic. He was killed when run over by a truck.
• Debbie Almontaser lost her legal bid to prevent the City from permanently replacing her as the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy.
• If you were wondering how much the Chelsea Hotel would change under new management, cops were recently called because "manager" Glennon Travis suspected someone had been smoking weed in one of the hallways.
• The lights illuminating the catenary cables of the Brooklyn Bridge will soon be replaced with environmentally friendly energy efficient bulbs.
• Sometimes even Chelsea Clinton can't get a seat in a crowded Starbucks, and is forced to type away on her laptop while sitting on the floor.
• Serendipity 3 has re-opened after a three-week closure by the City's Dept. of Health for violations that included mice and roaches.