The city's Law Department has filed two more lawsuits against stores that exploit a perceived loophole in the city's obscene cigarette tax law. You'll recall that New York Smokes, a retail tobacco outlet on Staten Island, was making bank selling customers loose tobacco, which is taxed at a far lower rate than cigarettes. Customers would then roll their own smokes in the store using cigarette stuffing machines, walking out with a pack for about $6—far less than the average $13 price. But then the city cracked down on that enterprise, and now the guv'ment is going after two more shops. more ›

Ads run by the New York City Health Department to combat smoking and obesity can be harsh, depending on whether or not you bruise like a banana in a stiff breeze. Following the relative failures of national anti-cigarette and anti-drug campaigns, the Times asks, do scare tactics work? And do the city's ads qualify as "scary?" "The definition of a scare tactic is a non-credible risk message," Steve Pasierb, the president of the Partnership at Drugfree.org says. Can someone please tell the people at Five Gum that? more ›

Smoking, it'll kill you (even you, casual smoker). But before that it will bring in beaucoup bucks for the government thanks to hefty taxes—or will it? Pols keep raising and adding taxes on smokes here for the dual purpose of making money and pricing people out of their favorite addiction. Its worked pretty swell for a while now, but it seems that those days are ending. State tax collectors were "recently calling around to convenience-store owners, wondering what was up. The $130 million in extra tax that Albany was expecting from a change in the law about cigarette sales on Indian reservations wasn’t happening." more ›

Smoking, Nanny Bloomberg likes to remind us, will kill you. But don't think that your "I only smoke bummed ciggies at parties" routine makes you safe. Oh, no. The Department of Health wants you to know YOU COULD STILL DIE. So they're launching a print and TV campaign to help "light smokers" become "nonsmokers." Because you don't want to die, do you? more ›

Bad news for lung cancer fans on a fixed income: you've got until February 1st to stock up on cheap cigarettes at two local establishments that skirt NYC's steep taxes. You'll recall that Island Smokes, a retail tobacco outlet with locations on Staten Island and the Lower East Side, has for some time now exploited a perceived loophole in the city's cigarette tax law: by requiring smokers to roll their own coffin nails using on-site cigarette stuffing machines, Island Tobacco was able to sell their products as loose tobacco, which is taxed at a lower rate. That is, until fraud investigators took notice. more ›

The things smokers will do for a puff after a night on the town! Early Sunday morning MTA police arrested two LIRR passengers after one was allegedly smoking on the train and the other punched a conductor who tried to make the smoking stop. Thinking you can still smoke on LIRR platforms, we can get—the ban on that is only months old—but who really expects to light up on an actual train anymore? more ›

New York City's war on small businesses continues unabated: a Mom & Pop MetroCard operation was cruelly cut down, and two roll-your-own cigarette joints that offer Freedom from excessive, lawful excise taxes are being sued by The Man. Thankfully, these actions haven't deterred Jack Wang from opening his own roll-your-own tobacco shop, City Smokes, in Sheepshead Bay. “I don’t want to fight with the city. I don’t want any trouble,” Wang tells the Daily News. “I need to pay the rent. I have no choice.” You hear that, Mayor? He has no choice but to exploit a perceived loophole in the law and spread Liberty and Tar all over this town. more ›

Time is running out before we're all enslaved by our robot overlords to build a giant laser beam for eradicating the rival robot planet Node 49 (look it up) but the MTA is letting us feel superior one last time by voting for the most useful subway smartphone apps. Preview all 42 applications here, and vote for your favorites from now until January 11, when two Popular Choice winners will be crowned, along with the overall winner. Our money is on the app that keeps rats from crawling on your face. more ›

If you had a part of your adolescence in or around the city in the past fifteen years you probably spent a night or two (or five) at Sahara East, the East Village joint where the hookahs were cheap and underage drinking was frequently ignored by the surly staff. But, it seems, those days are over. EV Grieve notes that the hookah lounge has been seized by the taxman. Now where will 16-year-old kids go to feel adult while coughing up flavored smoke, sneaking joints in the back and sipping Heinekens? more ›

As numerous studies have shown, smoking cigarettes is one of the coolest activities in the world. The only thing cooler than smoking is taking illicit puffs after a lushy celebrity tells you not to. After a smoking ban on LIRR platforms went into effect yesterday, the Post found a smoker who was lighting up with gusto, despite the audio announcements telling him it was illegal. "Joe Namath just told me I couldn't smoke, so I wanted to," a 28-year-old man said at the Hicksville station. No word on whether Katie Couric will track him down and tell him what an awful person he is. more ›

Enigmatic writer, director, and weather fan David Lynch has long loved music—and smoking. In an interview about his debut album, Lynch mourns the act of smoking. more ›

Smokers will not be forced to confront graphic images on cigarette packs depicting the potentially insalubrious side-effects of their addiction, a federal judge ruled today. You'll recall that the FDA, carrying out legislation enacted by Congress, was poised to require cigarette packages to be sold with a variety of graphic anti-smoking warnings. But five major tobacco companies filed a lawsuit, and today U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that it's likely they'll win—so he's ordered the FDA hold off on requiring the warnings until that legal battle is settled. more ›

According to a CBS/New York Times poll, Herman Cain is besting Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential race, 25% to 21%. Cain is hoping to build on his success with this brilliant art house campaign ad released on Sunday night. more ›

In this week's New Yorker, Benjamin Shapiro files a funny story about a retail tobacco outlet on Staten Island and the Lower East Side that's been exploiting a perceived loophole in the city's obscene cigarette tax law. At Island Tobacco, customers can get a pack of smokes that normally cost $13 for $6—or less. The store does this by requiring smokers—aka the 14%—to roll their own coffin nails using on-site cigarette stuffing machines. Island Tobacco's owners contend that this allows them to sell products as loose tobacco, which is taxed at a lower rate. more ›

We knew those delightfully litigious purveyors of smooth, bold flavors wouldn't let us down. Five major tobacco companies have filed a lawsuit against the FDA claiming that the historic 2009 legislation that allows the agency to regulate tobacco violates the First Amendment by requiring those cheesy, not-so-graphic warning labels on cigarette packs. Attorney for the plaintiffs, the esteemed Floyd Abrams, tells CNN, "We think it violates the First Amendment for the government to require people who purchase a lawful product to essentially urge prospective purchases not to buy it." more ›

You've got just 90 days left to kill time by killing yourself while waiting for a train on LIRR and Metro-North platforms. Smoking is already verboten on NYC subway platforms, even in if they're outside, and today Governor Cuomo signed into law new smoking prohibitions that expand the existing smoking ban to outdoor ticketing, boarding or platform areas of railroad stations operated by the MTA or its subsidiaries. more ›

Remember those two hapless MTA workers who got caught on camera taking a smoke break in the subway station at the tail end of a graveyard shift? Last we heard from the MTA, the incident was "under investigation." We recently followed up to determine what ever became of that probe, and this morning we were informed that the two men were in fact taken to the woodshed. more ›

It has been a few months since the City Council's ban on smoking in parks and beaches kicked in. So how's it doing? Mixed. The number of tickets written is still holding steady at one and New Yorkers, according to the latest Marist Poll [PDF], are not entirely unanimous in their thoughts on the ban. While most New Yorkers like the idea of butt-free parks they aren't sure if it is working. Still, a majority of them would recommend other cities give it a puff. more ›

Cigarette smokers have been cast out from our parks, beaches, boardwalks, bars, restaurants, and automobiles with children on board, and now that we've got them isolated in their apartments furtively lighting up beneath the bed with a towel stuffed under the door, it's time bring the hammer down once and for all. As we previously reported, a number of co-ops and condos are planning votes to ban smoking inside private residences, man. Today a reporter who's friends with another reporter at the Post uses her connections to complain in the media about these filthy tobacco inhalers. more ›

Smoking has been banished across 110th street, between between Lexington and Third Avenues, where fifteen businesses, a condo, and a public library branch have signed onto a voluntary agreement to discourage smoking on the block. The Savoy Bakery, Young's Fish Market, Expo Liquor and RAZA Records are among the business that have put up signs that read "NO SMOKING - SUPPORTERS OF 110th ST. SMOKE FREE BLOCK," the Daily News reports. But one defiant business is making a stand for smoker's rights: The United States Postal Service. more ›

Was it normal for baseball players to drink beer and smoke cigarettes in the dugout? Here's a photo from LIFE magazine's archive, showing Lou Gehrig doing just that in 1936; three years later he would leave the Yankees after being diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disease that would come to be known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." (Incidentally, it was recently linked to smoking.) more ›

Good news for fans of looking really, really cool in city parks (sorry, rollerbladers): it's almost impossible to get a ticket under the newly passed smoking ban. The Daily News sent smoking staffers to the High Line and Coney Island to see how lax the enforcement was, and lets just say that you're more likely to get a ticket for bike-riding-with-tote-bag than you are from getting your daily doses of formaldehyde. more ›