Is Mayor Bloomberg waging a "secret war" against smokers exercising their right to inhale carcinogenic coolness in their own apartments? No, but that doesn't stop the Post from sounding surprised that his administration would push landlords and tenant organizations to make their buildings smoke-free.
According to a document that the Post obtained (presumably with the help of Nicolas Cage), the city is bestowing $10,000 on the non-profit arm of the DOH, Partnership for a Healthier NYC, to convince property owners to ban cigarette smoking. Buried in the report is that the money, which is coming from a Centers for Disease Control grant, is also being used to promote exercise, a healthy diet, and an awareness of what alcohol use does to a community. Where has the Post been the past 11 years?
Though there is no law prohibiting landlords from banning smoking in their buildings, rent-controlled tenants whose contracts don't explicitly prohibit smoking can light up with impunity, and co-ops and condos would have to put their bans to a vote. “The city is not banning smoking in private residences; as part of this federal grant, organizations can apply to fund projects that, among other things, educate the community on voluntary smoke-free housing policies,” city spokesman Samatha Levine told the paper.
But hey, what's a scary smoking ban article without a blockquote from Audrey Silk?
“They are liars!” charged Audrey Silk, founder of the Brooklyn-based Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment. “They acclimate the public to a ban, and then they go after the final frontier of our freedom—our homes!”
