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Mayor Signing Smoking Ban Today, Last Gasp Set for May 23rd
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 22, 2011
Modified Feb 22, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 22, 2011
Modified Feb 22, 2011
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Come spring (don't laugh, we can dream) cigarette smokers will be formally cast out of NYC parks, boardwalks, beaches, recreation centers, swimming pools and pedestrian plazas. Today Mayor Bloomberg will sign legislation forbidding smoking in public places, punishable by up to a $100 fine. Since the new law is considered unenforceable by many, it's hoped that future legislation will stiffen the penalties for smoking, perhaps mandating public stonings, or at least humiliating "I AM AN INCONSIDERATE SMOKER" sandwich boards.
The law would go into effect 90 days after the signing, on May 23rd. Mayor Bloomberg himself has said "the police will not be enforcing this. That's not going to be their job. This is going to be enforced by public pressure." Because if there's one thing smokers understand, it's peer pressure. And yet some smokers, like dead-ender Audrey Silk, remain defiant and are planning smoke-ins in the parks come May. "A lot of smokers are starting to get a little upset about it, because we abide by the rules, we don't smoke in bars, we don't smoke in restaurants, but when does it stop?" one New York smoker asks NY1. "Are you going to stop everything?" Please, don't give Bloomberg any ideas!
City Council Republican minority whip Eric Ulrich, who wants government to protect New Yorkers from bicycle riders but not second-hand smoke, tells WCBS, "We have this crazy idea that we can change the way people behave. You can’t have salt, you can’t have sugar. Hop on a bicycle because it’s bad to drive your car. It’s ridiculous. What’s next?" And John Jay College public management professor Daniel Feldman wants to know, "What is the documentary evidence that secondhand smoke on the street is bad for you?"
Well Professor, let us Google that for you! The very first result comes from your colleagues at Stanford, who in 2007 "concluded that a non-smoker sitting a few feet downwind from a smoldering cigarette is likely to be exposed to substantial levels of contaminated air for brief periods of time." Secondhand smoke is estimated to account for at least 35,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in nonsmokers nationwide each year. And a 2004 study found that 57% of adult non-smoking New Yorkers (2.5 million) have elevated levels of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine breakdown), compared to 45% of non-smoking adults nationwide.
Tagged
health department
mayor bloomberg
nanny state
smokers rights
smoking ban
smoking parks
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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