Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC Parks Smoking Ban Barely Enforced
By
Ben MIller
Published Apr 21, 2014
Modified Apr 21, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben MIller
Published Apr 21, 2014
Modified Apr 21, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Bad news for fans of one of Michael Bloomberg's signature nanny-state initiatives: Gotham Gazette's FOIL request for data on the enforcement of the ban against smoking in parks shows that since it went into effect in 2011, only 440 tickets have been issued. Ninety percent (or 397) were issued in Manhattan, 17 in Brooklyn, 15 in Staten Island, eight in the Bronx, and only one in Queens. Overall, the ban has brought in only $22,000 in ticket revenue.
The city's 160 or so Parks Enforcement Patrol officers are assigned to enforce the ban, and perhaps the disparity in enforcement across boroughs is due to where officers are typically assigned to work.
Even that can't explain all the inconsistencies, though. Data reveal that ticketing is uneven across time, even in specific parks. For example, in Washington Square Park, 57 tickets—or 13% of all the tickets given out in New York City for the past three years—were written last October. In the other months of 2013, not a single ticket was written there.
Update: Parks Department Spokesman Philip Abramson told us, "Summonses are issued in those locations where our PEP Officers have observed smoking violations. Our PEP Officers exercise their discretion to take enforcement actions and issue summonses where violations are taking place." He added that PEP officers had been "educating" WSP parkgoers for a few months about the ban, but decided to start issuing summonses in October.
Tagged
Park Department
Parks Enforcement Patrol
smoking ban
Ben MIller
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .