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http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story..._352164614.html

 

Dec 18, 2002 4:45 pm US/Eastern

(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) The City Council overwhelmingly approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on workplace smoking, including a prohibition on lighting up in almost all bars and restaurants.

 

The 42-7 vote with two abstentions Wednesday came after spirited opposition from smokers and bar owners, who said tightening the city's existing smoking law will diminish their rights, hurt tourism and cut into the business of bars and nightclubs.

 

But Bloomberg and the majority of the City Council maintained that the city's priority is to protect people, including bartenders and waitresses, from secondhand smoke.

 

"Ultimately, this bill is about protecting the health of employees in the city of New York," said City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. "People shouldn't have to choose between their health and their jobs."

 

The bill would be among the strictest in the nation.

 

But while the legislation will prohibit smoking in almost all workplaces, there are several exceptions, including portions of outdoor cafes; bars that build enclosed, specially ventilated smoking rooms where employees would not enter; private clubs such as American Legion halls; nursing homes and other residential facilities that have smoking rooms; and existing cigar bars.

 

The bill, which Bloomberg is expected to sign within two weeks, would go into effect in March or April.

 

"Because of this legislation, it's literally true that something like 1,000 people will not die each year who would have otherwise died from secondhand smoking," Bloomberg said last week.

 

Current city law prohibits smoking in restaurants with more than 35 seats but does not restrict smoking in stand-alone bars or the bar areas of restaurants.

 

Bloomberg's bill extends the ban to almost all restaurants and bars, as well as offices, pool halls, bingo parlors and bowling alleys. In all, about 13,000 establishments would be covered.

 

The legislation does not attempt to regulate smoking in private residences, hotel and motel rooms, private automobiles, retail tobacco stores and limousines under private hire.

 

Before Wednesday's vote, six opponents of the smoking bill gathered on the steps of City Hall to smoke cigarettes. They carried a 12-foot-long cardboard tube that had been fashioned into an ersatz cigarette.

 

One of the smokers, Neil Corcoran, from Queens, said the issue is essentially about individual rights.

 

"I think this is less of a smoking issue and more of a private property right," he said, referring to the ban in bars. "I don't buy the secondhand smoke argument. Life is full of risks."

 

Most states and many municipalities have some level of restriction on public smoking.

 

California, Delaware and municipalities including El Paso, Texas, enforce total bans in bars and restaurants. Maine, Utah and Vermont ban smoking in restaurants but not in bars.

 

Nassau County recently passed a ban in workplaces, including outdoor cafes, and Suffolk County is considering a similar prohibition.

 

Last week, Boston's health commission expanded its smoking ban to include another 700 workplaces, including bars, clubs and restaurants with bars. When the new restrictions take effect May 5, private homes, hotel rooms and some cigar bars will be the exceptions.

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my personal favorite is that will still allow smoking in nursing homes!

 

SWEET

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