USA: NEW YORKERS SMOKERS SAY THAT MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG'S PROPOSED BAN TO STOP SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES AND BARS INFRINGES THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS

Record ID: 847283

  • Title: USA: NEW YORKERS SMOKERS SAY THAT MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG'S PROPOSED BAN TO STOP SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES AND BARS INFRINGES THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS
  • Date: 13th August 2002
  • Summary: (U7) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) SLV/ SMV NEW YORK CITY MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG WALKING WITH AIDES
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA9O8ZALX266XPRLV9E37AO7C0L
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  • Story Text: New Yorkers may soon be forced to stub out their smoking habits in all public places, including bars and nightclubs, if Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets his way. The proposed ban has got smokers steaming that their civil liberties are being violated.
    It may be the "city that never sleeps" but New York's Mayor wants to make sure the Big Apple becomes the "city that never smokes".
    Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vowing to fight for a citywide ban on smoking in all restaurants, bars, clubs and pool halls.
    There are already fairly strict restrictions on smoking in restaurants, but addicts could always rely on popping to the bar to take a few drags. But now, Bloomberg is threatening to freshen up the air in all entertainment establishments.
    Smokers in bars in Times Square were outraged.
    Chris Lopiccolo, a regular in the dark, dingy and consistently smokey "Jimmy's Corner" bar said: "It's a part of what I do it to relax, I like to sit here talk with friends, watch some sports have a beer and a cigarette and I just think he's taking something away that makes me relax, if he would give me all of his billions of dollars I'd find another way to relax."
    They say there's nothing worse than a reformed smoker, and Mayor Bloomberg seems to be no exception. Having quit many years ago, he is now avidly anti-smoking. Citing a 1995 law which states workers have the right to a smoke-free atmosphere, Bloomberg is vowing to fight to get his ban voted in by the city council.
    But bartenders at the lively "Heartland Brewery" in Times Square, said they don't need Mayor Bloomberg to protect their health. Kenny Miles said it's a matter of personal choice whether to work behind a smoky bar: "It's part of the deal, you know, this is part of the job when I take it. It doesn't particularly bother me but I also know when I'm going into it, that that is part of the job and I either take that job or I don't take that job."
    If the ban does get the green light, it could put bars severely in the red. Owner of the family run "O'Neill's bar", Ciaran Staunton fears his business could go under if smoking was banned at his bar/restaurant. He said, "It will probably put us out business. Going from talking to people in California who have a complete ban also, the average neighbourhood restaurant would drop 30 per cent in income, we work on such small profit margins here and we have such high rent in Manhattan that it will more than likely put us out of business."
    Currently California and Delaware are the only states in the US banning smoking from all bars and nightspots. Smoker Greg Fair, says it may be OK for the notoriously health-conscious Californians to cope with but he can't bear the thought of propping up the bar without a ciggie in hand.
    "I'm not going to come to the city anymore to drink and smoke, I mean that's part of the experience, you want to have a good time, I enjoy smoking I know its bad for me, but I'm just going to stay at home and have some beers you know," he said.
    But the chorus of complaint coming from smokers is not deterring Mayor Bloomberg, who makes no secret of dislike for the habit. He's even talking about trying to ban smoking in all city parks and public open air areas and that has really got smokers hot under the collar. Sean Hellier said, "It's just an increasingly authoritarian sort of government and I totally disagree with it and I will resist it."
    Hellier's pledge of "resistance" could spark a new type of bar in the Big Apple; a so-called "Smoke-Easy" underground bars, where smokers can puff away to their hearts content in scenes reminiscent of the days of Prohibition and Speak-Easy's.
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