NY broadens the smoking ban

“Smell flowers, not smoke.” It became illegal this week to smoke in any of New York City’s over 1700 parks and on its 14 miles of beaches. Smoking is now prohibited along the city’s boardwalks, marinas and pedestrians plazas, including Times Square.

And to go with it, a snazzy new campaign. The administration is in the process of posting over 3,000 permanent signs saying “Smell flowers, not smoke” to alert people of the ban.

This is going to be a tough one for New Yorkers. Many smokers escape to the open air of the public parks during their lunch breaks and now will have to find somewhere else to go. So far, the policy is expected to operate on an honor code type format. Even if you could call the police about a smoker, they likely wouldn’t arrive until after the butt was ground out and offender had moved on. Still, there are plenty of nonsmokers ready to make that call. So far there have been no citations. The citation is likely a $50 fine.

Mayor Bloomberg ushered in the first wave of significant smoking bans eight years ago when it was prohibited in bars and restaurants as well as indoor work environments. Sheelah Feinberg, executive director of the NYC Coalition of a Smoke-Free City summed it up, “thanks to this policy, public spaces intended for outdoor recreation will now be available for use in the healthy manner they were intended.”

Source: NYC Smoke Free, Medical News Today