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New York City's Bloomberg proposes outdoor smoking ban
Thought you were going to light up a cig on your next trip to Central Park? Think again! Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to get a new measure passed that would prohibit smoking – outdoor smoking – in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian areas in New York City, according to the local Fox affiliate.
Even the mayor hasn't always been convinced that he could pull this off, and it still needs to go before the city council. Sentiment in the city is mixed, with many non-smokers unwilling to see the law go this far for civil rights reasons.
Of course, I smoke a cigar near (though not in) Central Park just about every evening, so my opinion on this new measure is pretty clear.
Filed under: Activism, North America, United States, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
diane Sep 16th 2010 2:14PM
yeah stop me from smoking outside and see how my attitude will reflect on people . the only thing that saves some people from me is having my cigarette. lol so go right ahead and than do something stupid that i can jump on you about. i dont throw my cigarette butts on the ground i have an empty container in my purse to put them in. i dont smoke around groups. i am considerate of others but thats fine . take away your safety net... lol.
Manxie Sep 16th 2010 2:18PM
This dude has such a control problem! lol
He's trying to turn people there into bots for crying out loud.
What's next...determining when and what and where people eat??!!
But if the people there who voted this doofus in, got what they deserved.
bytheway Sep 17th 2010 8:50AM
Where is my comment???????????????
Karin Sep 16th 2010 3:39PM
You got to be KIDDING ME!!!! this is getting to rediculous! Why dont we just stop breathing and eating in public too???? Get a grip people NO MATTER where people smoke its got to go somewhere!!!! into the air! and along with the smog/pollution in the NYC air whats the difference! Wear a mask if you dont like it!
Nancy Sep 16th 2010 5:26PM
Come on - how dumb can you people be? You can always smoke in your own home and car!! That way you will be in a confined space where the nicotine poison will be concentrated and you will get the full effects of it - and maybe then you will be satisfied!!
Jim Sep 16th 2010 5:44PM
Note to all those who agree with Bloomberg: The United States tried a prohibition once. It created an organized crime and illicit use nightmare. We did it again with the "war on drugs" and after what, fifty years what's been the result? Another disaster exactly the same as the first go 'round. Haven't we learned our lesson? Are we really that dense? Do we really want to go for three strikes and fulfill Owell's vision of the United States as "Big Brother?"
Mike Sep 16th 2010 6:09PM
And you wonder how did America get in the situation it is in now. Government Officials passing laws and telling people how they must live their life. I guess I was wrong, aren't we suppose to be telling them (by majority vote) how to govern our country, not them telling us how to live every moment of out lives. It started 50 years ago and they just keep picking away.
Nancy Sep 16th 2010 6:21PM
Bloomberg should retire .He is a nut case.
jim Sep 16th 2010 6:51PM
what really concerns me is we are american citizens and our constitutional rights are being violated once more..Bloomberg has his focus on the white house and i guess this is an educational step in learning how to dismantle america and our values and our rights
Health Care forced down our throats with a hefty tax..Open boarders..Unemployment at a record high...business being dismantled ..I say charge the smoker even more as a former
smoker i say don't piss of new yorkers any more I think everyone is tired of being treated
like crap !!! Whats the next adventure "' lets cut down crime and inhibit Marshal Law ''
Mr Mayor it's obvious you need to be IMPEACHED
ann Sep 17th 2010 2:09AM
No smoking outside???Are you stupid or what??? I have smoked for 53 years. I am from a large family & we are almost all smokers. No cancer...no asmatha...no lung desease of any kind. The #1 cause of lung cancer is granite counter tops. Do you hear anyone say to outlaw them. Of course not,Its not a cigarette. For 35 years smokers & non-smokers got alone fine & no one put anyone down. We got togather & had cookouts,played cards togather & had a good time.We can't do that anymore because most non-smokers think they are to good to breathe the same air.I am as considerate with non-smokers as i can but they can't seem to be the same way toward us. There used to be such a thing as FREEDOM OF CHOICE. That sure seems to have left the constitution.they have taken choice out of most things in the last 15-20 years. Go ahear & let them take what little freedom of choice we have left
Grant Sep 16th 2010 8:07PM
This so called mayor, broke the rules by running for a third time, he illegally had his people change the rules to fit his desire for power, now he wants to stop people from smoking period, but I'm sure that the people can smoke maryjanne all the want, do crack, stick needles in their arms, but this is ok.
Who is paying for the crack babies, drug addicts and others that rob and steal for this habit.
the major should fine everyperson in ny city a fine to pay everythime someone is caught doing crack, but i'm sure the mayor wouldn't want to do this.
The tobacco companies should not pay a cent to NY city for their fins, screw NY stop trying to run peoples personal chocies.
Carol Sep 17th 2010 5:41PM
Where is the Civil Liberties Union? Norman Siegel, a former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, endorses this violation of smokers' rights with legal sophistries: "Mr. Siegel hastened to say, it is a common misconception that civil libertarians should be on the side of smokers. 'There is no constitutional right to smoke,' he said. 'People have asked me whether we can bring litigation to challenge some of these prohibitions. It does not work, because government has general welfare powers to enact legislation affecting people’s health.'" (When Citizens (Gasp) Are the Smoking Police. By Anemona Hartocollis. New York Times, Sep. 16, 2010.)
Norman Siegel and all those other phony "civil libertarians" are automatically traitors for embracing the presumption that the people must justify their rights to engage in specific actions, while the government is entitled to do anything it pleases under the pretext of "general welfare powers to enact legislation affecting people’s health."
In fact, the government may restrict peoples' liberties only if it has a compelling justification. To thwart this objection, the anti-smokers have resorted to deliberate, systematic scientific fraud for the last six decades, to deceive the public about the supposed "dangers" of smoking and secondhand smoke. The anti-smokers are guilty of flagrant fraud for ignoring more than 50 studies, which show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Smokers and passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus for socioeconomic reasons, and the anti-smokers' phony studies are designed to falsely blame those extra lung cancers caused by HPV because they're based on nothing but lifestyle questionnaires.
http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm
ann Sep 19th 2010 2:01PM
Way to go Carol. you are so right. I don't remember myself, or anyone i know asking anyone in the government to worry about my health,& to decide what is best for me.We are all over the age of consent & can decide what is best for ourselves. If we decide to smoke it should be our choice,not thiers.There is so very many things we breath daily that makes us sicker than cigerette smoke.wake up people & smell the exghast fumes & smog, then tell me it smells better than cigerette smoke. there is so much exhast fumes in New York City & Washington D C, i am surprised you can even smell a cigerette. If you need to worry about our health so much look at the drugs they are making now at can cause heart attacks or strokes but your tummy won't hurt any more.Now thats good for you. There are so many drugs out there like that.Look into them & put a stop to thier making them. Thats the only health help i need.