No Smoking on Public Beaches

@hhusted do people really smoke at a beach/park in the city? I have rarely seen anyone who does.. it just seems so out of sync with the whole setting

It is not just smoking that bothers people, it is all the cigarette butts lying around that people don't like.

@hhusted It's true that cigarette butts are annoying, but as for smoking in the open air...you would have to stand very very close to someone smoking outside to get even the tiniest whiff of their smoke, so there really is no need to complain so much about it. If not outside, then where would smokers smoke?

I think litter on public beaches - where people tend to walk around barefoot - is rather disgusting, and I'm all in favor of the ban!

@DBlack: Are you a smoker? You talk like you are. I have news for you. With the ocean wind blowing in, even if someone was 10 feet or more from me, I would smell the smoke because the wind would carry it in my direction. I hate smoking period. I created a website to help people stop it. I also contacted Bloomberg and told him I supported the no-smoking ban. I told him anything that can be done to give us clearer air I am in favor of. If I had my way, I would go into every household in NYC, and take cigarettes away from everyone who had them.

@Everyone looks like NYC is extending the smoking ban to all public places even pedestrian plazas.. a few of my friends who still smoke are going to be very upset I suspect.

http://amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-proposes-to-ban-smoking-in-parks-and-on-beaches-1.2293906

It just seems overmuch. Just let people smoke outside, they already look silly having to run out in the middle of winter to indulge their habits. That seems like punishment enough.

@Uraniumfish: The ultimate goal is to encourage smokers to not smoke. To me, I think that is what this ban does, besides giving non-smokers the right not to breathe the bad air.

@hhusted If that's the ultimate goal then I definitely DON'T support the ban. I'm not fond of smokers but I don't appreciate laws designed to interfere with anyone's freedom. This isn't Singapore. Smokers don't hurt anyone outside, so let them have the freedom to kill themselves slowly if that's what they want to do.

@Uraniumfish I agree with you the ban is a bit too extreme.

This is really crazy. I'm sorry, I'm not a smoker, but I can see how insulting it is to tell people where they can smoke outside in the OPEN AIR. Give me a break. People know what cigarettes do to their health, and if they still choose to do it that's their problem. Who is the government to try and discourage people from smoking? It's not like they pay for our health care. They can shut it.

@neversleeps - even outside, secondhand smoke can be an irritation at best and a danger at worst. If people want to smoke, that's their business (although if I were a friend/relative, I'd be on their case to stop), but when it's inconvenient to others, that's where my issue lies!

@Uraniumfish: That is where you are wrong. It is bad to smoke period. I don't want a smoker around me. If he wants to kill himself or herself, let that person do it inside their own apartment. But not in the company of people who don't want it.

@Ajdaedidealist; Thank you. I am glad you believe the same way I do.

@Uptowngirl: If you knew the stakes of smoking, you would not agree.

@ajadedidealist I have tried to ask my friends to stop smoking for in true New York style they would probably bite my head off and anyway I think they are old enough to know that the cancer sticks are injurious to health.

Yeah, smokers can be pretty resilient about the habit. I have a few friends that smoke, but beyond the occasional comment I've been unable to do more than just watch...and cough. It just seems like such a hassle! Financially, socially, physically - why would anyone start?

I think the whole anti-smoking campaign is one of those things Americans tend to go overboard with. It's cool that no one can smoke in restaurants and bars in NYC, but public outdoor spaces! Jeez. Get a life, government. You can smoke in movie theaters and malls in Europe. Live and let live, I say. No one doubts the negative effects of cigarette smoke. We all know the story by now.

@NeverSleeps very well said

@Everyone Here in Hong Kong , smoking is banned in restaurants and bars but folks stand outside and smoke away and its not uncommon to get into a cab that reeks of cigarette smoke because the cabbie has been puffing away.

Agreed, NeverSleeps. Enough already with the paranoia.

@NeverSleeps: Yeah, and I'll bet if you check the stats, you will find that Europe has about as much lung cancer and heart disease as America because of the huge amount of smokers there.

@Ajadedidealist: People start smoking when as kids. They do it because of peer pressure and to be part of the crowd. Plus, it appears to be cool, so they do it.

The smoking ban in beaches and parks comes into effect this summer and is already whipping up controversy.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/02/20/has-nyc-gone-too-far-by-banning-smoking-in-parks/

@uptowngirl Weird... I didn't know that any such thing had gone into effect! I actually always wondered if people were really allowed to smoke in public parks anyway...

Sigh, I wish lawmakers would do something useful with themselves

@Uraniumfish that's wishful thinking I believe..

There's of course the entire health care system broken, the roads nationwide are unpaved and infrastructure is crumbling, and the election system is broken too...that's only the stuff I can think of off the top of my head without exhausting myself with despair. But of course, glad they got that smoking ban done.

@Uraniumfish I tell you! You really have to wonder about the lawmakers.

I do think it's a little weird that you can't smoke in the open air. I used to smoke (until pretty recently); and, my fellow heathen smokers and I used to love to smoke at the beach. It's weird that you can't. It's not like you're really ever that close to other people at the beach.

@JenMac I do agree its kind of cruel.. where are smokers going to go?

@JenMac have a look as to what lengths people will go just to keep their right to smoke

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/ues_man_agrees_his_pay_each_time_Bu44ykeEKyxEPzWBKxT9yL

@uptowngirl: that's ridiculous!! What's next? Every time I smell Indian Food from my neighbors apartment, they're gonna be in big trouble!

@JenMac Congrats for quitting. And, like I said, so glad they got that very very urgent piece of legislation done since people smoking outdoors was having SUCH a detrimental effect on all our health, way worse of course than toxic leakage from the chemical plant in Jersey or the air pollution from the gazillion cars that pass through Manhattan on a given day. Yeah.

Yeah - let's not worry about cleaning the toxic waste out of the Gowanus Canal, either. But smoking outdoors! What could be worse?

@JenMac uh-oh! I can't tell you how many fights my husband and I have had over this issue. He is one of those people who likes Indian food but hates the smells that are associated with it. I used to go crazy in my NY kitchen trying to cook Indian meals while preventing the odors from escaping from the kitchen. Forget my neighbors my own husband used to find it offensive and because of the spices and the tempering needed you cant help but have smells for a while that's why I have wanted to install an exhaust fan in the kitchen so at least some of the smells will get dispersed into the atmosphere for nothing else has worked, no candles, sprays,nothing.. my mother in law just tells me to stop cooking but that isn't possible is it? Its so much healthier to eat at home than eat out all the time..

My boyfriend's an insane anti-smoking advocate! He will physically take and snap people's cigarettes if they smoke near him - although does so with such English politeness I'm not sure they mind too much

@uptowngirl Jeez. Is it really that bad? The smell doesn't really offend me...

@uptowngirl It's funny and cute what becomes an issue of epic proportions in a marriage, which to others would seem like a pretty small thing...