Smoke FREE NYC! how does everyone feel?

[jeunefilleparis]

As a non smoker with major sinus problems, I ve always been furious when my meal is disturbed by smoke meanderng from the bar to my table. I m not a bloomberg fan, but I want to kiss him for doing this!

I know its a hot topic, but I think its worth discussing since this will surely, at least for a little while, will change NYs social scene

any one have opions?

[Stone]

When I lived in NY, I never really noticed smoke in bars or restaurants. After living in SF for three years, walking into a bar or restaurant and smelling smoke is like a slap to the face. And now I always notice that my clothes smell like smoke when I put them on again the next morning.

[Pan]

California has had a law effectively prohibiting (we don't need to get into technicalities, right?) smoking in bars for a number of years, and it's such a joy to go to bars there! I'll probably go to bars more after the law kicks in here.

[jeunefilleparis]

My dry cleaning bill will be cut in half and when i m drunk, i wont bum smokes from my smoking friends:)))))))))

Lauren is happpppy happppy happpy

[indiagirl]

an opinion from an addict:

good ventilation

i do see how smoking at the bars should be prohibited but i think restaurants with multiple rooms can easily pull off one room with good ventialtion for us smokers and populate it with smoking waitstaff, which based on my restaurant experience should not be hard to find

just passing a law banning it entirely seems a bit much to me. if the law passed some kind of minimum cfm requirement then those that could - would.

[tommy]

there have been lots of, um, spirited threads on this. i'm looking foward to it, and i'm a "social smoker."

[Jason Perlow]

I have a few different thoughts on this.

First of all, a restaurant or a bar is either smoke-free, or it permits smoking. In my mind, there's no half and half, or a "smoking section". Without a really sophisticated way to segregate the airflow of dining rooms, you cannot guarantee that any diner is going to have a smoke-free experience. So I think restaurants should post right on their front door, that they are either smoke-free, or that it permits smoking, so that there is no confusion. A diner should not expect a smoke-free experience if smoking is allowed.

I beleive that because restaurants are not public places, there should not be laws enforcing whether or not people can smoke -- it has to be at the restaurant's choosing. Restaurants are places where people CHOOSE VOLUNTARILY to go, rather places that they must go or may need to go, like an airport, a bus stop, or a street corner, or a government or municipal building. Those places should be smoke-free.

Personally, I think smoking is a nasty and disgusting habit. I find it to be a big turnoff when I am eating.

[jogoode]

i do see how smoking at the bars should be prohibited but i think restaurants with multiple rooms can easily pull off one room with good ventialtion for us smokers and populate it with smoking waitstaff, which based on my restaurant experience should not be hard to find

all that effort on the part of the restaurant just so you can smoke after your meal. I've never been a smoker but have always wondered if the taste of smoke ruins the lingering flavor of the meal. Do some people smoke during the meal?

[pnapoli]

Do some people smoke during the meal?

yes. my mother in law, for one.

[jogoode]

i do see how smoking at the bars should be prohibited but i think restaurants with multiple rooms can easily pull off one room with good ventialtion for us smokers and populate it with smoking waitstaff, which based on my restaurant experience should not be hard to find

all that effort on the part of the restaurant just so you can smoke after your meal. I've never been a smoker but have always wondered if the taste of smoke ruins the lingering flavor of the meal. Do some people smoke during the meal?

[tommy]

all that effort on the part of the restaurant just so you can smoke after your meal.

actually, many places would not be adverse to doing whatever it takes to keep smoking legal. but all places are different. personally, i don't think the ban will hurt businesses in the long run.

[jeunefilleparis]

I remember when I was living in Paris, eating some of the greatest food- my table would be on main course and some A---hole would be blowing smoke in my face as he drank his cup of coffee with dessert. I am totally thrilled that we will be smoke free. I do think its unfair that Bloomberg is taxing cigarettes for his own personal reasons, why not tax liquor more, etc....... I will not, however miss the smoke before after or during my meals!

and i can have a martini at a bar without a cigarette too!

[IrishCream]

My dry cleaning bill will be cut in half and when i m drunk, i wont bum smokes from my smoking friends:)))))))))

Lauren is happpppy happppy happpy

So you totally despise smoking but you admit to bumming cigs.

Is NY banning cigs in just restaurants, or bars too?

[IrishCream]

And now I always notice that my clothes smell like smoke when I put them on again the next morning.

Ummmmm...just out of curiousity...how many days in a row do you wear the same clothes?

[anil]

......

Is NY banning cigs in just restaurants, or bars too?

All bars - With exception to cigar-bars and private clubs.

[beachcove]

As a non smoker with major sinus problems, I ve always been furious when my meal is disturbed by smoke meanderng from the bar to my table.

Why in the world would a person who hates smoke and has major sinus problems go to a restaurant whose proprietor has decided to allow smoking?

And where do you get the chutzpah to be "furious" because people actually...smoke in this establishment???

[Wilfrid]

As a non-smoker, it will improve my quality of life. I have a standing intellectual objection to the regulation's basis. Any health benefit to those who work in bars will be so small as to be unmeasurable. If the regulation had been introduced purely on the basis of catering to the comfort non-smokers, it would have been unobjectionable, but would also have been harder for Bloomberg to push with comparable political zeal.

[tommy]

Why in the world would a person who hates smoke and has major sinus problems go to a restaurant whose proprietor has decided to allow smoking?

the bar areas of most restaurants allow smoking. the alternative would be to not go out to eat. some places' ventilation is better than others. some nights are better than others. the bottom line is, sometimes you can smell smoke and sometimes you can't.

[Ron Johnson]

Any health benefit to those who work in bars will be so small as to be unmeasurable.

Wilfrid,

Are you of the opinion that "second hand smoke" is not really causally related to non-smokers developing pulmonary disease?

I am asking in all seriousness, no sarcasm intended.

If your answer is in the affirmative, I would appreciate whatever details you can provide.

[SamanthaF]

I found it quite funny that when Grammercy banned smoking in the bar, they continued to supply matches

I smoke. It's a bit of a pisser that I won't be able to do so in a bar in NYC anymore.

[Wilfrid]

Let me just say that I don't think there will be a measurable change in the incidence of pulmonary disease among those bar workers (if any) who don't in any case smoke. My prediction.

[tommy]

Let me just say that I don't think there will be a measurable change in the incidence of pulmonary disease among those bar workers (if any) who don't in any case smoke.  My prediction.

i'd agree that it's not measurable. but i'm not sure of anything beyond that. is that what you're saying?

what *is* measurable is the quality of life changes, which affect the smokers as well.

[La Niña]

......

Is NY banning cigs in just restaurants, or bars too?

All bars - With exception to cigar-bars and private clubs.

So what's to stop bars from calling themselves cigar bars? And will we see a zillion cigar bars open?

[Wilfrid]

i'd agree that it's not measurable.  but i'm not sure of anything beyond that.  is that what you're saying? 

what *is* measurable is the quality of life changes, which affect the smokers as well.

I agree, but that wasn't the basis for the regulation. It was a health regulation.

Hey, I don't know what the rule is for cigar bars. Are they unaffected by this?

[Bux]

Restaurants are public places of a sort as they are places of public accommodation. They are no less public than any workplace. Restaurants and bars are different from other workplaces and restaurants are different from bars in many ways. I have mixed feelings about the law in the abstract.

On the purely personal and perhaps selfish level, I will be happy to eat and drink in a smokeless environment. My tolernace to smoke decreased when I stopped smoking--no big surprise there--and it descreased further when I stopped hanging out in bars. When NYC passed it's first no smoking in restaurants law my tolerance decreased even further and I abandonned a couple of small restaurants that chose not to enforce the law. I believe second hand smoke is unhealthy, but I am careless about my health in so many other ways that I don't raise that as a concern. I am just so much more comfortable when I don't smell smoke. It doesn't take much to get me coughing but the smell of even a little of it is unpleasant. I find the odor offensive in restaurants and have been pretty happy to avoid most bars up until now. I did enjoy meeting people at the GT bar.