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September 22, 2003
        Groups to Publicize Poll That Supports Smoking Ban
        By Michael Cooper

Antismoking groups say they are concerned that the city's new law banning smoking in bars and restaurants is getting a bum rap, so they are planning a campaign to publicize a poll, which they commissioned, showing that the ban enjoys wide support.

The poll, which was taken for a consortium of antismoking groups including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Cancer Society, found that 70 percent of city voters surveyed said they supported the ban, while 27 percent oppose it.

The antismoking groups hope to use the findings to dispel media reports suggesting that the ban is unpopular and could hurt the elected officials who supported it. They are planning a million-dollar advertising campaign to boost the ban, along with an Internet campaign and a lobbying effort to show local officials that the law is popular.

"Most politicians would kind of climb over each other searching for an issue that has a 70-30 advantage to it," said Jeffrey B. Plaut, a partner at the Global Strategy Group, a political consulting firm, who oversaw the poll. "It has broad support across party lines, race and ethnicity — the notable exception are smokers. This is an issue like kissing babies — it is that kind of a broad-appeal issue."

The poll, of 800 registered New York City voters, was conducted Aug. 24 to 29. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Ever since the city enacted the smoking ban last spring and the state followed suit over the summer, there has been a question of whether the measure would prove to be a political plus or minus for the elected officials who passed it.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the prime force behind the city's ban, has said all along that he expected it to be popular with the roughly 80 percent of New Yorkers who do not smoke. But the quiet approval of nonsmokers has often been drowned out by the complaints of aggrieved smokers who are now forced out onto city sidewalks to light up, and of bar and nightclub owners who say that it is hurting business.

Those complaints are expected to get louder as the cold weather sets in.

The poll commissioned by groups that support the ban reached a different conclusion than a poll that was commissioned last month by a group that opposes the restriction.

Last month's poll — commissioned by the state Conservative Party, which opposes the smoking ban — found that nearly 68 percent of state voters and 63 percent of city voters agreed with the statement, "The politicians went too far when they enacted a total ban on smoking in restaurants and bars."

(The poll by the antismoking groups posed the question: "Earlier this year a law went into effect prohibiting smoking in all workplaces in New York City, including offices, restaurants and bars. Would you say that you support or oppose the law?")

A poll by Quinnipiac University that was taken before the ban was enacted found that a majority of New York City voters supported a total ban in restaurants and bars. Conducted last November, the Quinnipiac poll asked, "Do you favor or oppose a total ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in New York City?" Fifty-four percent said they favored such a ban, and 41 percent said they opposed it.

The campaign commissioned by the antismoking groups will feature print advertisements, television commercials and subway posters, and will be sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation, the public charity that was created with funds from the lawsuit brought by states against the tobacco industry.

The foundation's president, Dr. Cheryl Healton, said that if the ban succeeded in New York City, other areas would follow suit. "To the extent that it works in New York, and that everybody gets behind it," she said, "its potential to accelerate to other places in the nation and the world grows."

September 21, 2003
        Where Corner Tobacconists Sell From the Sidewalk
        By Denny Lee

He was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and a gray do-rag, and clutching a nondescript plastic bag full of contraband, street value $90. At rush hour on Tuesday, a throng of potential customers exited the 125th Street subway station in Harlem. Some held crumpled $5 bills in their palms, and when they reached him there was a quick exchange of money and merchandise.

What was in the bag? The answer would come every few minutes, when the seller barked, "Newports! Newports! Marlboros!"

Tobacco corners like this one have sprung up across the city, from the South Bronx to Chelsea. Like the sale of single cigarettes, or loosies, at bodegas and elsewhere, these exchanges have been prompted by a city tax increase in July of last year that brought the price of cigarettes to more than $7 a pack, one of the highest in the world.

The seller on the Harlem street corner, who hawks his cigarettes for $5 a pack, said he used to peddle marijuana on the streets.

"The money is about the same," said the man, a lanky 20-year old who would give his name only as Jay. "You can make $100 or $150 a day. And it's not like we're robbing or stealing. We're trying to make an honest living."

"I'd rather do cigarettes because it's safer," the former drug dealer added.

As with any underground market, selling these cigarettes takes street hustle, a consumer demand born of addiction and, of course, a steady supplier.

A well-dressed young man who gave his name as Slim, said he buys $30 cartons from a man who drives out-of-state for cheaper cigarettes. His cigarettes bore a tax stamp from New Jersey. For every pack that he sells, he said, he makes $2.

"A lot of people who were selling pot or heroin are now selling cigarettes," said a 25-year-old struggling actor from East Harlem who said that he needs to dabble in cigarette dealing to make ends meet. "You can make the same amount of money,'' he said, "and you don't get locked away as long."

Sidewalk cigarette selling is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of $2,000 and 60 days in jail.

Why not get a real job?

"There's nothing available out there," Jay said. "Even if there was, I could do this and something else. It's a good hustle."

September 19, 2003
        Giuliani Calls Bloomberg to Clarify His Remark on Smoking Ban
        By Winnie Hu

What's a little secondhand smoke between mayors?

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who engineered the city's smoking ban, said that his cigar-loving predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, had called Wednesday evening to clarify his pro-smoking comments on Irish radio.

In an interview earlier that day, Mr. Giuliani had suggested that the Irish government might be going too far in its proposal to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, saying that "some people want to make the choice of being able to have a cigar or a pipe or a cigarette after dinner."

An aide to Mr. Giuliani later said that he had been talking about restricting smoking a step at a time versus banning it all of a sudden, and that the context was Ireland, not New York City.

But to make sure Mr. Bloomberg did not take offense, Mr. Giuliani took time out to place a long-distance call from Ireland to City Hall.

Mr. Bloomberg said their conversation began with an exchange of pleasantries. Mr. Giuliani confided that he was enjoying his trip, and that he had even played some golf.

"I was a little bit envious," Mr. Bloomberg recounted at a news conference yesterday. "As I pointed out, I had four more events to do after our conversation last night. Rudy's answer to that was, `Well, you wanted the job.' "

And then it was on to that smoking matter.

According to Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Giuliani had assured him that he was in favor of a smoking ban. "He just thought that sometimes you go partway to get there, let people adjust and then go the rest of the ways," he said. "New York City did that."

Edward Skyler, the mayor's press secretary, said afterward that Mr. Bloomberg had not taken issue with Mr. Giuliani's radio comments because, after all, the mayor was "no stranger to seeing things get twisted around in the press."

September 18, 2003
        Irish Are Told, by Giuliani, to Let Smokers Stay Indoors
        By Brian Lavery

DUBLIN - Rudolph W. Giuliani said in an interview on Irish radio today that the government here might begoing too far in its proposal to ban smoking in bars andrestaurants.

In a slap at one of the most hotly debated policies of hissuccessor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. Giuliani said citizens should have the choice to smoke or not smoke.

"Some people want to make the choice of being able to have a cigar or a pipe or a cigarette after dinner, and they should be provided with an opportunity to do that," Mr. Giuliani said, on the top Irish breakfast show with the state broadcaster RTE. "I think governments should provide the ability for people who want to make a choice, to make that choice."

In making the remarks, Mr. Giuliani weighed in on one of the most divisive issues in Ireland right now. He spoke on the same day that the Irish government's top official for health policy, Micheal Martin, who is in New York gathering information on New York's smoking ban, met with Mr. Bloomberg at City Hall.

Earlier this week, a poll for the Irish Independent newspaper found that 42 percent of the Irish opposed the ban. Those who support it dropped to 52 percent, from 67 percent in another poll three months ago. Only 30 percent of the Irish people smoke.

In his radio interview, Mr. Giuliani said that he preferred New York's 1994 restriction, which allowed smoking in designated areas. The new law took effect on March 30.

Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for Mr. Giuliani, said that the former mayor's comments were in no way meant as a reflection on the current mayor's policies.

"Rudy was speaking about what would be appropriate for a country that was just moving into restricting smoking," she said. "He was speaking about what would be an appropriate first step."

"He wasn't talking about New York," she said. "He was talking about Ireland."

Edward Skyler, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, declined to comment.

August 30, 2003
        U.N. Extends Smoking Ban

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 29 -- The United Nations, a last bastion of smoking in New York, said today that it would begin following the tough new antismoking law of its host city and forbid lighting up anywhere in its headquarters.

But whether the ban, the latest in a string of attempts by the world body to curb smoking, will be enforced is another matter. Some chain-smoking ambassadors have repeatedly violated any smoking ban.

''Because of the agreement with the host country, we are bound to follow the local laws,'' said Hua Jiang, a United Nations spokeswoman. But ''we are trying to work out what concrete measures to take,'' she said. The ban goes into effect next week.

In 1995, the United Nations announced a smoking ban for much of its headquarters.

July 23, 2003
        If Misery Loves Company, City Smokers Should Like State's Law
        By Paul von Zielbauer

Tina Kurtzhalts had just finished eating in a small bar and restaurant near Ithaca, N.Y., on Monday when she opened her purse, plucked out a cigarette, fingered her lighter and flicked.

Sniffing the air, Alan Saikkonen, a patron at the next table, quickly turned to her. "You can't smoke in here," he said curtly. "There's not a restaurant in New York State you can smoke in anymore."

In fact, Mrs. Kurtzhalts has until 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, when a tough new state antismoking law will begin, after which it will be easier to start a chinchilla farm in downtown Yonkers than to legally light a cigarette inside a bar or restaurant anywhere in New York State.

To smokers in New York City who already feel abused by the smoking ban that began in the five boroughs in March, this may seem like old news. In fact, it is worse news, because the state law is tougher.

For instance, the city law allows smoking in "cigar bars" where tobacco accounts for at least 10 percent of all revenue; in bars or restaurants that build small, separately ventilated smoking rooms; and in bars that have three or fewer owners and no employees. It also allows 25 percent of a bar or restaurant's outdoor seating to be reserved for smokers.

Under the state law, tobacco bars and the 25-percent rule remain legal, but ventilated smoking rooms are illegal and owner-operated bars with no employees are out of luck.

The only type of bar, it seems, where patrons can regularly smoke are "membership associations" — a V.F.W. or American Legion outpost, maybe — where all workers are volunteers and the bartender "doesn't even have a tip jar," said Russell C. Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, which fought for the law.

Though the antismoking laws will grow marginally tougher in New York City beginning tomorrow, the moods of thousands of smokers who live north of the Bronx seem destined to grow markedly darker. For the last several weeks, in a statewide replay of the emotion that played out among city residents in March, interviews with upstate residents revealed either outrage or gratitude toward Albany's politicians.

"You know what this country is becoming?" John Lacher, a construction foreman and regular smoker, asked Monday night from his perch in a bar in Nanuet, Rockland County. "A communist state," he said.

Joan Shaw, whose husband, Ron, owns Rascal's, a working-man's bar in Cayuga County, said she was furious about the law and predicted that it would hurt their business, if not kill it. "It's the first time I ever called my assemblyman and my senator," she said.

On the other hand, there was Josh McCormick, 47, an engineer from New City, who eats out about five nights a week. "Secondary smoke is horrible and dangerous," Mr. McCormick said over a plate of spare ribs and a glass of lemonade.

Some upstate business owners are fighting the new smoking law.

In May and June, 300 or so upstate bar and restaurant owners turned off the State Lottery Division's Quick Draw machines in protest. The boycott cost the state $265,993 in lost revenue, said a spokeswoman for the lottery, Carolyn Hapeman.

Yesterday, the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of New York to overturn the law. Scott Wexler, the group's executive director, said the suit argues that the state pre-empts existing federal law protecting workers from secondhand smoke. But in an interview yesterday, Mr. Wexler said he did not expect a court to rule on the matter before tomorrow, when the law takes effect.

For most New York City residents who smoke, the new state law may feel more like insult than injury. But to a select few — the owner of a small bar in the East Village, the members of the Iranian-Armenian Society in Queens — it is a curse.

At the Fish Bar on East Fifth Street in the East Village, John Ross, a co-owner who bartends for free, wondered what would come of his dark refuge where perhaps two of three patrons were smoking on Monday night. The city Health Department recently denied the Fish Bar an owner-operator exemption to the city's smoking ban.

"It's just not right," Mr. Ross, from North Wales, said of the city and state laws. "The idea was to save employees from secondhand smoke. Do I have any employees? No."

His is one of 13 city businesses, including the Iranian-Armenian Society, that have applied for exemptions to the city law and been denied. But with the state law looming, even the establishments that received exemptions, like the Polish German Club House in Queens, must either quickly jettison any salaried employees or face a smoke-free future.

James Barrows, a Fish Bar patron who enjoyed chain-smoking over a beer on Monday night, said he had voted for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg but now felt betrayed by him for launching the crusade toward a smokeless New York. But there is still one way for Mr. Barrows, a 30-year-old writer from Brooklyn, to evade the new law, he said.

"Hoboken," he said, gesturing vaguely toward New Jersey. "I'll be visiting Hoboken."

July 8, 2003
        Smoking Ban Obeyed, or Enforcers Go Easy
        By Andrea Elliot

Restaurants and bars in New York City appear to be complying with the new smoking ban. Only 23 were cited for permitting smoking in May, a tiny fraction of the city's 20,000 bars, restaurants and clubs, officials said yesterday.

The number could also reflect the leniency of city inspectors, who are still trying to educate violators rather than fine them, some restaurant owners and city officials said.

Compliance is encouraged by fines, starting at $200 and shooting up to as much as $2,000 for a third offense in a year, and by the risk of losing licenses to operate.

"We're not seeing a great number of violations, as our numbers make clear," said Sandra Mullin, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. "There's certainly a combination of enforcement and education going on."

Restaurant and bar workers face a steep learning curve with the new law, which not only bans smoking but also penalizes less obvious signs that smoking may be occurring: the presence of ashtrays or the absence of "No Smoking" signs, each considered a violation with a first-offense fine of $200.

Alain Denneulin, 48, the owner of the Resto Léon at 351 East 12th Street, is still trying to master the new law after three visits by inspectors (yet only one fine, for having ashtrays on a table).

"We knew about the ban, but people were smoking on the tables," Mr. Denneulin said, gesturing to several small round tables on the sidewalk at the entrance.

Smoking is allowed at 25 percent of those tables, under rules permitting some smoking on terraces, an inspector told him.

On later visits by inspectors, Mr. Denneulin learned that smokers outside must be able to see the sky. Their smoke must not be trapped by an awning, which at his club hangs too far forward.

Most of his smoking customers now linger around a small steel bench a few steps from the sidewalk tables, and their noise irritates people who live upstairs.

It is a far cry from the dining culture in Mr. Denneulin's hometown, Antibes, in the south of France.

"You sit down, you eat, you drink, you smoke a cigarette," he said. "That's the way it should be."

Available to help teach restaurant and bar workers the rules of the new nonsmoking era are more than 100 inspectors and a small group of "environmental technicians."

The technicians, recently hired, focus more on spotting smoking-ban violations than do the inspectors, who also inspect for sanitation violations.

There are nine environmental technicians, but the city is budgeted for 12 and will continue hiring, Ms. Mullin said.

The inspectors usually work until 11 p.m. but many are working into the early morning hours checking late-night establishments, she said.

The city has cited 70 restaurants, bars and clubs for violations, including the 23 where people were actually smoking. The city has fielded 500 complaints.

Someone complained about the Players, a private club for theater patrons at 16 Gramercy Park South, said John Martello, its executive director.

Inspectors visited the club a month ago and announced they had received a tip that people were smoking. They quickly spotted a smoker, ashtrays and the absence of conspicuously posted "No Smoking" signs, three violations.

The club, where Mark Twain once smoked with relish, is now free of cigar or cigarette smoke, a ghostly absence from the worn oak floors and the red leather seats.

"We haven't replenished the humidor," Mr. Martello said. "It's bearable for some of these people now, but when we get to December or January, people are going to be climbing the walls or not coming at all."

Most restaurants, bars and clubs have not yet reported the economic effect of the smoking ban, but some signs of hardship are surfacing.

"I am receiving a lot of anecdotal information from various small bars and restaurants that are indicating that their business has suffered considerably," said E. Charles Hunt, executive vice president of the Greater New York City Chapters of the New York State Restaurant Association. "I've had people tell me that their business is off by as much as 50 percent. I think the ones that are feeling it the most are less the restaurants and more the bars and taverns."

July 1, 2003
        Smoking Foes Blame Lobbying for Delay in Fire-Safe Cigarettes
        By James C. McKinley Jr.

Three years after the Legislature required that cigarettes sold in New York be manufactured so they would cause fewer fires, the Pataki administration has yet to issue regulations to put the law into effect, partly because of heavy lobbying by the tobacco industry, opponents of smoking said today.

Last week, the administration published a notice that it would not meet the law's July 1 deadline for putting the regulations in force, postponing the action until at least Dec. 31 and perhaps longer.

But Pataki administration officials said the delay owed less to lobbying by tobacco companies than to the scientific problems of devising rules for something no other government has tried to regulate before. Peter Constantakes, a spokesman for the Department of State, said the administration expected to put out the regulations in several weeks.

"We have to make sure the science is right," he said. "It's really groundbreaking what we are doing here."
 
 
 
 
 

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September 28, 2003
        BARTENDER FIRED IN PUFF HUFF
        By Joanna Walters and Stefan C. Friedman

A TriBeCa bartender is being fired over an incident with a smoking-ban inspector at a downtown dive.

Lisa-Marie Dallas, 33, a bartender at Puffy's tavern, will serve her final pint Tuesday following a July incident in which she and a female inspector got into a fracas over a patron smoking.

"The inspectors came in, [and] one customer was smoking," Dallas recalls. "They asked my why I hadn't told him to stop. I said I hadn't noticed it. But they said I should have called the cops on him."

The bartender admits she then lost her temper and some of the customers followed suit, resulting in a half-hour shouting match that ended with the inspector giving manager Frank DeMarco a $200 ticket.

DeMarco sided with the inspector, saying "she was just doing her job."

When Dallas ignored an inspector during a return visit, DeMarco, who then faced a $2,000 fine for a second violation, gave Dallas her walking papers.

Still, Dallas didn't seem too disappointed with being fired because she, like many other bartenders in the city, has seen bar sales plummet since the smoking ban went into effect.

"Business is bad anyway and it's going to go down even more."

Puffy's is just one of 524 establishments ticketed by the Health Department for smoking-related violations.

Other restaurant managers and owners find many of the inspectors to be nit-picking when it comes to issuing tickets.

"I don't disagree with the smoking ban," said Steve Lopez, 28, a manager of Upper East Side bar Tavaru. "But getting tickets for little things you didn't even know about is not fair."

Lopez claims inspectors ticketed him for having an ashtray in his office, which is located upstairs from the public bar.

September 27, 2003
        IN CIG TROUBLE
        By Hasani Gittens and Stephanie Gaskell

More than 40 bars and restaurants have been slapped with at least three tickets for violating the city smoking ban - which puts the repeat offenders in danger of being shut down, officials said yesterday.

A total of 524 establishments have been ticketed.

Since the strict ban went into effect six months ago, 30 establishments were hit with three tickets, 10 have gotten four tickets - and two bars have received five tickets, according to city Health Department data obtained by The Post.

That brings the total to 42 bars and restaurants that could be closed down if they continue to violate the "three strikes and you're out" rule.

Under the ban, any business that gets three violations in a 12-month period can lose its operating permit from the Health Department, whose spokeswoman, Sandra Mullin, said yesterday bars with three or more strikes are not yet in danger of being closed - unless they continue to flout the law.

"No establishment is currently in jeopardy for losing their operating permit," she said.

"This would only be the case if they willfully and continuously were not complying with the Smoke-Free Air Act."

Chris Chryson, owner of Avenue Café in Astoria, Queens, has been hit with five tickets.

"It's very upsetting," he said. "What do you tell [customers]? Do you start fighting with them?"

"They come here at least once a week," said co-owner John Sinanis of the inspectors. "It's like harassment. They don't let you work."

Avenue plans to fight the tickets, and Chryson said he's not worried about being put out of business.

Avenue patron Dino Dionysiou, 25, called the treatment "horrible. It's just horrible. I'm starting to go to only places that allow smoking."

"It's ridiculous, you're outside," said Avenue customer Luca Massetti, 23, who works elsewhere as a bartender - and says the anti-smoking rule has cost him business and tips.

"I've taken a big hit," Massetti said. "This smoking thing is ruining New York City."

The Athens Café, also in Astoria, was the only other establishment to be hit with five citations. Owner Nick Constantinos declined to comment, but customers were vocal.

"Yeah, I don't like this ban, it's a free country," said Socrates Georganteas, 33, enjoying a Marlboro in the café's outdoor section - where wait staff said citations had been given for patrons smoking under awnings. "I think it's totally unfair. Indoors I understand, but outside?"

"It's in our culture," said his friend, Andreas Dimitropoulos, 34, who doesn't smoke. "To sit, smoke and drink coffee, it's a culture thing for us - good or bad."

The citations can be for a number of offenses, such as permitting smoking in the bar or not having proper signs against smoking.

Mullin pointed out that most bars and restaurants are complying.

Since the ban - pushed by Mayor Bloomberg - took effect on March 30, health inspectors have visited 26,067 businesses. Of those, 524 were ticketed.

Still, many bar owners said the law is too strict.

"If they walk in the door, they're going to give you a fine," said Chris Vorhees, a bartender at Captain Walters in Brooklyn, which has been ticketed four times, including two times for not posting proper signs.

Businesses are required to post "No Smoking" signs and workplace policy signs with specific language. If the sign doesn't meet Health Department standards, owners can face fines from $200 to $2,000.

"To give somebody a ticket for not having a proper sign, it's ridiculous," Vorhees said. "What more explaining do you need other than 'No Smoking?' "

Movie theaters and sports clubs also got ticketed.

In Manhattan, a Clearview Cinema on East 23rd Street, a Loews Cinema on Third Avenue in the Upper East Side and the Ziegfield Theatre in Midtown were ticketed for not having proper signs.

David Rabin, president of the New York Nightlife Association, said: "It's a sad comment that some places have been forced to choose between complying with the law and going out of business."

September 25, 2003
        BUTT-BAN BOMBSHELL
        By Fredric U. Dicker and Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY - The state Lobbying Commission has begun investigating nine anti-smoking groups for possible legal violations in backing the state's sweeping new tobacco law, The Post has learned.
The probe began earlier this week in the wake of a declaration by several anti-smoking groups that they would launch a million-dollar advertising campaign to discourage state lawmakers from rolling back the new law, which took effect July 24.

Information obtained by the commission showed that none of the groups, which were active in mobilizing support to get the smoking ban passed, has registered with the commission.

Organizations that spend more than $2,000 on lobbying and fail to register with the state are subject to fines of up to $25,000.

Anti-smoking groups being investigated by the commission include Smoke Free NY.Com, the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition, the National Center for Tobacco Free Kids, Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island and Power Against Tobacco.

"We have begun an investigation into many of these groups, and they should be receiving a letter from us shortly," Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau told The Post.

"We will be asking them to explain if they have met the threshold of spending over $2,000 on lobbying activities."

Audrey Silk, co-founder of the pro-smoking New York City group CLASH, called the investigation "wonderful."

"My only question is, 'What took so long?' " said Silk, who said her group had not registered with the commission because it spends less than $2,000 a year.

"It's patently obvious what (the anti-smoking groups) have been doing. They feel they're above it all," she contended.

Many restaurants and other businesses have complained that the new law has cut substantially into their income.

As a result, several state lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), have said they may be willing to modify the law.

Supporters of the law contend any business losses will be short-term.

September 22, 2003
        BRUNO BOOSTS SMOKER HOPES
        By Fredric U. Dicker

A KEY backer of the state's harsh new anti-smoking law has some hope for smokers: Changes may be coming.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), under considerable local criticism for a law that is hurting many restaurants and bars, now says he's "open" to making changes when the Legislature returns next year.

"We are open," insisted Bruno, who shocked many of his conservative constituents, as well as his fellow GOP lawmakers, by spearheading passage of the state's draconian smoking ban, which took effect July 24.

"We're looking at alternatives, and we're very mindful of the [harmful] business conditions," continued Bruno.

"I don't want to sound callous or uncaring. Yes, we're open-minded."

Local Republicans say Bruno's popularity has taken a major hit because of his original stand, which prompted prominent Albany-area talk show host Paul Vandenberg to call for Bruno's ouster.

Gov. Pataki, meanwhile, has appeared to be on both sides of the issue, signing the ban into law while saying he's open to changes.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has also indicated he's open to changing the law.

September 22, 2003
        NEXT: NO CIGS IN YOUR CAR
        By Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY - Smoking even in the privacy of your own car could be banned under one of at least five state bills introduced in the past year to limit where a person can light up.

From public beaches to carnivals to a person's private vehicle, the legislation would make it more difficult for smokers to take a drag.

Pro-smoking forces fear the ultimate goal of some lawmakers is to ban cigarettes and cigars completely in New York.

"This is a well-planned strategy to essentially eradicate tobacco use using back-door methods," said Audrey Silk, co-founder of the New York City-based pro-smokers group CLASH.

"This is completely about controlling one group of people using a legal product," Silk added.

But the sponsors of the bills deny such intent. They said each anti-smoking bill has its own merit, including protecting children, helping New York businesses, and reducing litter.

"With concern for public health, I would be pleased [if smoking were banned], but that's not what we're doing," said Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis, the Legislature's leading anti-smoking advocate and a sponsor of many of the pending bills.

Grannis (D-Manhattan) said bills like those outlawing smoking in cars with kids on board and banning the sale of more affordable small packs of cigarettes are designed to protect children.

And he insists his bill to ban smoking at parks and beaches is meant to cut down on litter.

But some of his legislative colleagues question where you draw the line.

"There are those who would like to ban smoking outright," said Sen. Elizabeth Little (R-Queensbury). "It's government coming in pretty strong on people's lives and choices."

And smokers fear it's just a matter of time until a lawmaker introduces legislation to prohibit smoking inside the home by using secondhand smoke as an excuse.

"They're turning this into a dictatorship," said upstate bar owner Brenda Perks. "They're going right back to the Hitler days."

September 22, 2003
        BLOOMBERG'S SMOKING-BAN BLARNEY
        By Des O'Brien; Des O'Brien is is the owner of Langan's Bar and Restaurant in Manhattan.

RUDY Guiliani took a sideswipe at Mayor Bloomberg during his recent visit to Dublin, saying of an Ireland-wide smoking ban due to go into effect Jan.1 that smokers and non-smokers alike should be allowed their preference.

Rudy has since said he didn't mean to bash the mayor, but if his comments aren't a full frontal assault on Mayor Mike's ban, then I don't know what is.

Good for Rudy. He said it as he saw it when he was mayor, and he's saying it as he sees it now. Mayor Mike could well take heed.

Bloomberg's spin doctors have been telling us lately that our business has increased since his ban went into effect March 30, and that we as an industry have taken on more employees.

Bull. If the growing unemployment lines, and the equally undisputed fact that New York City is not responding positively to the improving national economy aren't proof enough, here's more:

Recently, I attended a board of directors meeting of the city chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association. Bear in mind, this chapter voted in favor of the smoking ban almost from the outset. The logic was that it would level the playing field among the association's members. Those who promoted the ban and the mayor's office also assure us that dining out would increase.

The attendees at the board meeting were posed a question: Had anyone noticed an increase in business since the ban went into effect?

Not one hand was raised. No surprise there.

Meanwhile, City Council Speaker President Gifford Miller refuses to meet with representatives of the association to discuss the issue.

Nor, for that matter, would Irish Health Minister Micheàl Martin meet with any association delegates or bar/restaurant owners to explore the issues. He was, however, chaperoned around the city courtesy of Mayor Mike on a fact-finding mission that "demonstrated" the "success" of the ban.

His early reports back to the homeland appeared to substantiate his belief in what Bloomberg's spin doctors had spun. Democracy defined.

As an industry, we are not advocating the use of tobacco products, or even for that matter supportive of big tobacco. We only ask for fair and well considered dialogue with government officials, who continue to shy away from our efforts to meet. This is contemptuous, a blatant disregard for the single largest employer of people (outside of government) in this city and state. We want to have a choice. So does Rudy.

Stay tuned: There will be a choice at the polling booths.

September 19, 2003
        MIKE: BUTT REALLY, RUDY BACKS BAN
        By Stephanie Gaskell

Mayor Bloomberg insisted yesterday that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani "is certainly in favor of" the city's strict smoking ban - a day after Giuliani said it went too far.

On Wednesday, Giuliani said publicly for the first time that the new law was unfair to smokers. Giuliani later called Bloomberg to explain what he meant when he said the city's less harsh 1995 smoking ban struck "the right balance."

Bloomberg said Giuliani "just thought that sometimes you go part-way to get there, let people adjust and then go the rest of the ways."

But a spokeswoman for Giuliani yesterday refused to answer the question when asked directly if the former mayor supports Bloomberg's sweeping anti-smoking law.

"Mayor Giuliani supports Mayor Bloomberg," Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel said repeatedly.

September 18, 2003
        GIULIANI BUTTS IN AND RAPS CIG BAN
        By Stephanie Gaskell

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani yesterday offered some surprising criticism of his successor's policies, saying Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban isn't right for New York.

In a TV interview in Dublin, Ireland, the cigar-loving former mayor said smokers should have some rights - and he also raised the problem of all the smokers spilling from restaurants and bars onto sidewalks.

On the same day Giuliani spoke, Bloomberg was meeting here with the Irish health minister, Michael Martin.

The former mayor apparently felt contrite about his comments - Bloomberg told a gathering of Manhattan Republicans last night that Giuliani called to apologize.

Giuliani told Bloomberg his comments were not a potshot - and Bloomberg said he told his predecessor not to worry about them.

Giuliani - in Ireland to meet business leaders - told his interviewer that the city's less harsh 1995 restrictions on smoking in restaurants struck "the right balance."

"It limited pretty dramatically the places that you could smoke, but it left open some places where people who enjoy smoking would be allowed to do it," he said.

New York's ban is causing problems on city streets, Giuliani said.

"If you say, 'Well, people can't smoke inside,' then they smoke outside. And then outside becomes more congested."

Since leaving office, Giuliani has not criticized Bloomberg or his policies, saying he didn't want to second-guess his successor because he knows what it's like.

"I'm surprised that the former Republican mayor is speaking out so strongly against the current Republican mayor," said City Council member Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who chairs the Health Committee.

But Giuliani's spokeswoman insisted his comments were not about the New York's smoking ban.

"This is not about New York," said spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. "This question was asked of the mayor in the context of Ireland."

Giuliani warned the Irish that they should think twice about the nation's smoking ban, to take effect in January.

"I think government should provide the ability for people who want to make a choice to make that choice," Giuliani said.

"Some people want the choice of being able to dine in a smoke-free environment, and they should be entitled to that."

September 17, 2003
        SMOKING COPS HIT BARS WITH 524 TIX
        By Stephanie Gaskell

Health inspectors have written 524 tickets for violations of the city's new smoking ban, officials said yesterday.

Thirty bars and restaurants were ticketed on more than one occasion since the law took effect March 30, according to Nancy Miller, the Health Department's assistant commissioner for tobacco control. Officials said they couldn't immediately provide the names of the businesses.

The department has received 1,911 complaints about smoking since the ban started, Miller said.

During a hearing at Pace University, Miller testified the ban was not hurting the city's $10 billion restaurant industry.

"While there have been some anecdotal reports of some establishments losing business, the data show that [the] city bar and restaurant industry actually grew in the first three months of the ban," Miller said. That got the nearly 100 bar and restaurant workers who attended the hearing riled.

"The smoking ban has devastated my business," said Hogs and Heifers owner Michelle Dell. "I may have to lay off workers soon. We need help before it's too late."

Dell said her business is down 12 percent since the ban took effect.

Vincent Fyfe, head of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, said his members are reporting a 20 to 40 percent drop in liquor sales.

Dr. Mimi Fahs, a health economist at the New School, testified that U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that food industry jobs have increased since the ban.

Rob Bookman, an attorney for the New York Nightlife Association, shot back that the statistics actually show jobs are down.

The hearing was hosted by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields.

"It is incumbent upon us to be willing to examine, listen and make sure we're not doing anything to any large industry that could effectively destroy it," Fields said.

September 11, 2003
        Smoky The Bar
        Apartment's a new B'klyn hot spot
        By Dori Fern

The scene at Brooklyn's Bar Jace is smoking -- literally.  Practically every person who shows up at the Prospect Heights nightspot lights up freely.

Bar Jace is not really a bar, at least not in the official sense of the word.

There is a mahogany-stained, birch-veneer bar, but his hot spot is located in an 800-square-foot apartment shared by three pro-smoking roommates, Jace, Kevin and Rachel (who asked that their last names be withheld so their landlord won't find out there's now a bar screwed into his walls).

A day care center is their only neighbor in the two-story building -- and it's shuttered for hours before the party begins.

Last Friday night, the nondescript front door betrayed no hint of the activities inside.

Ashley Clifford was pleased to be in such a welcoming environment.

The 22-year-old stage manager moved to New York less than two months ago from Las Vegas, where people "can do whatever, wherever."

She sat cross-legged at the bar, grumbling about how the smoking ban compromises the city's cosmopolitan image.

"Come on, this supposed to be the party capital of the world and then there's restriction, restriction, restriction," she said, punching the air with her cigarette.

Bartender Jace broke the tension by plunking down a couple of Dixie cups filled with tequila (drinks are free, but guests tip generously).  Later in the evening, rumors that two women were caught canoodling spread through the apartment.

Twenty-four-year-old Jace constructed the six-seater bar in January largely "because I like to build stuff," he said while the blinking, multicolored lights of a framed Jesus picture glowed behind him.

When the smoking ban went into effect in March, the virtue of his creation was realized.

It gave the housemates all the incentive they needed to open their own night spot instead of suffering the indignity of being kicked to the curb for a puff.

"It's degrading, having to stand outside like a hooker to have a smoke," said Kevin, 22, a Bensonhurst-bred scenic designer whose box-like bedroom became Twister central.

By midnight, the place was packed and the air was hazy.  Many of the night's guests are Kevin's colleagues, here to blow off steam before a week of long hours building runways for Fashion Week.

Rachel, 24, a trade union organizer, aptly summed up the evening's success:

"It's cheaper than going out in the city and everyone I want to see is here.  There's no scene-y s---.  If you get drunk, someone puts you to bed.  It's a friendly atmosphere."

Around 4 a.m., after the crowds had gone, Jace and Kevin counted out the tip jar.  Some of the funds had been spent on a midparty beer run, but there was just enough left for breakfast and a pack of smokes.

September 9, 2003
        POLS URGE GOV TO LIFT CIG BAN
        By Fredric U. Dicker

ALBANY - Prominent conservative and liberal politicians, bolstered by a stunning poll, urged Gov. Pataki and lawmakers yesterday to ease the state's harsh new anti-smoking law.

"I'm calling on the governor and the Legislature to fix the law," said state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long. "Clearly, government has gone too far and the people of New York are saying so." The party commissioned a poll, first reported in yesterday's Post, that found nearly 68 percent of all New Yorkers and 63 percent of city voters believe the new ban on smoking went too far.

Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey said the smoking ban had harmed hundreds of businesses in his district by driving smokers into Pennsylvania.

September 8, 2003
        SMOKING LAWS TOO HARSH, VOTERS SAY
        By Frederic U. Dicker

NEW YORKERS over whelmingly believe that Gov. Pataki and the Legislature "went too far" in passing the state's harsh new anti-smoking law, a bombshell new poll shows.

And the poll found they want the law - which took effect July 24 - changed.

The still-secret survey, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, shows that nearly 68 percent of all New York state voters - and 63 percent of city voters - say the controversial anti-smoking ban is too severe.

New Yorkers of all ethnicities agree that the ban went too far: blacks, 78 percent; Hispanics, 68.4 percent; and whites, 66.4 percent;

They also agree it went too far by sex: men, 70.7 percent, and women, 64.5 percent. They even agree it went too far by political orientation: Democrats, 63.8 percent; Republicans, 67.9 percent; independents, 75.3 percent.

And even nonsmokers agree it went too far.

A whopping 62 percent of nonsmokers said the law is too harsh.

The poll also shows a majority of New Yorkers want the law changed.

The poll, conducted by the nationally renowned firm of McLaughlin & Associates, found two out of three voters say Pataki and state lawmakers should modify the law to permit - at the very least - some smoking in bars, nightclubs and lounges.

Just 28 percent said they wanted the current law left the way it is.

The poll - the first to become public since the smoking ban took effect - was commissioned by the state Conservative Party.

It found a majority of New Yorkers believe the state should keep its hands off local smoking regulations and leave it to bar and restaurant owners alone to decide if smoking should be permitted.

Nearly 57 percent of all those surveyed - and nearly 53 percent of New York City voters - said the decision should be left to the private sector.

Just 22 percent said state government should make the decision, and another 17 percent said it should be left to local governments.

"This poll shows that the Legislature and Gov. Pataki went too far," said state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long.

"Voters wisely know we can find a workable way to handle smoking without big government crushing everybody's freedom of choice," said Long, who is expected to make the poll public as soon as today.

The new poll surveyed 600 likely New York voters July 29-30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

[Review the poll at http://www.mclaughlinonline.com/newspoll/np2003/030808nycon.pdf]

September 5, 2003
        CIGARETTE PUFFERS' LAST HOPE GOES UP IN SMOKE
        By Hasani Gittens and Stephanie Gaskell

Beleaguered bar owners were burned again yesterday after Mayor Bloomberg warned that a legal loophole in the state's smoking ban was tight enough to stop all but a handful of establishments from lighting up again.

The state's new anti-smoking law gives cities across the state the right to grant waivers to bars and restaurants that have seen their business plummet because of the ban.

But city officials say the state law doesn't require them to grant waivers — and Bloomberg said only that the city would consider them on a "case-by-case" basis.

Bar owners saw no cheer in Bloomberg's view.

"It's stupid to say that the rest of New York state can recover their losses but the people of New York City can't," said Katherine Kyle, a bartender at Collins Bar in Hell's Kitchen.

The city's law went into effect on March 30. But an Aug. 20 state Health Department memo — reported in yesterday's Post — has the effect of allowing the city to grant waivers to establishments that want to build ventilated smoking rooms and owner-operated pubs if they can show the smoking ban has hurt their business.

"Anytime somebody makes a request [for a waiver], I will certainly talk to the [health] commissioner and we will look at that," Bloomberg said yesterday.

The number of such waiver requests is likely to be minuscule.

Bars where the owner is also the sole employee are rare. And ventilated smoking rooms are so costly to build that only a handful of bar owners sought to do so before the city smoking ban took effect.

September 4, 2003
        NEW HOPE FOR CIG FANS
        By Kenneth Lovett and Stephanie Gaskell

Smokers, there's still hope.

A little-noticed loophole in the state's new anti-smoking law gives cities and other municipalities across the state the right to grant waivers to bars and restaurants that have lost business because of the ban, officials said last night.

State Health Department spokesman William Van Slyke said the new exemption provision applies in New York City, where many bar and restaurant owners complain that business plummeted after the city enacted its own stringent smoking ban earlier this year.

The state law gives New York City officials the power to grant such waivers - but does not require that they exercise that authority or even set up a waiver process, Van Slyke said.

A state Health Department memo sent out late last month tells cities and counties across the state that they can grant waivers and allow smoking if the business owner can prove financial hardship.

City officials said last night they were reviewing that state's Aug. 20 memo and pointed out that the city law doesn't have a waiver provision for economically distressed businesses - and the officials didn't say if they would use the power in the new state law to grant waivers to deserving bars or restaurants.

"We're reviewing the state's memorandum. However, the city law does not have a waiver provision, and therefore we cannot waive any requirements of the city's law," said city Health Department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin.

"We are reviewing the implications of the state memo," she added.

Seventy-five hard-hit upstate businesses have already applied for waivers.

"It's mildly encouraging that some legislators are waking up to the fact that they've cut the legs out from an entire industry," said David Rabin, co-owner of Lotus nightclub in the Meatpacking District and president of the New York Nightlife Association.

"It's a gratifying first step, but we will not rest until the law has been amended so that it's not just on a case-by-case basis," he added.

Under the state's guidelines for waivers, an establishment must prove that complying with the ban would "cause undue financial hardship" or that other factors exist "which would render compliance unreasonable."

Those claiming financial hardship must provide financial information, including a loss in business volume since the law went into effect, among other things.

Health officials must also consider the adverse effects of secondhand smoke on those who would be subjected to the waivers, according to the guidelines.

"We are confident that further attempts by the tobacco lobby and its allies to water the legislation down have no chance of sticking," said American Cancer Society CEO Donald Distasio. "Talk of exemptions and lawsuits is nothing more than hot air, which, although tiresome, does not cause cancer."

August 30, 2003
        U.N.'s CIG-NIFICANT DECISION BANS SMOKING
        By Clemente Lisi

No butts about it - the United Nations has decided to ban smoking.

The U.N., one of the last bastions for smokers in New York, will follow the Big Apple's tough anti-smoking law beginning Monday, officials said yesterday.

"Because of the agreement with the host country, we are bound to follow the local laws," said U.N. spokeswoman Hua Jiang. "We are trying to work out what concrete measures to take."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the restrictions are meant to eliminate the risks of second-hand smoke.

In a memo to staffers, Annan urged people "to cooperate voluntarily" with the ban.

Though the U.N. has issued several critical reports on tobacco use worldwide, it didn't have to comply with the city or state's strict smoking ban because its East Side headquarters is international territory.

Officials expect an uphill battle keeping diplomats, employees and visitors in line with the anti-tobacco rules.

The ban announced yesterday is just the latest in a string of efforts by U.N. officials to stop employees from lighting up anywhere in its headquarters.

In 1995, the world body announced it was enacting a smoking ban for much of its headquarters - including lobbies, open-area offices, cafeterias and elevators - and only allowed smoking in designated places, such as an area of the delegates dining room.

The ban proved unsuccessful because it was ignored by many working in the 39-floor building.

U.N. officials said at the time that they had no authority to enforce it because diplomats who work there represent sovereign nations.

In 1997, the U.N. Children's Fund - better known as UNICEF - called for a world-smoking ban. At the time, the United States said the U.N. should ban smoking on its grounds to set an example.

Mayor Bloomberg approved a citywide smoking ban in March, barring people from lighting up in public places, including bars and restaurants.

August 16, 2003
        OUR PUB-LIC SPIRIT
        By Gillian Harris, Jeane MacIntosh, Caroline Wexler, Linda Stasi and Steve Dunleavy

The lights were out, the phone lines dead and the humidity stifling - but fun-loving New Yorkers turned the worst blackout in history into an all-night summer party in bars, cafes and street corners across the city.

Once it became clear that the massive shutdown was not terrorist-related, the relief was palpable. Millions of stranded commuters and New Yorkers without power decided to make the most of a long, hot, dark night by grabbing a cold beer and making new friends.

Bars without air conditioning and rapidly dwindling supplies of alcohol reported their busiest night of the year. At the Emerald Inn on Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side, revelers crammed into the tiny bar, where candles flickered on the tables and 200 pounds of ice kept beer supplies cool.

Elsewhere in Midtown, Mayor Bloomberg's anti-smoking squad would have had a field day had they been on blackout patrol. Several popular watering holes from Times Square to Hell's Kitchen were aglow in candlelight and jammed with sweaty, thirsty patrons who lit up indoors with abandon.

August 11, 2003
        HOT LINE BURNS MAYOR
        By Stefan C. Friedman

Thousands of New Yorkers are calling 311 to give Mayor Bloomberg the 411 on his job performance - and their feedback is not so good.

The city's non-emergency hot line - which also serves as a message board for the mayor - received more than 7,500 calls from March 1 to June 9 from people wishing to opine on the mayor.

A large majority gave Bloomberg a big thumbs-down. Firehouse closings and the smoking ban topped the list of the most-heard gripes.

Ten percent of the total calls about the mayor criticized Hizzoner on his decision to shutter firehouses as a way to close the city's $3.6 billion budget deficit.

"You are putting people's lives in danger," fumed one caller. If you want to close any firehouses, close one on your block."

Another caller was even harsher, saying, "Please do two things for New York City: Reopen the six firehouses and leave."

Just eight people thought the firehouse closings were a positive sign.

The mayor's smoking ban was almost as unpopular.

Four out of five people calling on the butt ban though it was a bad idea.

One voicer labeled the mayor "a fool" for saying that the ban would "save 1,000 lives a year."

Many others complained about bars and restaurants being financially crippled, while others vented over the amount of smoke wafting through their windows from puffers congregated outside bars.

[additional reporting in the print version - Complaints to 311]  "I [haven't] been so disgusted or discouraged since Nixon" "The smoking ban is reminiscent of communist Russia.  I voted for him before.  I will never vote for him or any of his yes men again."

August 8, 2003
        BLOOMBERG'S BETRAYAL: ATTACK ON LITTLE-GUY BAR OWNERS
        By Steve Dunleavy

WHEN Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor, he betrayed his supporters.

I'm not saying this. It is said by a very smart man named Joseph Santora, a lawyer and a crime buster who worked under the very liberal Republican Mayor John Lindsay.

Santora supported Bloomberg, and Joseph's wife even volunteered on the mayor's election campaign.

Santora, 63, said: "Bloomberg was elected mayor, not commissioner of faith and morals, like Oliver Cromwell."

"Taxes and edicts should follow law, to raise revenues, not to influence a human's legal lifestyle."

Counselor Santora was, of course, speaking in particular about this hemorrhage of money in the bar and restaurant business, caused by Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban.

But he wasn't just telling me.

He wrote a blistering letter to the mayor, outlining all of the problems with the administration.

Here are some of the highlights:

* "Your apparent solution to our fiscal problems is higher taxes, more regulation and borrowing. They only make a recession worse."

* "You keep chanting city employees are all dedicated, hardworking and efficient, when anyone dealing with them knows that is nonsense."

* "If the war on smoking was so important, your failure to mention it in the campaign was no oversight, but deliberate concealment."

True, true and true.

Bloomberg was decent enough to respond to Santora's letter. But Santora wasn't satisfied.

"This is about an egomaniacal intrusion into a human's personal and legal habits," Santora said. "It is one man's edict."

And that's the heart of the problem. Bloomberg's spent too much time in the board room and not enough on the streets of New York. The denizens of our fair city don't like to be told what to do by someone they don't respect.

"This man is tone-deaf," said Santora.

True.

July 31, 2003
        HEAR US COUGH
        Page Six

DESPITE Mayor Bloomberg's somnambulistic dedication to his Tali-ban on smoking, some city officials want to be reasonable. Manhattan Beep Virginia Fields will host a hearing on the effects of the smoking ban on Sept. 16. Fields says that her office and city agencies have noticed "the dramatic increase in the number of complaints about outdoor noise as a result of the ban." Restaurant and bar owners "have also complained about a drop in business." Look for more pols to join the fight to liberate smokers from nanny-government oppression.

July 27, 2003
        WAITING TO INHALE: LET'S PUT OUT THE SMOKING BAN
        By Linda Stasi

After the murder of City Councilman James Davis at City Hall on Wednesday, hundreds of outraged bar and restaurant owners, smokers and workers, still decided to go ahead with a "ban-the-ban" smoking rally outside City Hall on the following day.

Since I'd been asked to speak at the event, I found myself in a quandary. Would it be disrespectful to Davis' memory to participate in a rally aimed at pols - at the place where one had been gunned down?

Probably not - after all, Davis was a guy who spent his career literally fighting City Hall - from the inside out.

The protest was held to fight the ridiculous smoking ban, which had spread (like the side-stream smoke it was supposed to prevent) statewide on Thursday.

A couple of questions: Why aren't owners allowed to decide for themselves whether they want to run a smoking or non-smoking place? And why aren't we allowed to decide for ourselves whether we want to go there or not? I don't know about you, but nobody's ever forced me to eat out.

And if the law was enacted in large part to "protect" grub and pub workers, why then were hundreds of those workers protesting that the only thing the ban has protected them from are the tips they used to get when their bars were busy?

Finally, why the heck would you become a bartender if you hated smoke? Would you become a chef if you were anorexic?

Me? I used to light up with the best of them but it became such a pain in the, er, butt, to light up at work that I quit. It was just me and the hookers standing in the freezing cold, outside of where I was working at the time. I had the shoes for it, but tragically, the rest of the outfit needed some work. I looked like the only working girl on 11th Avenue in a sensible cloth coat and woolen hat.

July 25, 2003
        SAVING THEIR ASH
        By Stephanie Gaskell and Kenneth Lovett

Hundreds of bar and restaurant owners gathered outside City Hall to protest the state's new smoking ban, which took effect yesterday.

"We're dying," said Maura O'Sullivan, who owns the Old Blarney bar in Lower Manhattan.

"We didn't gain any new non-smoking customers [under the city ban]. We've lost customers."

Up to 1,000 protesters rallied against the law.

It does away with several exemptions allowed by the city law, including single-owner-operated bars and bars with separate smoking rooms.

Lawmakers claim the ban won't hurt the city's economy — but bar owners aren't buying it.

"If that's the case, why hasn't anyone ever opened a non-smokers' bar?" said David Rabin, co-owner of Lotus. "You'd think they'd have the busiest bar in New York."

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens), who voted for the city smoking ban, told the rally he would now try to get city lawmakers to reconsider.

"I've always had concerns from day one," he said. "The hearings were done in such a way that this was a done deal."

Minutes before the rally, a few dozen supporters of the ban gathered outside City Hall to commend Gov. Pataki for signing the statewide ban.

"Today is a great day because New York City blazed the trail," said Dan Klotz of the American Cancer Society.

"This ban has been embraced by an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers. New Yorkers who go out not only breathe more easily, but their dry cleaning bills have gone down, too."

Meanwhile, Scott Paul, co-owner of the Center Street Smoke House in upstate Batavia, accused state officials of "trying to enlist me in their anti-smoking Nazi army and make me one of their enforcers, and I won't do that."

Paul said he'll brave fines to get his day in court and argue for a more reasonable law.

"There's got to be a secondhand-smoke standard that's somewhere between 'zero tolerance' and 'it's so thick you can't see,' " he said.

July 25, 2003
        TOBACCO WACKOS, MEET THE FIGHTING IRISH
        By Steve Dunleavy

THEY had the map of Ire land written all over their faces.

They were Seamus O'Toole of Eamonn's in Brooklyn, there was Mike Glynn of Kennedy's, there was Sean and Patty Riley from the Molly Wee.

They came out in force outside City Hall yesterday chanting "Can the Ban" and Paudie O'Callaghan led a six-man delegation from Ireland to give support to the protest against the state and city's smoking laws.

They were there because the ban is strangling their bar business, threatening their mortgages, and jeopardizing the financial security of their staffs.

Most were Irish, like Brendan Carrigy, a retired bartender and Vietnam veteran, but it was guys like Queens Councilman Tony Avella who showed it was not just an Emerald Isle issue.

Avella, who doesn't smoke or drink, said: "The opposition doesn't even discuss this thing. Bloomberg set up the smoking hearings as a done deal. That's not democracy.

"Nobody asked anyone. Just a done deal."

He voted for the ban, but told the crowd he now wants the council to reconsider.

Across the park at a saddened City Hall, after one fanatic killed a wonderful guy on Wednesday, was a demonstration by the other side — those who favor the smoking ban.

Donna Shelley, chairperson of the Smoke-Free Coalition, danced like a cat on a hot tin roof when asked a simple and obvious question.

Are you for freedom of choice for a woman to have an abortion? Answer: "Yes." But you're against the freedom of choice for a person to light up in a bar? Answer:

"I'm just not going to go into that," she said as she led her 50-strong counter protest, made up of mostly teenage school kids.

Mike Glynn, of Kennedy's Bar on 57th street: "This is killing us, killing a tax base for Bloomberg's budget and all we get is lies."

In full disclosure I have to reveal that I am a smoker and extremely biased on the issue, which puts me on the opposite sides of Mayor Bloomberg, who is in danger of politically disappearing off the radar screen.

But watching these arrogant Cromwellians piously beat their breasts and use a couple of kids as their props should probably tell you a little something about the nature of the beast.

They are masking their arrogance in the camouflage of virtue. And we know where that gets fanatics.

July 24, 2003
        WHY SMOKING BAN BURNS BUSINESSES
        By Des O'Brien - Des O'Brien is the owner of Langan's Bar and Restaurant and a member of the United Restaurant and Liquor Dealers
           Association of New York.

TURN off the lights? I'm confused - but then, no more, no less than your average New Yorker.

This week, Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed that by turning off the lights on our bridges, he would be saving jobs. He says he wants to do as much as possible to prevent people from losing work.

Pity he didn't apply that same honorable principle before he turned off the lights on our business with his draconian smoking ban.

The mayor and his fall-in-line City Council are akin to the Three Blind Mice; perhaps they like being in the dark. If they continue along this path - and I see no reason why they won't - it's only a matter of time before the entire city will find itself in the dark.

And to make matters worse, today the state's smoking ban kicks in.

Preliminary reports indicate that the state lost $150 million in sales-tax revenue during the first quarter of the year. This figure is expected to balloon to somewhere in the region of $225 million per quarter for the remainder of the year, unless there is a miraculous economic turnaround. Expect this number to grow bigger when the statewide smoking ban goes into effect.

It is no coincidence that the $75 million jump from the first quarter occurred just as the New York City anti-smoking law went into effect. This is lost revenue to the city and state and could have prevented a tremendous amount of job losses.

The law came about through bogus science and a distortion of the facts by people with too much time on their hands. These same people are now pursuing the fast-food industry, when instead they should be addressing the core issue: making people aware of their inherent responsibility to themselves, their children and others.

Mayor Bloomberg continues to do almost nothing to return this city to a reasonable level of business and commercial strength. In fact, by virtue of almost all his policies, he has succeeded in doing almost the opposite.

Unthinkable! For such a successful person in the private sector, he is failing so miserably in the public arena.

I'm aware of his efforts to bring the Summer Olympics to New York in 2012. A very noble idea indeed.

However, who will want to come to a city where you cannot smoke in a pub, where you get ticketed if you take up two subway car seats (at 2 a.m., no less) and where you pay an absurdly high 8.625 percent sales tax and an unfathomable 14 percent occupancy tax for a hotel room?

What businesses would want to locate here or, for that matter, remain here when property taxes are crucifying them and when state-of-the-art technology permits them to conduct business from almost anywhere else in the country?

To think that 20 years ago almost all of the Fortune 500 firms were located here in New York. Now there are fewer than 50.

The people of New York are outraged, as demonstrated by Mayor Bloomberg's dismal 24 percent approval rating.

And they have good reason to be.

Restaurant industry leaders have planned a peaceful demonstration at City Hall today at 1 p.m. to demonstrate to the mayor that all is not well. Thousands are expected to be there in protest of the state smoking ban.

There is power in numbers - perhaps enough power to turn the light on in the mayor's head.

July 24, 2003
        BARS: CITY CIG STATS ASH-ININE
        By Stephanie Gaskell

City officials released new employment data yesterday to bolster their claim that the cigarette ban isn't hurting bar business - but nightspot owners said they're just blowing smoke.

From March to June, there were 9,700 new jobs in the bar and restaurant industry - compared with 9,300 jobs during the same period last year, according to the Economic Development Corporation.

"The data we have so far indicate very clearly there's been no negative impact on the industry from the smoking ban," said EDC President Andrew Alper.

But many bar and restaurant owners said the city was interpreting the statistics to bolster its anti-smoking position.

"As far as I'm concerned they're just trying to give legitimacy to the law they passed, but if you ask any owner they'd say it's been hurting business," said Steve Shaw of Gallagher's Steak House in Midtown.

Don Alonzo shut down his restaurant Alonzo's near the United Nations last month after more than a decade - and he blamed the smoking ban.

"They all used to come in here and smoke," he said. "Now they're staying at the U.N. and smoking at the restaurant there."

The United Nations is not subject to city laws.

The city's smoking ban went into effect on March 30. An even stricter statewide ban goes into effect today.

Thousands of protesters are expected at City Hall today to protest the statewide ban.

July 23, 2003
        SMOKERS GET ALL FIRED UP FOR 1 DAY
        By Stephanie Gaskell and Perry Chiaramonte

The city Health Department is allowing customers in seven lucky bars to puff away despite Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban - if only for a day, officials said yesterday.

Under the ban, which took effect March 30, bars can qualify for an exemption if they are a single-owner-operated establishment, have a separate smoking room or get 10 percent or more of their revenue from the sale of tobacco products.

Four bars qualified as single-owner-operated.

Two bars qualified as cigar or tobacco bars, which means they sell enough tobacco products to meet the revenue minimum.

Another was granted an exemption because it's a membership association, and there are technically no employees.

But it is unclear what will happen to the joints' special status once an overriding statewide ban - which allows exemptions only for tobacco bars and certain membership associations - goes into effect tomorrow.

"The new law voids some of the exemptions," Health Department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin said.

James Keenaghan - the 39-year-old owner/operator of Kitty Kiernan's in Brooklyn, which won an exemption - knows all too well that some of his business is about to be snuffed out.

"I'm exempt - until Thursday at midnight, when the [new state] law kicks in," Keenaghan sighed last night.

"I know a lot of other people in the bar business, and their profits have been down 40 percent since the ban. As soon as I can't allow my customers to smoke, I'm gonna lose a lot of business," he said.

A dozen bars applied for exemptions but were denied.

They included the Stonewall bar in Greenwich Village, which wanted to build a separate smoking room, Mullin said.

A total of seven bars originally applied for an exemption by arguing they are tobacco bars.

One of those approved was Karma in Manhattan.

"Almost everyone here is smoking," Karma bartender Lisa Gualtieri, 23, said last night.

" I think the ban is the stupidest thing ever . . . It's like prohibition all over again."

Those denied exemptions included the Hudson Bar and Books in TriBeCa and Mustang Grill on the Upper East Side.

The decision is pending on one applicant, Grand Havana, where former Mayor Rudy Giuliani held his bachelor party.

July 22, 2003
        FIRED-UP BARS SUE N.Y. OVER CIG BAN
        By Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY - Opponents of a statewide smoking ban will file a lawsuit today seeking to keep the prohibition from taking effect on Thursday, by claiming the state illegally superceded federal law, The Post has learned.

Using a novel legal argument, the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association states in its filing that workplace safety issues - including those pertaining to secondhand smoke - fall under the purview of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

"The Legislature overstepped their bounds when they made an issue about regulating worker safety," said Kevin Mulhearn, the lawyer who prepared the lawsuit. "Once they did that, they stepped into federal terrain."

The state law, which goes into effect at midnight on Thursday, will prohibit smoking indoors in most businesses and public places.

When passing the controversial law earlier this year, state lawmakers said the primary reason for the ban was to protect employees of bars and restaurants from secondhand smoke.

But according to the complaint, which will be filed today in federal court in Syracuse, states are prohibited - without special permission - from regulating worker health and safety issues for which a federal standard is already in place. The complaint claims that OSHA standards already cover "permissible safe exposure levels for employees exposed to toxic and hazardous substances in the workplace."

If the OSHA argument is successful, Mulhearn said it would leave smoking bans in other states and places like New York City rife for similar challenges.

The restaurant and tavern association will also today ask for a temporary injunction, citing "irreparable harm" caused by a potential loss of business.

"We believe that our complaint will make a persuasive argument to the court to overturn the state's smoking ban," said Scott Wexler, executive director of the restaurant and tavern association.

Supporters of the law have said they believe the ban is constitutional and will withstand any legal challenges.

The state law will have little effect on the Big Apple - which already bans smoking in public places.

In anticipation of the law taking affect, angry bar owners across the state are preparing protest rallies for Thursday, with some saying they will again turn off their Quick Draw lottery machines. Two previous Quick Draw protests cost the state more than $1 million in sales.

July 20, 2003
        SMOKE-IN
        Page 6

ANYONE fed up with Mayor "Tali-Ban" Bloomberg's costly and capricious smoking prohibition should head to City Hall Park on Thursday at 1 p.m. Citing the fact that hundreds of small businesses and thousands of employees face financial ruin while billionaire Bloomberg jets off to island retreats every weekend, the victims of his Draconian rule will rally to "Can the Ban." At the risk of suffering Bloomberg's selective enforcement, the New York Nightlife Association, the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association and other groups are lending their support to the protest, held the day the statewide ban goes into effect.

July 20, 2003
        Sucked in by the city -- again
        Bridget Harrison

Hoards of smokers ejected from the restaurant nearby loitered on my doorstep, refusing to budge as I battled my way through them.

July 20, 2003
        PHILIP MORRIS BURNS CIG COUNTERFEITERS
        By Jessical Wohl

Imitation may indeed be the sincerest form of flattery, but not when it comes to the cigarette business.

Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S. cigarette maker, says it is too easy to buy copycat versions of its top-selling Marlboro cigarettes and it is working with law enforcement to put a stop to such sales.

Philip Morris USA hopes to end all contraband sales, using tactics that include training police and hiring an agency to make undercover purchases of counterfeit cigarettes.

July 18, 2003
        SMOKE STINK
        Page 6

MAYOR Bloomberg's smoking ban is driving neighbors of Bruno Jamais' Restaurant Club on East 81st Street nuts. Locals complain about the noise generated by smokers going outside for a quick tobacco fix. "We can't get a break!" a rep for the restaurant e-mailed us. "Granted, our customers are smoking outside at 2 a.m., but . . . he needs to follow the law and force them to smoke outside . . . So, are we responsible for both the inside and half-block outside surrounding the restaurant?"

July 13, 2003
        SMOKE 'EM UP!
        By Ashley Cross and Maxine Shen

Believe it or not, there is one way smokers can still get their fix - at hookah bars and cafes. Smoking from a hookah - a water pipe filled with flavored tobacco - is as illegal as smoking tobacco, but some owners don't care.

"You can't take it away - it's atmospheric and this place calls for hookahs and decadence," says Salam al-Rawi, who owns Mamlouk. Even at restaurants where hookah smoking is relegated to the back garden, it's still a much more luxurious experience than lighting up yet another in a chain of Marlboros.

Mamlouk (211 E. 4th Street, bet. avenues A and B, [212] 529-3477) offers separate hookah-only smoking rooms (and a $15 surcharge for the pipe).

Moustache (265 East 10th street, near 1st Ave., [212] 228-2022) and Kapadokya (142 Montague Street, bet. Clinton and Henry Sts., Brooklyn, [718] 875-2211) have patios out back for hookah (and cigarette) smoking.

Café Cairo (189 E. Houston Street, bet. Orchard and Ludlow streets, [212] 529-2923) features 35 different flavors of tobacco for its pipes.

Le Souk (47 Ave B, bet. 3rd and 4th streets, [212] 777-545) provides hookahs in the backyard garden - as well as belly dancers.

Sahara East (184 1st Ave, at 11th St., [212] 353-9000) offers long benches, where patrons can drink cups of mint tea with their hookahs in the back garden.

Egyptian Coffee Shop (25-49 Steinway Street, Queens, [718] 777-5517), offers hookahs indoors - but banishes cigarette smokers to the backyard.

July 8, 2003
        BARS GO PUB-LIC WITH SMOKE SUIT
        By Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY - Restaurants and bars this week will begin asking customers to help fund a lawsuit seeking to strike down the looming statewide ban on smoking, The Post has learned.

Customers will be able to buy "Ballots for Freedom" for $1, sign them, and have them posted on the bar or restaurant wall where they purchased it.

The fund-raiser is designed to raise $500,000, said Scott Wexler, executive director of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association.

The association recently promoted an anti-smoking protest by several hundred bar owners in which they temporarily turned off their Quick Draw machines, costing the state more than $1 million.

Wexler said the first $100,000 from the fund-raiser will go toward funding the lawsuit, which is expected to be filed shortly before the ban goes into effect July 24.

The rest of the money will help fund lobbying and political activities.

"When you raise half a million dollars, you become a special-interest group," Wexler said.

The idea for the campaign mirrors charity fund-raising efforts undertaken by bars and restaurants, such as when they sell paper hearts around Valentine's Day to raise money for the American Heart Association, Wexler said.

The tavern association yesterday began distributing the Ballots for Freedom to its 5,000 members, with the idea that if each bar and restaurant sells 100, they'd meet the $500,000 target.

In the meantime, Wexler's lawyers are putting the finishing touches on the lawsuit against the state.

Wexler said his organization will challenge the smoking ban on three main issues: that the law is constitutionally vague, takes away property rights from restaurant and bar owners, and interferes with interstate commerce.

"We are very optimistic that we have a winning lawsuit here," he said.

The state law will prohibit smoking indoors in most businesses and public places. Smoking is even prohibited in outdoor sections of bars and restaurants if there is an awning or roof.

Wexler's organization fought unsuccessfully to have the law amended to allow bars to create separately ventilated smoking areas.

July 8, 2003
        MORE MAYORAL MADNESS
        Editorial

Mayor Mike's still blowin' smoke.

He wants to bust you for criminal possession of . . . an ashtray.

Well, maybe not criminal possession.

But after the first 31 days of Mayor Bloomberg's infamous citywide butt ban, his tobacco troopers had handed out no fewer than 111 tickets - with 86 for such civil violations as failing to post a "No Smoking" sign or having ashtrays in public view!

Is this really what the mayor had in mind when he insisted he was going to save hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers from cigarette smoke's pernicious effects?

Illicit ashtrays? Illicit empty ashtrays?

Indeed, a restaurant that's caught three times in public possession of ashtrays can have its operating license revoked.

"As expected, the law to protect workers from other people's smoke is largely self-enforcing," said Health Department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin, insisting that the low number of violations means bar owners are complying with the law.

That's because, she insists, "most people prefer to breathe clean air."

Or maybe it's because most people, or at least most restaurant owners - having already been hit by the mayor's mammoth sales-tax and property-tax increases - don't relish the thought of having to shell out up to $2,000 for failure to post a "No Smoking" sign.

Or having an ashtray in sight.

Especially since the same owners have felt a serious drop-off of business ever since the butt ban became law.

The mayor won a famous victory over them, but surrendered utterly as the municipal unions and other special interests ran roughshod over the city's tax base.

Gotham may be going dark.

But rest easy.

Mike's ashtray cops are on the job.

July 7, 2003
        BUTT BAN HARDLY PAYS
        By Stephanie Gaskell

A mere 25 tickets were handed out to bar and restaurant owners for allowing customers to smoke during the first month that Mayor Bloomberg's butt ban was enforced - out of 20,000 eateries citywide.

Since May 1, inspectors handed out 111 notices of violation - 25 of them for smoking, according to the city Health Department.

The others were for minor infractions, such as having ashtrays at the bar and not posting "No Smoking" signs.

The ban went into effect March 30, but health inspectors issued only warnings during the first month.

"As expected, the law to protect workers from other people's smoke is largely self-enforcing," said Associate Health Commissioner Sandra Mullin.

Health inspectors, who work only until 11 p.m., visited more than 6,500 bars and restaurants in May.

The only bar to be caught more than once for allowing customers to smoke was the Athens Cafe in Queens.

"We've been targeted big time. I don't know why," said owner Nick Constantinou, who has been slapped with seven violations - two of them for illegal puffing.

"We've enforced the law. How it cannot be clear, I don't understand. We're going to fight it," he said.

Smoking fines cost $200 to $400 for the first offense. A second offense is $500 to $1,000 and a third offense is $1,000 to $2,000.

With a $200 to $400 fine for the first ticket, the city could bring in anywhere from $22,200 to $44,400 for violations during the month of May.

There's also a "three strikes and you're out" provision - three offenses in 12 months and the establishment's license can be revoked.

All notices of violations are brought before an administrative judge, who has the authority to set the fine.

Some of the businesses that received violations include Flashdancers and Jimmy's Downtown in Manhattan, the Portofino Restaurant on City Island, Ecstasy Bar in Brooklyn and the Arab Community Center in Queens.

No bars or restaurants on Staten Island have been ticketed so far.

Mullin said the department has received 500 complaints from people calling 311, the city's nonemergency hot line, or filing a complaint on the department's Web site at www.nyc.gov/health.

The city ban allows smoking in cigar bars, separate smoking rooms and single owner-operated establishments.
 
 
 
 
 

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September 27, 2003
        Small pack still break smoke law
        By Maggie Haberman

From Carvel to Cipriani, more than 500 city restaurants, bars and even corporate offices were slapped with summonses in the first months after Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban took effect, officials said yesterday.

From May 1 to Aug. 29, inspectors hit 524 restaurants and bars with fines for flouting the stringent laws.

But that number's a mere fraction of the more than 20,000 restaurants and taverns around the five boroughs - suggesting that most establishments are complying with the laws, even if they don't agree with them, city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene officials said.

Manhattan racked up the most summonses by far with 240 places getting ticketed. The accused violators ranged from the upscale Blue Hill restaurant to the Beekman Deli, according to Health Department records.

Others were Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central Terminal, a Loews theater on Third Ave. and a Carvel in Queens.

Even corporate offices felt the heat - the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft got ticketed for "working smokeplace inadequate, not posted or not provided."

Some didn't try

Only about a fifth of the restaurants, or 124, were cited for failing "to make a good-faith effort" to force their clientele to put cigarettes out. Twenty-nine of those summonses were in Manhattan.

And the majority of summonses were for not posting "no smoking" signs in noticeable places, or for having ashtrays lying around in view.

The smoking law took effect on March 30, but officials gave bar and restaurant owners a one-month reprieve before they started nailing law-breakers.

"Bar and restaurant owners continue to be overwhelmingly compliant with the SFAA and, thus, are protecting workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke," Health Department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin said.

She added that followup visits showed that a smattering of about 30 of the original 524 places were still flouting the law.

Businesses can be cited for five types of violations. First-time violators can be fined between $200 and $400. Not all of the fines have yet been paid, so the city had no total available for the amount of money collected.

A statewide law banning smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, took effect July 24. Many business owners have been lobbying the Legislature to overturn or loosen the law.

September 19, 2003
        Rudy clears air on smoke-ban flap
        By David Saltonstall

Rudy Giuliani says he wasn't trying to blow smoke in Mayor Bloomberg's face.

After going on Irish radio this week and implying that New York's smoking ban went too far, Giuliani called Bloomberg from Ireland on Wednesday night to explain himself.

Giuliani was only suggesting that countries like Ireland, where there are no smoking restrictions, might want to start with a partial ban that limits smoking to certain areas, Bloomberg said.

"He just thought that sometimes you go part ways to get there, let people adjust and then go the rest of the ways," the mayor said yesterday in explaining Rudy's go-slow approach to smoking laws.

Giuliani lit up city papers yesterday when he said in Ireland that "some people want to make the choice of being able to have a cigar or a pipe or a cigarette after dinner. And they should be provided with an opportunity to do that."

Their long-distance conversation quickly turned to lighter topics - mainly golf, which Giuliani has had lots of time to play while on his business trip to the Emerald Isle.

"I was a little bit envious. As I pointed out, I had four more events to do after our conversation last night," Bloomberg said. "Rudy's answer to that was, 'Well, you wanted the job.'

"My answer to that," Bloomberg added, "was, 'I even paid to get it!'"

September 18, 2003
        Giuliani blows smoke at Mike ban
        By David Saltonstall

Let the people smoke.

That seemed to be Rudy Giuliani's message - to Mayor Bloomberg and the people of Ireland - when asked yesterday if he thought the Emerald Isle should follow New York's lead and ban smoking in pubs and restaurants.

"Some people want to make the choice of being able to have a cigar or a pipe or a cigarette after dinner," the former mayor told Irish state broadcaster RTE. "And they should be provided with an opportunity to do that."

Giuliani, an occasional cigar smoker, argued that it made more sense to restrict smoking only to certain areas - as New York did under a law passed in 1995, when he was mayor.

He added that Bloomberg's new ban had succeeded only in pushing smokers out onto sidewalks in front of bars.

"There's no action without an equal and opposite reaction," he said.

Giuliani's comments, by far his most critical of New York's smoking ban, marked a rare public break with Bloomberg, whom he endorsed for mayor in 2001.

The two men have certainly disagreed before. Giuliani has called for a large, sweeping memorial at Ground Zero, while Bloomberg has suggested that less could be more.

The former mayor also criticized property, income and sales tax hikes backed by Bloomberg this year.

Still cordial

Bloomberg, for his part, has been extremely solicitous of the former mayor - even agreeing to include an exemption in the smoking ban, at Giuliani's request, that allows cigar conventions to puff away in town for up to five days.

Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler declined yesterday to comment on Giuliani's latest remarks.

Aides to Giuliani tried to downplay his comments yesterday.

They said the former mayor was suggesting only that Ireland, which plans to zap public smoking in January, should start slowly, with a partial ban.

"This is in no way at all a criticism of anyone," said Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel.

September 17, 2003
        Barkeeps rally, say smoke ban stifling business
        By Joe Mahoney

ALBANY - Bar owners served up a frosty message to legislators yesterday, charging at a rally here that the state's smoking ban is killing business - and jobs.

"The people I had to lay off have clean air - but they have no jobs," Ciaran Staunton, owner of O'Neill's, a pub in midtown Manhattan, said at a protest near the Capitol organized by the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association.

Bar owners, who say the seven-week-old smokes-out law has caused business to drop by as much as 40%, chanted "Can the ban!"

Tavern owners, led by restaurant industry lobbyist Scott Wexler, said a fair compromise would be to allow smoking in bars that install ventilation.

Gov. Pataki, who signed the ban into law, said any changes are up to lawmakers.

But the Republican-led Senate, which was in special session yesterday, refused to tinker with the legislation. "We're not going to do anything to change the law now," said Senate Republican Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

Bruno said he doubts the ban is the cause of a business slump - and even predicted the ban would be good for business.

Meanwhile, bar owners had the same message for Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields at a hearing on the city's nearly six-month-old workplace smoking ban.

"This ban is the first step in the death of nightlife entrepreneurship," said David Rabin, president of the New York Night Life Association. "Why don't we just change our name to Cleveland and call it a day?" he said to wild applause.

September 3, 2003
        Holy smokes! They're up again, by 13 cents
        By Michael Saul

Smokers, take a deep breath - your habit just got even more expensive.

On Labor Day, city smokers started paying about 13 cents a pack more for their smokes, thanks to a law passed by the state Legislature that mandates how stores charge for cigarettes.

It worked like this:

Last summer, Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill that raised the excise tax on cigarettes from 8 cents a pack to $1.50 a pack, beginning July 1, 2002.

The tax hike boosted the price of some brands to more than $7 a pack and gave the city the distinction of having the highest cigarette tax in the nation.

That was bad enough for smokers, but for the past 14 months, retailers made it a little easier by subtracting that $1.50 excise tax before computing the sales tax.

If the total price were $7, for instance, the shopkeeper would charge sales tax on just $5.50. Now, because of the law, he must include the excise tax as part of the sales price before adding on the sales tax.

So, in effect, smokers are now paying sales tax on their excise tax. And that translates to an additional 13 cents per pack.

"I hate it. I totally hate it," said David Padilla, who was smoking a cigarette outside a Duane Reade store across the street from City Hall yesterday.

"I have to go to Jersey or I have to quit - that's all I can do," he fumed.

Aides to Bloomberg, who has seen his poll numbers plummet partly because of his workplace smoking ban, said the mayor does not deserve the blame for the latest tax increase.

"This is legislation that the state passed," said Jordan Barowitz, a Bloomberg spokesman. "We did not request it."

In May, the state Legislature passed the legislation over Gov. Pataki's veto as part of a massive budget deal brokered with the Bloomberg administration.

"Everybody was aware of this," said Charles Carrier, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). "We worked very closely with the city trying to address its budget needs."

Carrier added that the legislation was passed to make the sales tax collection uniform across the state.

"We were correcting an anomaly," he said.

For smokers, though, it's just another burden.

"The tax is too high," griped James Deosa, 58, of Manhattan, as he dragged on his cigarette on his way to work.

August 7, 2003
        Whoopi's huffing & puffing
        Tells Bloomberg city can butt out
        By Donna Petrozzello

Whoopi Goldberg told Mayor Bloomberg that smokers should be left alone.

There were sparks - but no fire - when smoker Whoopi Goldberg met yesterday with anti-smoker Mayor Bloomberg.
The two came together to tout the start of production on Goldberg's sitcom "Whoopi," in which she plays a cigarette-smoking hotel owner. But their opposing stances on the hot-button topic made them seem like unlikely podium mates.

Ever the politician, Bloomberg downplayed direct questions about Goldberg's smoking on the show - which already has ignited watchdog groups.

But the outspoken Goldberg, who lives in the city and asked that the show be shot here, is clearly butting heads with the mayor's strict nonsmoking rules.

"We haven't become nonpeople or nontaxpayers," Goldberg said after a press conference from the set at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. "I will not be bullied by a group of people who really want to do the right thing - but they're doing the right thing the wrong way. This is not Afghanistan, damn it. I will not wear this smoking burka."

Goldberg is fired up over the city's sweeping public smoking ban - spearheaded by Bloomberg - suggesting that it has rudely forced smokers to shiver outside offices in winter just to enjoy a butt.

"People do smoke, and that's the bottom line, and there's nothing you can do about it," she said. "If you say to me, 'I want you to stop [smoking],' you have to give me an alternative."

So far, Goldberg has dodged the city's law because she puffs on herbal smokes, she said, a type of cigarette permitted at indoor workplaces, according to city rules.

"They're horrible," she noted.

Bloomberg said he's put his personal views aside about her on-screen - and off-screen - habit.

"This is a big city and everybody's got a right to their own views," he said. "But the [smoking] law is clear about the workplace, and this is a production that's going to comply with keeping a safe workplace for everybody."

Bloomberg's views on Goldberg's smoking may not matter. The city's no-smoking rules also provide leeway for smoking during artistic endeavors, meaning she can smoke as much as she'd like while taping the show.

He's also happy about the money the show will add to the city.

"This series alone will mean 250 new jobs for New York, and $13 million will be spent on its cast, dry cleaners, limousine services and the corner coffee shop," the mayor said. "I thank the show's producers and NBC. They're sending a powerful message that when it comes to TV production, there is no substitute for New York."

Presumably, some of that $13 million will be spent on cigarettes, too.

July 25, 2003
        Smoking ban is choking biz, say protesters
        By Fiona McDonough

Some people believe the ban on smoking has done more harm than good.
At least 500 protesters gathered outside City Hall yesterday, the day a statewide ban went into effect in addition to the city's, to urge that smoking be allowed in bars and restaurants.

"You think secondhand smoke is dangerous? How about poverty?" cried Vanessa Rohrbach, 35, a bartender for 10 years. She said her tips have been "cut in half" and she no longer can afford health insurance.

"Our regular customers are not coming, or they don't stay as long," said Rohrbach, who works at Peter's on the upper West Side.

The New York Nightlife Association, which organized the rally, said bars, taverns and clubs are facing "dramatic declines in revenue, some more than 40%." The industry employs 35,000 to 40,000 workers, an association spokesman said.

"We all want clean air," said Nightlife Association President David Rabin. "There is cutting-edge filtration technology that can accomplish that goal."

Bar owners are seeking legislation to allow smoking with ventilation systems in place.

But other tavern proprietors say the ban is fine just the way it is.

"I don't think you can ventilate out the smoke," said Arthur Gregory, 49, owner of A&M Roadhouse in Tribeca. He celebrated the statewide measure with the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, some community members and other bar owners at another rally outside City Hall.

"It hasn't hurt my business that much," he said of the smoking prohibition.

"I'm happy about the ban because I was waking up three times a week with my lungs hurting from the smoke," Gregory said. Gregory, whose mother died of lung cancer, quit smoking three years ago.

"You can do what you want at home, but you have no right to kill me or my employees," he said.

July 23, 2003
        Smoke signals good for 3 bars
        By Lisa L. Colangelo, Joe Mahoney and Eric Herman

The city still has a few bars where you can smoke - three, to be exact.
The smoke-friendly spots were among seven exempted from the city's smoking ban by the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. A tougher state ban takes effect tomorrow, eliminating four bars from the city's list of places where smoking is still allowed.

"Smoking is permitted here," said Sam Pande, manager of the Karma Lounge, a restaurant bar at 51 First Ave. in Manhattan. "It's going great right now."

Also on the smoke-friendly list are Club Macanudo, a cigar bar at 26 E. 63rd St. in Manhattan, and VFW Post 107 at 2414 Gerritsen Ave., Brooklyn.

The city received 20 applications for exemptions from its smoking ban. Four bars won approval under an exception for family-owned bars without employees. The state law closes that loophole. The city rejected 12 applications, and one - the Grand Havana Room at 666 Fifth Ave. - is pending.

A group representing the owners filed a federal lawsuit yesterday in a bid to stop the statewide smoking ban. A smokers' rights group, meanwhile, is planning a lawsuit of its own.

"We have identified several flaws in the new state smoking ban law that we believe will lead to the court overturning the law," said Bill Leudemann, president of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association.

A group called NYC CLASH - New York City Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment - pledged to file its own suit today.

Many bar and restaurant owners complain that the city's law, which began being enforced in May, has clobbered businesses, cutting revenues by up to 40%. Owners' groups plan a protest at City Hall tomorrow.

Gov. Pataki said he was confident the smoking ban would withstand the legal challenge.

July 22, 2003
        State's smoking ban puts lights out Thurs.
        By Joe Mahoney and Eric Herman

The butts stop here.

Come Thursday, a state ban will outlaw smoking in taverns from Bridgehampton to Buffalo. The law covers some 78,000 bars and restaurants - and extinguishes exemptions granted by the city's three-month-old ban.

Bar and restaurant owners plan a rally to protest the law at City Hall on Thursday. In Albany, they will challenge it in court.

"This is the most cowardly, heinous, discompassionate legislation that's ever been directed toward an industry by government," said Thomas Slattery of United Restaurant, Hotel and Tavern Owners of New York.

The city's law banned smoking in New York's bars and restaurants but allowed puffing in rooms with separate ventilation. It also made an exception for family-owned bars without employees.

The state law nixes both, though it exempts Native American casinos, private clubs and cigar bars.

Owners in the city said the state law won't make much difference to them, since most bars have employees and "no one was building the smoking rooms anyway," said David Rabin, president of New York Nightlife Association.

The biggest impact will be felt in the 57 counties outside the city. Some, like Westchester, have smoking bans. Nassau County passed a ban, but a judge prevented the county from enforcing it.

The state law will have a "net legacy of saving lives," said state Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-L.I.), who sponsored the bill. "Secondhand smoke is a known carcinogen."

But many bar owners said it is a known job killer. Scott Wexler, director of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association, said his group will seek an injunction against the ban this week.

Meanwhile, the law has met with a lukewarm response in some upstate counties.

"I think the state is going to have some problems with the enforcement," said William Thomas, town supervisor of Johnsburg, near Lake George, and chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Rabin said bars have lost 20% to 40% of their business since the city's ban took effect.

"We're lucky we have a small yard in the back where people can go out and smoke," said John McLoughlin, owner of McLoughlin's Bar in Astoria, Queens. "If we didn't have that, we'd surely be out of business."

July 18, 2003
        City tobacco bond sales up in smoke
        By Dave Saltonstall

The city is stamping out this year's planned sale of $715 million in bonds funded by tobacco settlement money.

That's because the costs of borrowing against the settlement are rising over fears that new lawsuits could bankrupt the tobacco companies paying the settlement.

"It's not something we plan to do," Alan Anders, a deputy director in the city's Office of Management and Budget, told Bloomberg News yesterday. "It isn't cost-effective right now."

The move is not expected to blow a hole in the city's budget because unlike the state and other municipalities, the city now uses money from tobacco bonds to fund long-term capital projects, not day-to-day operating expenses.

The administration is expected to find other, cheaper ways to finance the same projects, officials said.

The rising cost of borrowing against future revenue from cigarette makers became clear in April, after Philip Morris said it could go bankrupt if forced to post a $12 billion bond to pay for an Illinois court judgment.

Mayor Bloomberg has warned ever since that lawsuits against tobacco companies might limit the ability to borrow against the settlement, whose payments during the first 25 years were projected at $206 billion.

July 7, 2003
        Owners hazy on butts ban
        By Lisa L. Colangelo

Asking customers to snuff out their smokes just isn't enough.

City bars and restaurants are learning the hard way that they face big fines - even if they only forget to post warnings or remove ashtrays.

"They said the signs were not clear. A 'No Smoking' sign? How it cannot be clear? I don't know," said a frustrated Nick Constantinou, owner of the Athens Cafe in Astoria, Queens.

The Greek cafe was one of 71 restaurants, bars and other businesses nabbed by health inspectors for violating the city's new smoking ban during the first four weeks of enforcement in May.

The butts ban, which outlaws smoking in virtually all workplaces, kicked in April 1, though the city's 20,000 bars and restaurants were given a one-month grace period to get used to the new restrictions. A statewide smoking ban goes into effect July 24.

In May, inspectors caught people smoking at 23 establishments during 6,500 inspections, according to the city Health Department.

But most of the 111 violation notices dished out by the city were aimed at owners for failing to remove ashtrays and not properly posting "No Smoking" signs.

The violators ranged from Astoria sidewalk cafes to a bingo concession and snack bar in Brooklyn to an East Side Starbucks.

Inspectors hand out notices of violations, not summonses. The fines, which range from $200 for first-time offenders to $2,000 for repeat violators, are set by an administrative judge.

The Health Department can also revoke the license of any business that violates the law three or more times in one year.

"As expected, the law to protect workers from other people's smoke is largely self-enforcing," said department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin.

"Most people prefer to breathe clean air," she added. "Smoke-free workplaces are good for health, and as all scientifically valid studies have shown, do not harm business."

Constantinou said business at his cafe has dropped 50% since the smoking ban, and he plans to fight his violations.

"We've been targeted, big time. I don't know why," said Constantinou, who got seven notices from inspectors. "[Customers] are going to places where they can smoke."
 
 
 
 

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Midhudson News - September 30, 2003
        Senator has mixed emotions about smoking ban

As the debate continues over whether the state should maintain, modify or throw out its smoking ban law, one Hudson Valley state lawmaker hasn't made up his mind.

Senator William Larkin of Cornwall-on-Hudson is weighing both the health and economic sides of the issue. “I think that we need to do something to assist, because we worry about the health on one side and we want see how we can keep the people who are the fringe from going out of business,” he said.

Opponents of the smoking ban say government has no righ