Smoking ban in parks divides UWS, Harlem politicians

The hazy days of summer may be clearer this year for visitors to New York City parks and beaches.

A ban on smoking in all of the city’s parks and public beaches passed the City Council on Feb. 2—and it has Upper West Side and Harlem politicians divided.

The ban, which also includes some pedestrian areas like the plaza in Times Square, will make the city home to one of the widest-reaching urban smoking bans in the country. Smoking has been banned in the city’s bars and restaurants since 2003.

Gale Brewer, the City Council member who represents the Upper West Side, was one of the bill’s primary sponsors. She and other supporters of the ban cite its broad public health benefits.

“I want to do everything I can to improve health, and stopping smoking seems like a way we can do it,” Brewer said.

Brewer added that the smoking ban will especially help children and those with asthma, who are particularly sensitive to secondhand smoke.

“It doesn’t always send the child to the hospital, but it could send the child to the hospital,” she said. “When you listen to the stories of the parents and the kids, you really start to believe what I’m talking about.”

But not all Council members supported the bill, which passed in a 36-12 vote.

Council member Robert Jackson, who represents West Harlem and Morningside Heights, voted no.

Jackson could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but in an interview on WNYC radio last Friday, he explained that he recognized the health benefits of the ban, but thought it wasn’t the city government’s role to restrict the legal behavior of adults.

“I do think that most adults know that smoking is not good for your health, just like they know that drinking is not good for your health, but I just think the government is going too far,” Jackson said.
Brewer, however, said health concerns come first.

“I understand Robert’s concerns, but when we’re talking about people’s health, people have a right to be smoke-free,” she said.

Brewer added that fears of a police overreach are unfounded. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation officers, not the much larger NYPD force, will enforce the law with tickets carrying fines of under $100.

The point of the bill, Brewer noted, is not increased government enforcement but protecting citizens’ health.

“The real advantage is neighbor to neighbor, New Yorker to New Yorker,” she said. “There’s no authority involved in any real way.”

Others said they’re on the fence about the ban.
“As a health care professional, I agree with it, but I’m not sure I agree with it from the point of view of imposing it across the board on everyone,” said Marsha Tantleff, who lives on 104th Street. “I’m not sure that I agree with the fact that he [Bloomberg] has a right to do that, but, from a health perspective, I do think it’s a good idea, so there’s a lot of ambivalence.”

But for Melinda Buckley, who lives on 102nd Street, the ban can only be a good thing. She said she’s glad she’ll be able to spend time outside without the smell of cigarette smoke.

“I think it’s great,” she said, while throwing a ball to her dog in Riverside Park. “I hate whenever I’m here and someone’s smoking, and they’re walking in front of me.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has until Feb. 22 to sign the bill, which will go into effect at the end of May.

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