It is no secret that Michael Bloomberg really hates smoking, so much so that he personally pays a squad of mean-looking old ladies to walk around smacking the cigarettes out of New Yorkers’ hands. (But really, he’s donated $600 million of his own money to the cause.) Now, with restaurants, bars, parks, beaches, and plazas already taken care of, Bloomberg is making moves to stamp out smoking in people’s own apartments. He’s not proposing an outright ban — only an insane nanny state would do such a thing — but he’s going a roundabout way.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the mayor will propose legislation today that requires buildings to have written rules about whether or not smoking is permitted on all property, which officials believe might increase the number of non-smoking buildings citywide:
The bill specifically does not dictate whether buildings should allow or disallow smoking. But it would require buildings to develop policies that address whether smoking is permitted in both indoor and outdoor locations, including lobbies, balconies, courtyards, laundry rooms and, most controversially, individual apartments.
“We think that people ought to know whether they might be exposed to second-hand smoke in their apartment before they decide whether to rent or buy,” said the commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “We know that second-smoke can go from one apartment to the other and that it can get at levels that are high enough to have health risks.” The law would include a proposed $100 fine for each violation with buildings doing their own enforcement.
A recent survey by the Global Strategies Group, via the Journal, found that New Yorkers favor the existence of such a rule 64 percent to 30 percent, but maybe Bloomberg just bought the vote.
