Published: October 7, 2010

These are trying times for the New York City smoker. Already pressed to pay over twice the national average for a pack, tobacco enthusiasts are likely about to have it even harder.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been steadily tightening his grip on the vice since 2003, when New York became one of the first states to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Now Bloomberg seeks to take the law a step further. During a press conference on September 16, Bloomberg publicly voiced his support for a proposal to extend the ban to parks, beaches and public plazas like the ones in Times Square.

Bloomberg cites excessive littering and the dangers of second-hand smoke inhalation as the primary variables driving his decision.  However, groups like NYC C.L.A.S.H (Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment) are quick to point out inconsistencies in the mayor’s message. It was only three months ago that Bloomberg spoke to The Children’s Aid Society and called one’s right to smoke a “basic freedom,” a statement that stands in contrast to his promise on September 16 to “make it as difficult and expensive to smoke” as he possibly could.

It seems that even some of the city’s workers doubt the mayor’s initiative. Speaking in anonymity due to an order not to discuss the issue, one park conservancy employee said that the potential law “made no sense” because there was “simply no way to realistically enforce it.” Another smirked and said, “It’s a big park,” before refusing to comment any further.

As New York’s tobacco friendly spots become fewer and farther between, it’s natural that one would wonder if Fordham’s own campus might one day be affected. The campus would have been mandated to ban indoor smoking in 2003 had the University not already instituted the rule a year earlier.

Keith Eldridge, dean of students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), insists that at this point “there has been no conversation about changing anything,” maintaining that the rules would only change if “the student community went through the Residence Hall Association or student government, and requested it be taken into consideration.” This was precisely what happened in 2002, when the dean heard the wishes of many students who felt that smoking in the building was disruptive.

For some FCLC smokers, the initiative is just another headache in a city that has been persecuting them for almost a decade now.

“It’s the difference between two dollars a pack and $10. At this point, New York should make it all or nothing,” said Dan McCormick, FCLC ’12, who has been buying his cigarettes online by the carton from Moldova for over a year.  His reaction to the potential law was an eye roll, asking, “Do they really think there’s a difference if you’re smoking on 50th and 10th or if you’re smoking in Central Park?”

However, not everyone shares his skepticism.

Kathleen Malara, director of health services at both Fordham campuses, is firm in her belief that “it takes whatever it takes” to “force people into getting therapy” for their nicotine habits. Malara runs a tobacco cessation program at Rose Hill and believes that the Mayor’s initiatives “are about saving lives,” and therefore cannot be strict enough.

“Smoking is a choice, but second-hand smoke inhalation is not,” says Noelle Gallagher, FCLC ’12, for whom the idea of the ban is a welcome relief, “If you’re in the park with three kids, it’s not easy to just pick and move if a smoker is near. Plus, why should we have to be the ones who move?”

“Second-hand smoke is certainly a problem in a place like New York, but if I were a smoker, I would be angry,” said Louis Sullivan, FCLC ’13.

Bloomberg’s initiative still has a few hoops to jump through before it becomes a law. The city council needs to approve the idea, which may not be much of a hurdle, as the council’s speaker stood by Bloomberg’s side during the September press conference.

So if you’re a nature-loving smoker, take to the parks and the beaches and enjoy that stogie, because unless New York City lawmakers have an overnight change of heart after a decade of disdain for the habit, it just might legally be your last.