Moving closer to banning smoking all together!! It’s really such an awful, awful habit!! Today, the City Council passed a total ban on smoking in parks, beaches and public plazas in a 36 to 12 vote.
Council members in favor of the bill gave impassioned speeches about loved ones who died of smoking-related cancers and children who suffered from asthma. (I lost my grandmother to lung cancer in 2009…I know this all to well and is the main reason I am so anti-smoking!!) Hit the jump for more info.
Opponents crowed about civil liberties, but came up short in rallying enough votes to strike down the ban.
The ban on smoking in parks is the latest proposal from Mayor Bloomberg to curtail New Yorkers’ bad habits.
Bloomberg initially questioned whether the city had the resources to police smoking in its sprawling parks, but changed his tune last summer after the Daily News ran photos for more than 1,000 cigarette butts gathered on the beach at Coney Island.
In September, he formally called for the ban, which requires City Council approval.
It will largely be self-policed.
“Parks and beaches are places where people sit and talk and they deserve to be smoke-free,” said bill sponsor Gale Brewer.
Good!