Smoke-free N.Y.C. a clear winner

[bklynzzfinest]

Smoke-free N.Y.C. a clear winner

By DAVID SALTONSTALL

DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Breathing is easiest in New York City's smoke-free bars.

New York City - clean-air capital?

It is now, at least when it comes to bars and restaurants.

A new study released yesterday found that of seven major cities, breathing is easiest in New York's smoke-free bars and restaurants. In fact, air quality in New York establishments was a whopping 15 times cleaner than joints in Washington, which ranked last on the list.

"The bottom line is that cities that implement comprehensive smoke-free laws quickly and effectively protect the health of both their employees and patrons," said Bill Corr, executive director of Campaign for Smoke-Free Kids, which conducted the survey.

The study - the largest ever of its kind - looked at three cities with strict workplace smoking bans: New York, upstate Buffalo and Los Angeles.

It also looked at four cities where smoking is still allowed in restaurants and bars: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Hoboken, N.J., and Washington.

Testers prowled through at least seven establishments in each city on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, armed with a high-tech aerosol monitor that measures pollution in micrograms per cubic meter.

The result? Establishments in cities with smoke-free laws had average pollution levels 82% lower than cities that don't.

The nation's capital was by far the worst, with 392 micrograms of pollution per cubic meter compared with New York's average of 25 micrograms.

Researchers said the study offered clear evidence that bars that allow smoking are unhealthy - for both smokers and nonsmokers.

"It isn't a secret that second-hand smoke is bad for you," said Dr. Fred Jacobs, chairman of the Medical Society of New Jersey's Council on Public Health. "Even the tobacco companies don't argue about that anymore."

The study was greeted like a breath of fresh air by Mayor Bloomberg, who pushed through the city's ban on smoking in April last year despite stiff opposition from many bar owners.

"If you want to smoke - smoke. You can smoke outside. It's not forcing anybody else to smoke," Bloomberg told reporters. "If you smoke inside, you are. I'm just glad that the air is clean."

Originally published on May 21, 2004

[christyne13]

Yeah I remember reading about that in the newspaper this morning. It still had LA as worst!