The city is poised to put the kibosh on smoking in the common areas of buildings with 10 dwellings or less under a bill coming before the City Council on Tuesday.
The proposed ban, which is being pushed by Bronx Councilman James Vacca, would outlaw smoking only in common areas, such as hallways, stairwells and vestibules — but not in residents’ apartments.
“Secondhand smoke is a killer,” Vacca said. “A public hallway is not a place for smoking, in my mind, because it does not protect the rights of those who do not smoke.”
Smoking in common areas of buildings with more than 10 dwellings is already banned under city law. The fact that it doesn’t already extend to smaller buildings is a “gap in existing law that we should correct,” Vacca said.
His proposal comes on the heels of a recent study showing the number of smokers in the city has risen for the first time in three years, to 16 percent of all adults. More than 1 million New Yorkers now light up, according to city Health Department estimates.
Vacca’s bill came before the council last year, but was not voted on because the council became preoccupied with a debate over e-cigarettes, he said.
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Was this bill ever past? Is it legal or illegal now to smoke in the common areas of a building with 10 or fewer units?
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