Smoke-free and unsociable: New York loses its edge

International Herald Tribune | 5/23/2003 | Joe Jackson

[pupdog]

LYON I never thought I'd say this, but I'm thinking of leaving New York for a city that's free and tolerant and treats me like an adult. Berlin, maybe, or Barcelona, or even London, the city I left nearly 20 years ago.

I came to live in New York to be a musician and a bohemian, but the last time my band played in the city, in April, there were no fewer than five "No Smoking" signs in our dressing room. Two weeks later in Hamburg, Germany, our dressing room had five ashtrays. You can guess where we felt more welcome.

New York used to have an edge - that sense that something thrilling can happen at any moment and that anyone, not just rich people and tourists, can be a part of it. Now even the bohemians are turning sanctimonious.

Singers I know, who got through 20 years of smoky gigs, have become overnight converts to the total smoking ban in New York (though they don't complain about the smoke when they're in Europe). Can't we just be grown up? Besides, a bit of haze in the air makes the lights look better.

The smoking ban is just one part of the strangulation of New York's night life - a crackdown on everything from topless bars to noise - which began under Rudolph Giuliani and has continued under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Many of us preferred to old X-rated Times Square to the new "Disneyfied" version. Besides, shouldn't a great city be able to tolerate a red-light district?

Nightclubs and bars can't allow their patrons to dance unless they have an expensive, hard-to-obtain cabaret license; clubs are closed if even one customer is found using drugs; and rich condominium owners who move into neighborhoods made fashionable by trendy clubs go to court to complain about the noise.

But the smoking ban is the last straw, the thing that has me packing my bags in utter disgust. And the new state law that is going into effect in July is even more draconian. What exactly is the problem with separate, enclosed, ventilated smoking areas?

I like a couple of cigarettes or a cigar with a drink, and like many other people, I only smoke in bars or nightclubs. Now I can't go to any of my old haunts. Bartenders who were friends have turned into cops, forcing me outside to shiver in the cold and curse under my breath (the bar can also be fined if I make too much noise). I go back inside to find my drink gone, along with my place at the bar. It's no fun. Smokers are being demonized and victimized all out of proportion.

"Get over it," say the anti-smokers. "You're the minority." I thought a great city was a place where all kinds of minorities could thrive.

"The smoking ban works in Los Angeles," they say. But Los Angeles has a very different culture, not to mention more space and a better climate for outdoor smoking.

"Smoking kills," they say. As an occasional smoker with otherwise healthy habits, I'll take my chances. Health consciousness is important but so are pleasure and freedom of choice.

As for secondhand smoke, there is research that shows it's not nearly as dangerous as some, like Bloomberg, would have us believe. And common sense tells you that a bit of smoke now and again, just when you're in a bar, isn't going to kill you - especially if you're in a separate nonsmoking section.

There are ways to keep everyone happy. Make high-tech clean-air ventilation units, which are used in many pubs in London, compulsory; they really do suck out most of the smoke from the air. Have separate smoking rooms. Have separate smoking establishments. Stop putting unreasonable restrictions on smoking outdoors; if traffic fumes, garbage trucks, panhandlers and who knows what else can't spoil a tough New Yorker's al fresco supper, surely we can handle a bit of cigarette smoke.

Let employees who smoke, or are prepared to sign some sort of waiver, work the smoking venues. Have smoke-free serving areas and let patrons carry their own drinks into smoking areas. Keep the ban but allow people to apply for exemptions or smoking licenses. Limit the number of licenses so that plenty of places remain smoke free.

See how reasonable (or desperate) we smokers are? We just want somewhere to enjoy a legal product in a sociable environment. This can be resolved in a spirit of tolerance, which is increasingly rare in this increasingly joyless city. Bar and club operators should unite and lobby for fairer laws. Meanwhile, London is looking pretty good. Or Paris, or Reykjavik …

Joe Jackson's latest album is "Joe Jackson Band: Volume 4."

[pupdog]

Joe Jackson is, IMO, one of the most brilliant musicians in music today, and a very intelligent person overall. He also has made a living on writing songs about New York. That he wants to leave it is one of harshest criticisms I can imagine.

[pupdog]

The source URL seems to have gotten snipped (my fault), so here it is.

[DoughtyOne]

I don't smoke and I've never had the slightest drive to even visit New York.

[KansasCanadian]

Smokeless Joe Jackson

[Batrachian]

What ever happened to the tradition of good old American civil disobedience? They should be telling Bloomberg and his health Nazis to shove it up their asses.

I guess they haven't taught about Abolition, or any other useful part of American history, in school for so long that people have forgotten that it's not only possible to disobey the government, but that it's sometimes their duty to do so.

[sam_paine]

I don't smoke and I've never had the slightest drive to even visit New York.

Neither do I, (nor do I smoke) so you should support the author's freedom to smoke, and my freedom to associate with people trying to get lung cancer while I'm trying to get liver cancer. Everyone else should back the hell off.

[leadpencil1]

See ya Joe.

[Just another Joe]

Puff, for a most reasonable article.

[Malsua]

>>I don't smoke and I've never had the slightest drive to even visit New York. <<

You really should visit the city. I worked in the city for 4 years and as a daily commute from New Jersey it sucks. I came from rural Ohio and got my first NYC metro area job in the city. It was like learning a new world. The commute sucked, but I liked "being there" when I wasn't required to work.

I however have so much fun when we go into the city for fun(or after work with friends). It's just an unbelievable experience that you should do at least once. It's not as bad or as aweful as some may have led you to believe. Avoid the South Bronx, any street with a number greater than 125 and East New York in Brooklyn. Forget what you saw about the Subway in the movie Warriers.

Other than that, midtown, downtown, Soho and even the village will treat you to experiences that will simply amaze you. The sheer volume of people and things to do and see is overwhelming, even for me, a lontime vet of the place. The foods you can get are beyond belief and I'm not talking about the ones you may have heard about like Nobu or Ruby Foos or whatever.

I could show you to a door in SOHO that you'd claim led into a blind alley and you'd enter a culinary experience unmatched anywhere and it wouldn't cost you a fortune either.

NYC has its faults, Bloomberg among them, but NYC is a neat place. If you don't go at least once, you're cheating yourself.

[winner3000]

Anti-smoking is one of the left's crusades. It is typical of the nanny liberal state. On the other hand I remember before the anti-smoking wave how aggressive, selfish and insensitive some smokers were. They truly didn't care if anybody near them had alergies or whose contracts dried up due to the smoke. Right now THEY are the ones shivering in the cold. None of the two situations is fair and a reasonable middle ground needs to be reached.

[Just another Joe]

None of the two situations is fair and a reasonable middle ground needs to be reached.

You would find very few smokers on this forum that would disagree.
Not necessarily because of smoking but because of business owners property rights.

[what's up]

The only thing I disagree with the author about is the new Times Square.

In my opinion, it is much better than before.

[paul51]

That he wants to leave it is one of harshest criticisms I can imagine

Somehow the city will manage without him. He's part of a dying breed.

[DoughtyOne]

You're probably right. I think I'm open to reasoned criticism on the topic of not really caring about New York in the slightest, but that's pretty much the way I feel about it.

It's unfortunate but the ex New York natives that I've run into have seemed to be the loud mouth unbearable type. Then the hype by those who truly appreciate the city have turned me off something fierce.

Look, most places have their wonders and I'm sure New York has more than it's share. I'm just sick of hearing about it. I'm sure that if I came there and hung out I'd probably enjoy myself. I find very few setting where I can't enjoy myself in truth.

Thanks for your comments.

[Highway55]

Hey joe,
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
Hey joe, i said
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
I'm goin' way down south
Way down to mexico way
Alright
I'm goin' way down south
Way down where i can be free
Ain't no one gonna find me
Ain't no hang-man gonna
He ain't gonna put a rope around me
You better believe it right now
I gotta go now
Hey, joe
You better run on down
Goodbye everybody
Hey hey joe

Jimi Hendrix
Are You Experienced? (1967)

[philetus]

"Let employees who smoke, or are prepared to sign some sort of waiver, work the smoking venues."


"I was told, the only way I could keep my job was if I signed the waiver, your honor. Now I have this cough and I want $100000000000000000000000000"

[VermiciousKnid]

Malusa...gotta disagree with you here.

I was born & raised in NYC, I worked there for many years, and I can't STAND it (never could - not even as a child).

Since this idiotic ban took effect, it's even less fun than it used to be (if possible).

My advice to possible future tourists: Save your money and don't bother.

Regards,

[Rome2000]

NEW YORK'S ALRIGHT IF YOU LIKE SAXOPHONES
New York's alright,
New York's alright,
New York's alright,
if you like saxophones!

New York's alright if you wanna be pushed in front of the subway!
New York's alright if you like tuberculosis!
New York's alright if you like art and jazz!
New York's alright if you're a homosexual!

New york's alright,
New York's alright,
New York's alright,
if you like saxophones!

New York's alright if you like drunks in your doorway!
New York's alright if you wanna freeze to death!
New York's alright if you wanna get mugged or murdered!
New York's alright if you like saxophones!

New York's alright,
New York's alright,
New York's alright,
if you like saxophones!

[StriperSniper]

What ever happened to the tradition of good old American civil disobedience?

By making the business 'owners' the Smoking Police, by threat of financial ruin, thumbing your nose at the law, is thumbing your nose at you barkeep. I'm not drinking any yellow liquids served by anyone who's livelihood I'm putting in jeopardy.

They have pitted the citizens against one another.

[freekitty]

Some people just want to take the fun out of everything.