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ALBANY, N.Y. -- Groups representing New York state bar owners contend the statewide smoking ban has cost their industry about 2,000 jobs.
A study released Tuesday by the New York Nightlife Association and the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association said the ban that went into effect in July has also led to $28.5 million in lost wages and $37 million in lost gross state product. Affiliated businesses lost another 650 jobs and $56 million in wages and production, the study by Ridgewood Economic Associates said.
The study's author, Brian O'Connor, said the numbers were derived from projections. Actual employment data for 2004 is not yet available.
The government-documented number of bar and tavern jobs lost from 2002 to 2003 was 401, according to state Labor Department numbers supplied by O'Connor. Those numbers showed bar and tavern jobs also declined in the previous two years, before the ban went into effect.
The groups are pushing for passage of a bill sponsored by majority members in both houses of the Legislature that would provide new exemptions from the ban.
The bill from Republican state Sen. Raymond Meier and Democratic Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito would exempt bars, provided the taverns are equipped with approved air filtration systems. Destito's bill adds bowling alleys and billiard parlors to the list of workplaces where smoking would be allowed, in special rooms with filtration systems.
Russell Sciandra of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York said such systems do little to clean the air of harmful pollutants. He pointed to the many disclaimers in which the makers of air filters acknowledge the shortcomings of their systems.
The state ban outlaws smoking in restaurants and bars, Off-Track Betting parlors, bowling alleys and pool halls, company cars, enclosed parking lots and outdoors around the entrances to public buildings.
State and local health departments may grant waivers to establishments that can prove they lost at least 15 percent of their profits to the ban. The businesses must also take steps to protect workers and non-smoking patrons from second-hand smoke.