[sarcasm]

Next step - banning alcohol in restaurants and bars.

[Ronin]

Then they can move on to fatty foods and anything with meat in it.

New Yorkers will be forced to consume nothing but carrot sticks and anyone found with a french fry will be shot.

[Madame Dufarge]

Then being herded into exercise pens for calisthenics.

[WyldKard]

Gee...yet another so-called "Conservative" who thinks he has the right to legislate what people put into their own bodies.

Friggin' Socialist...

[MarkL]

If I were a smoker, I'd make it a point to buy my cigarettes from an illegal source, not just to save money, but so that the government would NOT be getting any extra tax dollars from me!

I was thrilled to hear that the number of crimes related to cigarettes was up! Maybe this will start to register on the minds of the politicians: Prohibition, or prohibitively high taxes, leads to a profit motive, and when that motive is high enough, leads to crime!

Mark

[Cacophonous]

Yay! A Republican is in office!

[wotan]

"From every mountainside
Let Freedom ring!"

- incomprehensible lines from a long forgotten song.

[maryz]

"The mayor will push this," one administration official said, "for all the same reasons he pushed the cigarette tax. He makes changes to things that he thinks are important."

I'm very happy to learn that New York has already solved the problems of high taxes, street crime, poverty, unemployment, social dysfunction, etc.

[grania]

Is this guy dumb or is he sanity impaired?

First, he raises the tax on cigarette so that virtually every smoker in the city will find an outside source for their tobacco. That means people who are in the city from elsewhere and out on the town will be the ones stuck paying the tax. Meanwhile small-store owners lose their revenue from people not just buying cigarettes, but the other things they'd purchase at the same time.

So, now he wants to ban smoking. That means smokers won't go to NYC for a leisurely dinner. Less revenue for everyone. Less tips, less alcohol and dinner taxes, less business for bars and restaurants.

He'll ruin a city's recovery because he has a bad attitude about smokers? Don't these PC Nazis see anything beyond their own selfish views?

[maryz]

largely because local legislatures are less vulnerable to the powerful tobacco industry lobby.

Come again?!! "The powerful tobacco industry lobby"? How about the powerful health-Nazi lobby, which seems to be scoring all the points?

[muawiyah]

How can you ever have a smoke free environment in Manhattan as long as taxis, trucks and buses are allowed to roll around?

[lavaroise]

Next step, banning smoking in your house. This is out of bound jurisdiction by the fascist mayor.

[gatorgriz]

A super strict anti-smoking ordinance, the strictest in the state, was passed in June here in Helena, MT... The next thing we'll see these zealots come after is our barbeques, weed trimmers, leaf blowers, and lawn mowers. I believe these nazis won't stop until they can regulate human flatuence. Imagine that, flatuence police...

[razorback-bert]

The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivaly of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in fine, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise.

Mark Twain

[Born to Conserve]

In my area, the bar that went no smoking has become the busiest bar, the delicatessen that banned smoking has become the busiest delicatessen, the steakhouse that banned smoking has become the busiest steakhouse, etc.

When I go out with a sizable group of people, the number one factor deciding where we go is haw bad the place stinks of smoke (and how bad we stink of smoke after we leave).

If you are wondering if nicotine is addictive, just watch the reaction to these smoking bans. They react with terror in their words.

Smokers are sad and pathetic.

[tcostell]

If they ban smoking it won't be neccesary. There won't be anyone left with a liquor license to sell the stuff.

[RightOnline]

News flash, y'all: Bloomberg is a leftist, Socialist twit. How much more proof are you New Yorkers going to need?

[metesky]

Three other states — Maine, Utah and Vermont — have statewide bans on smoking in all restaurants.

This is true for Maine only if you call yourself a restaurant.

Lounges and taverns that serve food can purchase a special license (read: pay a special tax) which allows smoking. There are at least five within driving distance of my house, thank God. One I could hit with a seven iron.

[metesky]

"Our position has been that we have some of the strictest rules in the country, and we have learned to live with them, and we think they should be left alone," said E. Charles Hunt, the executive vice president of the restaurant association.

Ever notice that these restaurant associations are among the most politically inept organizations going? Helpless, go along to get along. If I belonged, I'd be asking for a refund.

However, he added: "If a total ban is proposed in all public places, I think people are going to say nobody has an advantage over anyone else and would seriously consider whether or not that might work. The whole thing seems to be boiling down to an employee safety issue at this point."

If non-smoking is such a popular thing, why would anyplace be considered to have an advantage if they allowed smoking?

Just asking.

[Your Nightmare]

I don't mind people smoking in restaurants...as long as they don't exhale.

[SheLion]

Even our President is against hurting the small business person. So why is Bloomberg going against our President?

"The role of government is not to create wealth. The role of government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneur or small business or dreamer can flourish. And that starts with rule of law, respect of private property, less regulatory burdens on the entrepreneur, open banking laws so that all people have access to capital, and good tax policy."

President George W. Bush St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Russia May 25, 2002