Roken is terug in New York
Een van de grootste successen van de anti-rokenbeweging is de invoering van het rookverbod in New York. Maar het oorspronkelijke succes van het rookverbod, dat door toenmalig burgemeester Bloomberg werd ingevoerd, is aardig tanende.
In een artikel in de New York post worden diverse voorbeelden gegeven van het ontduiken van het rookverbod. Bars halen gewoon weer asbakken te voorschijn en de bezoekers roken weer. De handhaving is (voor anti-rokers en autoriteiten) een groot probleem.
Een bar-medewerker hierover:
“Het is een verlies-verlies situatie. Als we mensen naar buiten sturen om te roken, klagen de mensen in de omgeving over het lawaai. Als we ze binnen laten roken lopen we een kans om beboet te worden. Binnen roken toestaan is het minste van twee kwaden.”
* A bartender and 15 patrons smoking all night inside Doyle’s Corner bar in Astoria on the rainy night of May 16. The same scenario was witnessed several weeks earlier.
* A half-dozen hipster patrons at Brooklyn Ale House in Williamsburg smoking openly at the bar and at back tables early Saturday morning.
* A bartender at Boat in Brooklyn saying, “It’s 12:30. You can smoke now,” as they passed out makeshift ashtrays last Wednesday night.
Earlier, she told a patron to stop smoking, but after her announcement, a number of patrons started up again and the bar was filled with smokers for another hour.
* Dozens of smokers puffing on the dance floor and in the VIP area at the Marquee club on back-to-back nights as security guards looked the other way last week.
* At least 10 people smoking in Chelsea’s small, exclusive club Bungalow 8 Thursday night. A security guard walked past the smokers to tell The Post, “You can’t take pictures in here.”
* Half the patrons of the Annadale Inn in Staten Island lighting up in the wee hours after the bartender closed the window gate to keep out prying eyes several weeks ago.
* Several smokers blowing smoke in the small basement of Lit Lounge on Second Avenue last week.
“They used to” enforce the smoking ban, Brett, a Marquee regular, told The Post last week. “But they barely pay attention now.”
Popzanger Joe Jackson verhaalt over de manier van controleren van het rookverbod in New York als volgt:
Last time I was in NY, I was in a (legal) cigar bar, when it was ‘raided’ by one of Bloomberg’s Health Police. Now, you’d think they would have a list of the places that are exempt from the ban, wouldn’t you – after all, there are only 8 of them! But she (a big fat woman) made a big show of spreading all her papers out over a whole table, and making the bartender produce piles and piles of documents and receipts etc, and going through them for ages, desperately trying to find some excuse to bust the owner. Meanwhile, everyone was blowing smoke at her. Finally she couldn’t find anything wrong, packed up all her stuff and left, to a few cheers and jeers and scattered applause.
