Rokers krijgen meer lucht in New York
Steeds meer café’s in New York maken gebruik van nieuwe mogelijkheden die het stadsbestuur de sector geeft om ook rokers een plaatsje te gunnen, al is het nu nog buiten.
Veel horecagelegenheden openen terrasjes waar, volgens nieuwe wetgeving, een kwart van de stoelen gereserveerd mag zijn voor rokers. Omdat ook de regels voor terrasjes verruimd zijn is dit voor de etablissementen een goede mogelijkheden hun aloude gastvrijheid voor iedereen weer eningszins in ere te herstellen.
The city is quietly opening scores of Manhattan blocks to small outdoor cafes – offering an airy new crack in the city’s strict smoking ban.
The new zoning rules allow a single row of chairs outside restaurants in previously excluded areas – with a quarter of new seats allowed to go to smokers.
That’s in line with current regulations governing outdoor dining areas under Mayor Bloomberg’s smoking ban.
But by opening up the bustling heart of midtown Manhattan and other areas to alfresco seating for the first time in decades, the number of eateries able to accommodate smokers is expected to rise dramatically.
“It’s up to the restaurateur,” said city Planning Department chief Amanda Burden. “He or she can allow 25%.”
The new, cafe-friendly zone includes a 100-block section of midtown and much of Madison and parts of Park and Lexington Aves. north of 59th St. – areas where outdoor seats have been banned since 1979.
Other blocks to be opened include 23rd St. from the East River to Eighth Ave. and 14th St. between Second and Eighth Aves.; First Ave. between 48th and 54th Sts., and Orchard and Delancey Sts. on the lower East Side.
Josephine Farinella, 72, said she can’t wait. “I’ll be in each one of ’em,” she vowed, as she sat outside a Seventh Ave. restaurant yesterday, a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.
