Subscribe to Cigar Rights of America RSS feeds and get the most up-to-date cigar-related legislative news for New York. http://www.cigarrights.org/xml/news/news_NY.xml http://www.cigarrights.org/favicon.ico http://www.cigarrights.org/images/CRA08small.jpg en-us ALBANY, N.Y., December 16 – The proposed New York state budget submitted by Governor David Paterson totals $121.1 billion and includes new taxes on cigars and tobacco retailers. Paterson's own description of the proposed changes in the cigar tax reads: "Reform the Cigar Tax. Modifies the taxation of cigars to impose a tax of $0.50 per cigar to simplify the administration of the tax. The current tax is equal to 37 percent of the wholesale price or approximately $0.34 per cigar." http://www.cigarrights.org/news/NY_Cigar_Tax_Proposal_121608.docx 16 Dec 2008 10:08 -0800 New York Put down that coffee, and come out with your hands up! The owner of a Financial District tobacco shop was amazed to learn he was violating the law by offering his customers a free cup of joe while they legally puffed away on his cigars. Vince Nastri III, the third-generation owner of Barclay Rex -- where bankers, City Hall staffers, lawyers and detectives smoke while sitting in plush leather chairs or browsing in the walk-in humidor -- complained that the city is "trying to take away my livelihood over a cop of coffee." http://www.nypost.com/seven/08312009/news/regionalnews/smoke_and_ire_over_free_java_187280.htm 31 Aug 2009 04:22:16 -0700 New York New York City’s workplace smoking ban six years ago drove cigarette and cigar puffers outdoors. But soon some of the outdoors may be off limits, too: The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, said Monday that he would seek to ban smoking at city parks and beaches. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/nyregion/15smoking.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 14 Sep 2009 04:22:16 -0700 New York We’ve come such a long way that in New York City, even many smokers feel guilty about smoking these days — if a walk through City Hall Park on Tuesday was any indication. But what of the city health commissioner’s proposal on Monday to ban smoking in public parks? In a city where people — tall, short, fat, thin, rich, poor, pregnant, stinky, perfumed — have turned peaceful coexistence in crowded quarters like subways and sidewalks into an art, there was a widespread feeling that public parks should also be a place of tolerance. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/nyregion/16smoking.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss 15 Sep 2009 04:22:16 -0700 New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed legislation on Wednesday to prohibit the sale of most forms of flavored tobacco products in New York City. The new law is more extensive than the federal Food and Drug Administration's ban on candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes, which took effect last month. The City Council approved the bill on Oct. 14. The legislation covers "chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb or spice flavors," but exempts "tobacco, menthol, mint or wintergreen flavors." http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/ban-on-tobacco-flavored-products-becomes-city-law/ 28 Oct 2009 11:11 -0800 New York GIVE credit to the first guy to light up a cigarette inside GoldBar on a recent Saturday night: at least he was pretending to be discreet. Between puffs, the smoker, a 30-something man with a tight T-shirt, a gold watch and a gym membership, slyly obscured his cigarette behind the knee-high table that held his $400 bottle of Belvedere, assorted mixers and a pack of Parliaments. In turn, the cocktail waitresses flanking the room — who, at 12:30 a.m., still outnumbered the patrons — pretended not to notice. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/fashion/03smoking.html?pagewanted=1&ref=style 31 Dec 2009 11:11 -0800 New York VIDEO: City health officials are requiring stores that sell tobacco products to display graphic anti-smoking signs by March 1, but some experts and other New Yorkers question the effectiveness of the ad campaigns. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report. At Montague Street Bagels in Brooklyn Heights, customers don't have to look far for a reminder of the dangers of smoking. There's one sign showing a damaged brain next to the cash register and another sign with blackened lungs on the back wall. Starting March 1, any city shops that sell cigarettes and other tobacco products that do not display these arresting anti-smoking signs risk fines of up to $2,000. http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/?ArID=112900 30 Jan 2010 11:11 -0800 New York When Nat Sherman, the venerable Midtown tobacconist, opened its new showroom on 42nd Street showroom a few years ago, it quickly ran into a problem. The showroom included a private smoking lounge, known as the Johnson Club Room, where members and guests could enjoy a drink or a snack along with their cigars, pipes, and cigarettes. But under New York law, smoking is forbidden wherever food or beverages are served to the public. When city officials twice rebuffed the company’s requests for a waiver, Nat Sherman sought the intervention of a higher power: The New York State Legislature. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/turning-to-albany-to-preserve-a-smoke-filled-room/?emc=eta1 8 Feb 2010 11:11 -0800 New York David Paterson's New York is in a whole heap of trouble. The state is barely keeping its head above water with a series of stop-gap spending bills to keep the lights on until the legislature and Gov. Paterson take serious action to bring the budget into balance. This is almost certain to be achieved via what is becoming an annual tradition in Albany - crippling tax hikes coupled with spineless defferal of responsibility to next year's crop of politicians. Looking at the governor's latest "gap-closing plan" - I prefer to call it a status quo maintenance plan - a couple things jump out. Among roughly $1 billion in "revenue actions," he includes yet another tax increase on tobacco products. In addition to his previous call for a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase, Paterson now insists on a 95 percent tax increase on chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco, and rolling tobacco, along with a whopping 122 percent tax increase on snuff. http://www.cigarrights.org/stateclubs_NY.htm 4 May 2010 11:11 -0800 New York TOWN OF TONAWANDA, NY (WKBW) -- The Town of Tonawanda passed a policy asked for no smoking in the areas of Town buildings, swimming pools, and ball fields. Dozens of signs will be posted around 12 town parks and some town buildings. Compliance with the new rule is completely voluntary. The Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition is behind the idea. Tobacco companies spend 11 million dollars a day advertising in New York State, according to Director Anthony Billoni. And when it comes to smoking, the idea of out of sight out of mind works. http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/94206399.html 18 May 2010 11:11 -0800 New York BINGHAMTON -- Start getting ready to put out your cigarettes if you plan to visit a Binghamton park. No smoking will be the rule in all city parks by the start of summer season under a resolution being considered by the city council. "We want to encourage health," said Carol Quinlivan, assistant director of recreation, during a council work session Monday. "People tend to bring children to parks. It (the resolution) is sending a message about health and encouraging children not to smoke." http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100517/NEWS01/5170404/1112/Binghamton-to-snuff-out-smoking-in-parks 17 May 2010 11:11 -0800 New York HYDE PARK — Come June 1, the ball fields and other areas of Hackett Hill and Pinewoods parks where children play will be off limits for smoking. The Hyde Park town board voted 4-1 Monday night to create tobacco-free zones at the two town parks — one on East Market Street and the other on Pinewoods Road. Smoking will not be permitted in the areas of the parks where children are present: picnic, sports and recreational areas and the parking lots. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100513/NEWS01/5130330/Hyde-Park-limits-smoking-at-2-parks 13 May 2010 11:11 -0800 New York KINGSTON — For the past 14 years, cigar connoisseurs could go into the Uptown Cigar Company to smoke and socialize with others who shared a passion for the stogie. That will all change at the end of the month, when owner Michelle Tuchman closes the doors to her Uptown business. Tuchman said state tobacco taxes are forcing her to abandon her retail store at 32 John St. and move her Internet business to Florida, where she will be able sell her products free from the high excise taxes New York state levies. http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/06/08/news/doc4c0dcfef14ed6247508941.txt 8 Jun 2010 11:11 -0800 New York VIDEO: COLONIE, N.Y. -- NEWS10 caught a couple of protests on Tuesday over tobacco taxes. First, the New York Association of Convenience Stores joined forces with several state lawmakers to demand that Governor Paterson finally collect taxes on cigarettes that are sold on Native American reservations. Merchants who do collect the taxes say the Native Americans have an unfair advantage, claiming that lots of "mom & pop" stores are going out of business. Paterson promised earlier this year that he would get the sales tax that's owed the state, about $ 1 billion annually, according to lawmakers. But they say, so far, no action. http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=12615666 8 Jun 2010 11:11 -0800 New York Cigar taxes in New York State will soon be among the highest in the nation. Last night, New York's politicians voted to raise the tax on cigars from 46 percent of the wholesale cost to 75 percent, a 63 percent increase. The new tax goes into effect August 1. The striking rise in taxes is the result of an emergency vote held in Albany to keep the state government operating. The big target was cigarettes, and taxes on cigarettes will go up $1.20 per pack on July 1. The state also intends to tax cigarettes sold tax-free to tourists on Native American reservations in the state. http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,3197,00.html 22 Jun 2010 11:11 -0800 New York Graphic anti-smoking posters of diseased lungs, brains and teeth — required where cigarettes are sold in New York City — have triggered a legal fight. Now, Massachusetts is holding off on a similar mandate. New York, known for a tough stance on tobacco, in December became the first U.S. city to require stores to post 4-square-foot warnings showing the physical effects of smoking near tobacco displays or smaller ones at each register. Non-compliance could result in fines up to $2,000. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-07-14-posters14_ST_N.htm 14 Jul 2010 11:11 -0800 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last week that he’s leaning towards banning smoking in the city’s 1,700 parks and other public outdoor recreational spaces, as well as its seven beaches. "We're talking about banning smoking on beaches and in parks," Bloomberg said last Tuesday at a news conference, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. "Overwhelmingly, when you ask people in parks or on beaches, they say they just don't want smokers there." http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,3210,00.html 12 Jul 2010 11:11 -0800 New York VIDEO: NEW YORK (CBS 2) – From the inside-out, there may be a new “no-go” when it comes to smoking. Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-smoking crusade could be coming to a city park or public beach near you, a plan plenty of people say crosses the line, reports CBS 2′s Dave Carlin. CBS 2 has learned that Mayor Bloomberg is looking at a possible smoking ban for all city parks and public beaches. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/08/22/bloomberg-mulling-over-smoking-ban-at-nyc-parks-beaches/ 22 Aug 2010 11:11 -0800 New York If you're a smoker, New York City just got a little less friendly. Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced plans to ban smoking in some of the Big Apple's most famous outdoor locations, including Central Park, the boardwalk at Coney Island and part of Times Square. "The science is clear: Prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke -- whether you're indoors or out -- hurts your health," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Today we're doing something about it." http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/new-york-mayor-michael-bloomberg-moves-to-ban-smoking-in-parks-beaches/19635319 15 Sep 2010 11:11 -0800 New York VIDEO: Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday expanded plans to his smoke free air act that would ban outdoor smoking at New York City beaches, parks and even the public plaza in Times Square, which is under Parks Department jurisdiction. However, CBS 2’s Scott Rapoport reports some are saying the government is becoming too involved with regulating our lives. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/15/bloomberg-proposing-smoking-ban-for-parks-beaches/ 15 Sep 2010 11:11 -0800 New York NEW YORK — In Times Square, people once smoked just about anything. Now you can't even light up a cigarette. After banning cars from Times Square last year to turn the street over to pedestrians, the city now plans to outlaw smoking in the new plazas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans Wednesday to forbid smoking in all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas. The list of 1,700 parks and 14 miles of beach includes Central Park, the Coney Island beach and boardwalk, and the new pedestrian plazas in Times Square. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-16-smoking16_ST_N.htm 17 Sep 2010 11:11 -0800 New York Starting Nov. 1, smoking will be illegal throughout the entire Ithaca Commons, the Ithaca Common Council voted 8-2 Wednesday night. The council had enacted a smoking ban on most of the Commons, along with a variety of other outdoor locations around the city, in August. The northern, eastern and western entrances to the Commons had been left open for smoking, as an attempt to compromise with Commons visitors, employees and residents who smoke. http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20101006/NEWS01/10060406/1001/news/City-of-Ithaca-extends-smoking-ban-to-all-of-Commons 6 Oct 2010 11:11 -0800 New York A New York City Council public hearing on a proposed smoking ban in city parks evolved into an hours-long, occasionally raucous showdown Thursday afternoon, touching on issues such as civil liberties, public health, big government and litter. The hearing focused largely on a bill, introduced by Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a Manhattan Democrat, with the support of the Bloomberg administration, that would ban smoking in the public parks, playgrounds, beaches and pedestrian plazas, but also included testimony on a compromise bill, which would lead to designated smoking sections in many parks. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/air-cleared-at-parks-smoking-ban-hearing/ 14 Oct 2010 11:11 -0800 New York NEW YORK — With New York City poised to take its smoking ban outside, one city lawmaker is proposing a compromise: A smoking section in each city park. “If there’s a very large park and a very small smoking section, I think it’s going to be tough to argue you’re going to inhale somebody else’s smoke,” City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. said Thursday. http://www.syracuse.com/have-you-heard/index.ssf/2010/10/nyc_lawmaker_proposes_setting.html 14 Oct 2010 11:11 -0800 New York CITY HALL — Tempers flared Thursday as a new proposal to snuff out smoking in city parks and pedestrian plazas took center stage at City Hall — with smokers'-rights advocates warning of violent clashes if the law is passed. Under the proposed bill, co-sponsored by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and endorsed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, smoking would be banned in all parks, beaches and plazas such as Times Square. Violators would be subjected to fines similar to those faced by people who smoke indoors, said Upper West Side City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a lead proponent of the legislation. But smokers'-rights advocates fumed before and during the standing-room-only hearing, saying the bill takes the city's war against cigarettes too far. http://www.dnainfo.com/20101014/manhattan/city-council-debate-smoking-ban-parks-pedestrian-plazas 14 Oct 2010 11:11 -0800 New York While the City Council battles over proposed legislation that would ban smoking in public parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) offered a compromise – but neither side appears to be budging. Vallone’s legislation would require 20 percent of parks, beaches and other locations under the jurisdiction of the Parks Department be available to smokers, and would not ban smoking in pedestrian plazas. Vallone commended the mayor and Speaker Christine Quinn for the health initiative, but said his bill offers a less draconian solution. “This bill offers a less severe compromise. Smoking sections never worked indoors, but outdoors this should be part of the debate,” Vallone said. http://www.queenstribune.com/news/News_102110_ParkSmokePlan.html 21 Oct 2010 11:11 -0800 New York A federal judge on Wednesday struck down a New York City law that would have forced all bodegas and convenience stores to post gruesome images of diseased lungs, brains and teeth in the shops to discourage people from buying cigarettes. In a 13-page ruling, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of United States District Court in Manhattan wrote that while the law was well intentioned, it violated federal law since only the federal government had the authority to regulate cigarette warnings and advertisements. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/nyregion/30smoking.html 29 Dec 2010 11:11 -0800 New York If you want to smoke on the sidewalk in Great Neck, New York, it might cost you $1,000. The local board of the Long Island village voted this week to ban smoking on sidewalks outside of businesses along the main street, as well as in some other public places. The village is part of a wealthy New York City suburb and claims to be the first municipality in New York state to enact such a measure. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-06/us/new.york.outdoor.smoking.ban_1_ban-public-smoking-outdoor-smoking-public-places?_s=PM:US 6 Jan 2011 11:11 -0800 New York After a bitter debate over individual liberties and the role of government, the City Council on Wednesday handily approved a bill to ban smoking in 1,700 city parks and along 14 miles of city beaches. By a 36-to-12 vote, the Council passed the most significant expansion of antismoking laws since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pushed to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars in 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/nyregion/03smoking.html?_r=3&ref=michaelrbloomberg 2 Feb 2011 11:11 -0800 New York (Reuters) - Smoking in New York City's parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas and other public spaces will be banned from May 23 despite complaints about excessive meddling by government in people's private lives. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/23/uk-smoking-newyork-idUSLNE71M02P20110223 23 Feb 2011 11:11 -0800 New York When they say you’re lighting it up on the golf course, that usually refers to great sub-par scoring. However, as of May 23, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will give it a whole new meaning with the bill he recently signed prohibiting smoking on or in city-owned beaches, parks and public squares. That, of course, means no smoking on our public golf courses — Silver Lake, LaTourette and South Shore. http://www.silive.com/golf/index.ssf/2011/03/law_banning_smoking_in_city_pa.html 13 Mar 2011 11:11 -0800 New York When the WSJ's Craig Karmin reported yesterday that at least half a dozen Manhattan co-ops may begin prohibiting residents from lighting up at home come spring, more than a handful of New Yorkers were no doubt peeved. Still, at least one group probably rejoiced: health experts. http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/17/smoking-ban-at-nyc-apartments-health-experts-would-likely-approve/ 17 Mar 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Smoking was allowed once again at the Four Seasons Restaurant Tuesday night as Cigar Aficionado boss Marvin Shanken kicked off a charity fundraising auction for Michael Milken's Prostate Cancer Foundation that netted $1.8 million. "This was a record year in terms of the amount of money raised," said Shanken, who brought the event back after skipping the past two years due to the economy. Twenty different cigar brands were smoked at the pre-dinner cocktail party in the Grill Room. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/is_that_cigar_XVwQkymxjejosg0tD3VbMK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME 9 Apr 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Yesterday the New York Times ran an instructive piece detailing the correlation between high tobacco taxes and vibrant black markets: Itinerant cigarette vendors have long been a fixture in some parts of the city, like bodegas that sell individual cigarettes in violation of state law. But with cigarette prices up and the number of smoke-friendly places down, the black market for loosies is now thriving on the streets. http://www.atr.org/bloomberg-thinks-hes-stopping-people-smoking-a6016# 5 Apr 2011 11:11 -0800 New York NEW YORK CITY’S ban on smoking in its parks and on its beaches won’t go into effect until May 23, but notices about the rule are already appearing on benches and lampposts around town. The City Council passed the ban on the principle that a nonsmoker shouldn’t have to inhale even a tiny amount of secondhand smoke, whether in a bar or a Central Park meadow. But while there is a strong public-health case for banning smoking indoors, the case for banning it outdoors is much weaker — particularly when it runs the risk of a backlash that could undermine the basic goals of the antismoking movement. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/opinion/06siegel.html?_r=3 5 May 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Spotting smokers breaking a controversial cigarette ban was as easy as striking a match Tuesday. Finding cops enforcing it? Not so much. Parks Department officers hadn't written a single ticket as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. And NYPD cops could do nothing but let smokers light up at pedestrian plazas where puffing was no longer allowed as of Monday. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-24/local/29597917_1_new-law-bans-smoking-smokers-light-enforcement-officers 24 May 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Declaring that Queens, and the rest of the city, is being turned into “one big non-smoking zone”, angry smokers headed to Astoria Park on Memorial Day weekend to defy the city’s newest cigarette ban. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the law that went into effect on May 23 would make the city’s public spaces healthier, cleaner and more beautiful. “We all know that smoking is deadly, but secondhand smoke poses a similarly grave danger to public health. “Lowering the rate of secondhand smoke exposure for New Yorkers is an important step toward making our city healthier.” http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-06-01/Front_Page/Astoria_Smokers_Defy_New_Smoking_Ban.html 1 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Beach-goers didn’t waste any time blowing smoke in the face of the city’s recently enacted ban on public puffing, as dozens lit up along the Boardwalk in protest during the beach’s opening day. The “Smoke in the Park Event,” held on Saturday near Brighton Sixth Steet, flouted Mayor Bloomberg’s Smoke-Free Air Act, which passed in February and went into effect on May 23. http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/22/all_beachsmokers_2011_06_03_bk.html 1 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 New York ALBANY - A bill to allow the famed Nat Sherman cigar store to offer alcohol has the Bloomberg administration smoking mad. Team Bloomberg sees the bill as an attempt to make an end-run around the city's tough indoor smoking law. Current law allows smoking in tobacco shops, but prohibits it in places where food and booze are served. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/06/17/2011-06-17_nat_sherman_cigars.html#ixzz1Pq6CCwp4 17 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 New York In the first month of New York City's new smoking ban in 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches, the city has issued a grand total of one ticket. That single ticket went to a newspaper photographer who had been goading officials to issue a ticket, a spokeswoman for the city's Parks and Recreation Department said. The new ban—spanning parks, beaches, marinas as well as pedestrian plazas such as in Times Square—took effect May 23. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303339904576405682014528872.html?KEYWORDS=New+York+Smoking#printMode 27 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 New York Ok, this is about as predictable a polling result as you could imagine, but a new NY1/Marist survey finds (drum roll, please): NYC non-smokers love the city's outdoor smoking ban, while puffers protest. Overall, 69% of NYC adults approve of nixing smoking in public places, 26% disapprove and 4% aren't sure. However, among the nearly one in five residents who say they smoke, 59% say prohibiting smoking in outdoor public places is a bad idea and 40% support it, with only 1% undecided. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/08/poll-surprise-nyc-smokers-dont-like-smoking-ban-updated 8 Aug 2011 11:11 -0800 New York A vote to draft a resolution banning smoking in Veterans Park in downtown Nyack was slashed down at Thursday’s board of trustees meeting. The board discussed the possible ban before putting it to a vote, but couldn’t nail down enough details to get the three tallies needed for it to pass. Mayor Richard Kavesh and Doug Foster voted for drafting the resolution, while Jen Laird-White and Louise Parker voted against it. Trustee Steven Knowlton was not at the meeting due to recent surgery. http://nyack.patch.com/articles/trustees-vote-against-drafting-smoking-ban-in-veterans-park 23 Dec 2011 11:11 -0800 New York