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Smoked Out

By Kim Velsey 12/17/12 2:55pm

Smoked Out

Those were the days: Pianist Willie "the Lion" Smith smoking in his NYC apartment in 1947.

Bloomberg Offers Cash to Community Groups Who Convince Buildings to Go Smoke Free

It’s been a few months since we’ve heard anything about Mayor Bloomberg’s war on smoking, so we should have known that something was brewing. Especially since our health czar had uncharacteristically long spell of down time—the soda ban passed in September—in his crusade to force New Yorkers to lead healthier lives.

Well, The New York Post reports that Mr. Bloomberg has been planning a secret assault on smoking this whole time. Well, sort of. He’s offering community groups who convince buildings to go smoke-free a $10,000 thank-you, to be paid out by a Centers for Disease Control grant. Read More

By Kim Velsey 12:26pm

Smoked Out

Tensions over smoking light up.

What? An Heiress Can’t Chain Smoke In Her Own Apartment Anymore?

Other luxury buildings may have failed in their bids to squelch smoking within their walls, but that has not stopped a Central Park West co-op from trying to evict a chain smoking trustfunder.

The El Dorado, where celebrities like Alec Baldwin and Marilyn Monroe once lived (both known to to light up on occasion), is trying to oust ninth-floor resident Diane Wells for her smoky ways, according to the New York Post. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/29/12 4:14pm

Smoked Out

One smoker can take up the torch again (Dale M. Moore, flickr)

Man Wins Bid To Continue Smoking In His Own Apartment

It may be a small victory in a losing war, but at least José Arozamena can come home tonight, light up a cigarette and take a long, celebratory draw.

A judge has ruled that Mr. Arozamena, who lives at 260 Park Avenue South, can continue to light up in his apartment, the Post reports.

The condo board may have been emboldened by Mayor Bloomberg’s most recent move to kick smoking in the butt, but they were a little overzealous. After all, the mayor’s proposed legislation would only have required formal smoking policies and disclosures, not full-out bans. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/11/12 12:47pm

Smoked Out

The neighbors are not fans (AMagill, flickr)

No Smoking! Majority of New Yorkers Like Smoke-Free Living

The majority of New Yorkers would actually like to live in smoke-free buildings, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, they just don’t like Mayor Bloomberg telling them what to do.

Although 59 percent of New Yorkers told pollsters that they wanted to live in a building where no one was allowed to smoke, another 53 percent thought that city hall shouldn’t pressure co-ops, condos or apartment buildings to ban smoking. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/23/11 11:35am

Smoked Out

Vile habit, that.

The UES WASP Guide to Smoking

New York is pretty much a no-smoking zone right now, one in which all of us puffers are living in our own private Joseph Heller — a world where it’s legal to buy cigarettes and sometimes even smoke them, but where one finds themselves increasingly admonished and ostracized for doing so. Katie Couric, for instance, will tell you that you’re not attractive if you stink of tobacco. Our dream woman, gone forever because we can’t kick our nicotine fix.

And yes, we understand that it’s a nasty, smelly habit. But you know what else is? Taking it upon yourself to be the self-righteous Thought Police for the “Smell Flowers Not Smoke” campaign, as UES blogger Reggie Darling has done. Read More