Albany -- Measure to restrict tobacco use in all eateries in the state, beginning next year with larger establishments
Jump to full article: Albany (NY) Times-Union, 2002-06-15
Author: JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau
Intro: New York's restaurants will be required to segregate smokers or ban smoking under a deal consummated Friday between the Assembly and Senate, according to a bill sponsor.
The "Clean Indoor Air Act,'' sponsored by Sen. Charles Fuschillo, R-Merrick, and Assemblyman Alexander Grannis, D-Manhattan, comes after negotiations the past week that would change a version passed earlier in the Assembly.
The measure, expected to be discussed next week by the Senate, restricts smoking in all restaurants, starting in a year with those having 35 seats or more. It will make New York eateries essentially smoke-free within 18 months of Gov. George Pataki's signing the measure.
Fuschillo's office was unable to confirm the deal and the senator was unavailable for comment.
Pataki has not spoken on the issue in recent months, and his office said only that if the bill passes, the governor will look at it.
The secondhand smoke ban has been supported by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick. . .
Fuschillo agreed to go along with the bill as long as he allowed smaller restaurants to have an extra six months to prepare for the new restrictions.
Another concession to the Assembly's bill is that the new deal allows for restaurants with bars comprising up to 25 percent of the dining seats to permit bar room smoking. However, a wall or a six-foot space would have to separate the bar area and the dining room.
"It's a modest but significant step forward from protecting people from secondhand smoke. We hope the Legislature will pass it and send it to the governor promptly,'' said Russell Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco-Free New York.
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