Featured, On Campus - by Josh Becker on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:16 - 14 Comments - 1,028 views
Let me preface this by saying to all you non-smokers: I understand that cigarette smoke smells gross. I recognize the frustration of going to a school where a lot of students enjoy lighting up. And no, I am not going to argue that smoking isn’t a bad habit; it’s horrible for your body, makes your hair smell, and costs a lot of money. So please spare me the “But it’s bad for you!” lecture I receive every time I defend a person’s right to smoke in public.
That said, there’s a difference between someone blowing smoke directly in your face from a few inches away and walking by a smoker as you head into 194 Mercer. The former is rude and violates the sacred code of smoking etiquette, and yes, you’d have a right to complain about that. The latter, however, is called “living in Manhattan,” and to the person or people who complained about “cigarette smoke in front of Bobst Library,” I wonder why you chose to come to school here in the first place.
Part of living in New York—especially Manhattan—is compromise. You agree to give up a big living space in return for calling the East Village home. You put up with crowded L trains during rush hour. You turn up your white noise machine when you’re going to sleep and the tenant above you is hosting a party on a Friday night. In short, you deal with things you don’t particularly like, because you understand that you live on a small island with a million and a half other people who, like you, are just trying to get through their day without driving themselves crazy. One of the ways many New Yorkers (and the students who study among them, if you feel the need to make that distinction) do that is by smoking. And you have no right to take that privilege away from us.
NYU banned smoking in classrooms a long time ago, presumably because too many students complained about the smoke and the smell and the health risks associated with second-hand smoking. Okay, fair enough. But they didn’t ban smoking around NYU buildings then, and they shouldn’t amend that policy now.
No, you will not get lung cancer from walking into Bobst while a group of kids are smoking by the front door. We’re outside when we do that, so the smoke goes into the air, along with the cigarette smoke coming from the rest of the city’s residents. And, you know, the massive amounts of car and bus exhaust, and the rest of the air pollution you put up with in a city.
And then they call this proposed measure a “modest change.” Question: where are all of those Bobst smokers going to light up, exactly? Are you going to herd them onto Laguardia Place? Will you send us across the street into the park? Have you been to Bobst during finals? If so, you’d realize how many smokers there are at this school, and maybe you’ll see the logistical concerns that arise when you talk about banning smoking by NYU buildings.
If you want to live in a place where nobody smokes, then, to put it bluntly, you should move. There are plenty of parts of the country that do not tolerate smoking the way New York does. Should you choose to stay, then deal with it. We all made our compromises when we chose Manhattan. I’ll make you a deal: when you shed your disgusting sense of entitlement, I’ll move down the block with my Parliament Light.
14 Comments
Chris Kennedy
Wow. I’m surprised NYU is even gonna try to do this. Imagine the revolt that is gonna be on the hands of those security guards when it’s pouring rain outside of Bobst…
Is it that hard to just hold your breath as you walk by smokers on street? It takes like 10 seconds to get to the revolving doors.
I think this is really never going to happen, and I really doubt many non-smoker NYU kids are at all in favor of expanding the non-smoking area.
“If you want to live in a place where nobody smokes, then, to put it bluntly, you should move.”
How about this: if you are so troubled by the people who have asthma and would simply like to walk into their library without risk of an attack, to put it bluntly, you should quit. That sounds a whole lot more reasonable than telling someone to move, don’t you think?
But you’re right, I’M the one with the disgusting sense of entitlement, pardon me for developing asthma sir, you go right ahead and pollute my air. My doctor will thank you.
Pat McClellan
If your asthma is so severe that merely walking by someone smoking will trigger an attack, you’re not making a great choice by living in New York. If, on the other hand, having to briefly inhale a small amount of smoke as you enter the library is something that merely annoys you, then Josh’s point about learning to live with minor annoyances stands.
Kate L
I don’t think it’s a matter of simply walking past a few smokers in order to get into Bobst. There have been several times when smokers have clogged up the sidewalks and I’ve had to stand in a cloud of smoke, waiting for a path to clear, just so I could walk past Bobst. Yes, there are a lot of smokers in NY, but they don’t congregate and block sidewalks quite as much as NYU smokers do.
In this case, I don’t think we non-smokers are exhibiting a “disgusting sense of entitlement.” If you want to smoke, you certainly have the right to do so. But I think it’s entirely hypocritical to say that you have the right to crowd any entrance you want and then call out the non-smokers for getting annoyed. If smoking is how you cope with the stresses in your life, fine. Just don’t get in my way while you do it. Instead of telling me to move to a different city, maybe you should find a different coping mechanism.
As a non-smoker, I chose to live in NYC knowing that, yeah, I was gonna be living on a tiny island with smokers. It’s usually not a big deal. The difference between smoking in a park or on the street as opposed to right outside a building’s entrance? You can actually *avoid* smokers in more open spaces. Not so much when they’re standing right outside a door you need to get through. I don’t have a problem with someone choosing to smoke– I have a problem with it when they do so in a space other people, non-smokers included, need to traffic.
It’s fun how smokers tend to forget that, just as non-smokers are living here with them, they are living here with non-smokers. And, y’know, the fact that secondhand smoke is a known carcinogen. I guess I should apologize for having a sense of entitlement as far as my health is concerned.
Okay. Once this was posted, I began to think that “disgusting sense of entitlement” was a bit harsh—namely, the “disgusting” part. It’s not; it’s more reasonable than that.
That said…yeah, I still see entitlement here, “even when it comes to your health.”
Kate: when does this happen to you? I have class in Bobst and I also study/do homework there all the time, and even during exam weeks I’ve never experienced the sidewalk in front of the library to be as crowded as you make it out to be. If smokers are clogging up the sidewalk, then that’s a municipal issue, not just a school one, and you have a right to be annoyed and to see it addressed.
But I ask, to both you and Sarah: where’s the line between “open space” and “a building’s entrance”? So kids won’t be able to smoke in front of Bobst; fine, but where would you like us to go? Ideally, you’d like us to quit, but that’s not gonna happen, so I’m curious as to where you think we could be corralled that wouldn’t be “polluting” someone’s air, at some point, to some degree. I don’t blow smoke into dorm lobbies, and I don’t clog sidewalks, and I don’t smoke right in front of the Bobst doors. It’s a blurry line, at best, between “open space” and “in front of this building.” We’ll always be in front of SOME building.
And Sarah: I…am very aware that many (most?) people in New York choose not to smoke. And we’re definitely a minority group in the country at large. That’s why I can’t (and don’t) smoke on airplanes, in most restaurants, in most bars, on the train (even in its own car), in dorm courtyards now, etc. My point being: I make a lot of compromises in terms of my smoking. The law has made it almost impossible for me to directly infringe on a non-smoker’s right to “clean air” (though again, it’s worth repeating that in places like Manhattan, the air isn’t exactly clean otherwise), and I frankly wouldn’t want to do that anyway, because that would just be rude. If you’re really not willing to compromise here though, then yeah, I’d consider that to be entitlement.
Ugh, I wish these comments had an “edit” function.
Let me add something to that last paragraph of my comment:
That’s why I can’t (and don’t) smoke on airplanes, in most restaurants, in most bars, on the train (even in its own car), in dorm courtyards now, etc. My point being: I make a lot of compromises in terms of my smoking. The law has made it almost impossible for me to directly infringe on a non-smoker’s right to “clean air” (though again, it’s worth repeating that in places like Manhattan, the air isn’t exactly clean otherwise), and I frankly wouldn’t want to do that anyway, because that would just be rude. I understand that I wasn’t born a smoker, and that it’s a habit I chose, but I’m willing to make the sacrifices associated with it (at least at this moment in my life) in terms of smoking outside, even in the snow/rain/what-have-you, because, well, I chose this and now I’m dealing with it. I don’t see how that gets in anyone else’s way, though.
Simon M
1. While we’re at it, let’s make it a rule that people must wash their clothes at least once every two weeks in addition to cleaning their apartments and perhaps even mandating an obligatory washing of hands/portable hand sanitizer. Those dirty, non-clothes-washing folk are not at all respecting my dust mite allergies or the fact that they’re probably threatening my public health through not taking proper care of themselves.
2. Cigarette smoke is a known carcinogen and secondhand smoke is equally dangerous… when you’re exposed to it for long periods of time. I think you guys might want to be lobbying for a different cause: exhaust emissions reform. A little cigarette smoke will hurt you no more than the astronomical amount of carcinogens already in the New York City air. As for folks with asthma, if it really is that bad, New
York City is probably not for you. Seriously.
3. Smoking isn’t always for stress. A cigarette is pleasurable after a meal. A cigarette is a relaxing way to wind down after a long day. Cigarettes, in general, are a great way to meet people.
I think it’s important to point out that smoking cigarettes, through Truth ads and other ostensibly true media platforms, has morphed into a moral issue: those who smoke are evil and we should take pity on them because they simply can’t control their addiction. Do I count as a smoker if I don’t buy packs, and have had two in the past two weeks? I know people who “aren’t smokers” who chain smoke at parties.
Furthermore, for the asthmatic population, when you go to parties and they’re smoking both indoors and out… what do you do? I’m curious.
I’d really like to see how they enforce this new rule with the homeless/passersby. I can’t wait to see “NYU IS A NON-SMOKING AREA” Signs all over the village and parts of Brooklyn.
I’d really like to see how they enforce this new rule with the homeless/passersby. I can’t wait to see “NYU IS A NON-SMOKING AREA” Signs all over the village and parts of Brooklyn.
A parent with 2 tiny kids on Bedford Ave here in Williamsburg the other day objected when a college age guy walked past spewing some BS to his friends about “I hate f*cking f*ggots like that!” The young guy’s response? “Hey, this is New York!” Sounds like the same justification to me… Myself, I say leave the redneck language and the redneck public smoking in the redneck parts of the country, give me a sophisticated city to live in. (Only Bush era rednecks would scoff as ’sophisticated’ being a bad thing, right?)
@Pat Walking by a single smoker isn’t the problem, it’s walking by a group of them under an entryway. Calling me stupid doesn’t make your argument any better.
@Everyone Ultimately the fact is that smoking is not required for your health or comfort, whereas clean air certainly is required. I shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable, or hold my breath, because you got yourself addicted.
This just confuses me so much. I’m a non-smoker with bad allergies and not-so-bad asthma, but honest to god I have NEVER had a problem with smokers outside of Bobst. This whole “hold your breath for a second” thing is actually making me laugh out loud because I can’t even imagine THINKING of doing that. This is leading me to feel kind of left out–where are these mean thoughtless smokers as I walk in and out of Bobst?! Do I not frequent the library enough to enjoy their charms? Do they not think I’m cool enough to blow smoke in my face or something?! WHAT THE FUCK SMOKERS, STEP UP YOUR GAME!
No but seriously. Sometimes your microwave lets our waves that my mom is convinced will kill you. Ditto to cell phones. Sometimes you breath in a whiff of second hand smoke, or a whiff of human shit, which frankly, is more upsetting. We could all live in a bubble, or we could live in New York. What’s the problem?
Chris Kennedy
Walking by a group of smokers outside Bobst for a total of 78 minutes throughout 4 years of an NYU education will not kill you nor significantly impair your health. Either people aren’t understanding this or they are being overly sensitive.
Joe Dorf
I think that NYU’s overreacting by banning smoking from ALL entrances instead of specific ones (yes, I think Bobst comes to mind – the canopy really traps the smoke there).
So I don’t really take an issue with the general argument. What I take an issue with is this:
If you want to live in a place where nobody smokes, then, to put it bluntly, you should move. There are plenty of parts of the country that do not tolerate smoking the way New York does. Should you choose to stay, then deal with it. We all made our compromises when we chose Manhattan.
New York I’d say tolerates smoking LESS than many (most?) other parts of the country, being one of the first to create a smoking ban and having the highest cigarette taxes in the nation. Likewise, it has one of the LOWEST percentages of smokers in the nation (despite the high population present at NYU).
Another point – yes, compromises are made to be living in Mahattan (as in anywhere you choose to live), but that doesn’t mean that the city cannot change, as it indeed has to a great degree since I was born here (and a great amount before too).
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And yes, to counter the argument I know someone is going to make in the comments section: it’s just as entitled to demand the right to smoke in public as it is to demand that the practice be banned. The “other chemicals” in the city are really bad for you, just like the wisps of cigarette smoke while you may or may not inhale when you walk by.