Crazy. If only because once you hit the area between W3rd/W8th and Broadway/WashSqEast, EVERYTHING is an NYU entrance/vent/etc…

I don’t get the intolerance for smokers. Ban smoking in bars and restaurants? Fine (though I have my thoughts on that). Ban smoking in dorm rooms? Well, a bit ridiculous since presumably if you signed up to live in a smoking room you either smoke or are ok with second-hand smoke, but fine. But bullshit like 15 foot protection zones around entrances and vents are just absurd. Oh I’m sorry, did you breath in a tiny bit of my smoke as you were quickly walking by me on the sidewalk? What a bad person I must be! I hope you don’t get sick from the exposure. Because living in Manhattan you certainly don’t inhale chemical particles from pollution and construction on a daily basis in far larger quantities than the smoke from my cigarette that you briefly caught a whiff of.

Totally agree with Pat. I just don’t understand how NYU could possibly have the jurisdiction to ban smoking on public sidewalks. It’s not like we have a walled campus. Our campus is the city. You’d essentially be unable to smoke anywhere on Broadway between 8th street and W.4th, and nowhere on W. 4th between Broadway and 6th Ave. Stupid.

I support this in theory, but I have no idea how NYU has the legal authority to ban smoking on public sidewalks.

Also, let me just say that it’s great that NYU is actively trying to get student input on a new policy before a decision is made. This should continue.

I’m generally not opposed to smoking bans, but this one reeks of the kind of lifestylism that brings so many wannabe Carrie Bradshaws to NYU in the first place (and Carrie was a smoker!). Somehow complaining about ‘the smell of smoke’ and not smoke or second-hand smoke itself is just too much for me—sort of like when people complain about having to take a fifteen minute bus ride to campus. The horror!

This is great. I find it puzzling that anyone who is (theoretically) smart enough to attend a University would smoke, given that we know it will kill you. I have no sympathy for the poor smokers who don’t have the right to blow smoke all over me as I enter Bobst.

I really don’t know why we as a society tolerate smokers this day and age anyway. I already know too many people in my family who have died or will die because of smoking and I’d like to think that our generation is smart enough to avoid the same fate.

@Julianna No one is denying that smoking is bad for you. All smokers know this. It is not a news flash. I just have a problem with the university deciding this FOR me. You’re right, we are all smart people, and we’re smart enough to make our own stupid decisions.

Also, I highly doubt anyone is blowing smoke all over you when you enter Bobst. If they are, they’re probably just assholes, and you should talk to them about that next time it happens.

This is great. I find it puzzling that anyone who is (theoretically) smart enough to attend a University would eat Chick-fil-A, given that we know it will kill you. I have no sympathy for the poor lardasses who don’t have the right to make me look at them as I enter Bobst.

I really don’t know why we as a society tolerate fat people this day and age anyway. I already know too many people in my family who have diabetes and/or will be killed by some obesity-related disease, and I’d like to think that our generation is smart enough to avoid the same fate.

(Disclaimer: I don’t want to get into the specifics of this argument. For all intents and purposes this is ‘a joke’ and is not meant to be taken seriously.)

I’m curious about how NYU would even go about enforcing this rule. Would we see security guards getting up from their posts in order to shoe smokers away from the entrance of an NYU building? I certainly hope they won’t see this as something worth adding even one person to their payroll for.

I don’t judge smokers, there are a lot of other things that are bad/unhealthy in the world. Second hand smoke is a huge problem and I am a huge fan of banning smoking in public places everywhere. It’s not fair to get smoke blown on you even once, even by accident. There are many compelling reports showing how dangerous it can be. While I recognize this can be extremely unfair to those who want to smoke in public, I respectfully say, “deal with it!”

I find it puzzling that anyone with the money (theoretically) to attend NYU wouldn’t get plastic surgery, given that we know ugly people have low self-esteem and will have a hard time finding happiness with someone who actually wants to be with them. I have no sympathy for ugly people who don’t get plastic surgery and them complain about not being able to get a date.

I really don’t know why we as a society tolerate ugly people in this day and age. I already know too many people who died alone because they were ugly and could have afforded surgery but chose not to have it.

(Let people make their own choices. If you don’t want people in your family to smoke, then fair enough, let them know how strongly you feel about it. But you have no business lecturing total strangers about their bad habits just because they’ve made choices that you wouldn’t).

The less second hand tobacco smoke I have to breath, the better. Kill yourself, fine, but spare me. Smokers often get self-righteous as if the only effect smoking has is on themselves but they’ve made that decision and its no one’s right to be unhappy about that. It’s simply a fact that second hand smoke is a dangerous killer, and you can justify it as much as you want by saying there are other chemicals floating around in the city, but the fact of the matter is that smoking is an individual choice and I’ve made a choice to avoid it as much as possible — and second hand smoke, whether it’s in my face or just the air as I walk into Bobst, is forcing toxins into my lungs.

@Mark, ok so you made a choice not to smoke and to avoid second hand smoke as much as possible. The issue with a ban on people smoking on a public sidewalk is that you’re no longer talking about a choice that you’re making for yourself, but a choice that you’re making for other people. Where do you draw the line? If someone in your apartment building smokes, can you ban it because you don’t like cigarette butts on your roof or that it smells like smoke when you walk past their door? If I’m sitting on a second floor fire escape smoking, can you stop me because smoke might drift towards you?

Meant to write @Max, not @Mark. Damn nicotine must be getting to my brain. Think I might have to fight the nearest preschool and light up. Blowing smoke in children’s faces always makes me feel better.

God forbid anyone stop you guys from looking super hip directly outside of an NYU building. What a travesty. =]

@Pat: I really hope you actually meant to say that you will “fight the nearest preschool.” Please videotape this.

Goddamnit, I cannot type today. Clearly meant to say “find.” Though fight also works. Smokers are bad people, and I think we agree that child abuse and smoking go together like bread and butter.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Joe Coscarelli, Nebball15. Nebball15 said: Very interesting debate on public smoking http://bit.ly/27uTIf at #nyu taking place on @nyulocal [...]

I love the strong libertarian scent of smoking-advocates

Quick, before we lose these lines of reasoning let’s discuss health-care and government!

(Sorry for the tangent. Stay on topic now!)

@Chris Damn—I am generally not opposed to smoking bans exactly to avoid that ’strong libertarian scent’.

I think the major question is where do you draw the line? NY Times put out a story about a new smoking hazard called 3rd hand smoke where the toxins from smoking cling to your clothes and can then be harmful to other people. so what are we going to require now… that smokers carry another set of clothes with them and promptly change after having a cigarette? or how about that smokers just don’t wear clothes at all, that’d be interesting…

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/health/research/03smoke.html)

All I have to say on this topic is that if NYU thinks this policy will be at all enforceable in front of Bobst during fall semester finals if it’s pouring out, I think they’ll be oddly surprised. I could see a bit of civil disobedience…especially given that there’s not much NYU Security would be able to do.

And to everyone who says “second-hand smoke is dangerous, I don’t want to breathe it, you should respect that,” I say, “That’s part of going out in public. Driving is dangerous to pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrians are dangerous to drivers and bicyclists. Bicyclists are dangerous to both. The chance that you get hit by a car in this city is statistically far, far higher than the chance that you, as a lifetime nonsmoker, contract emphysema from the 4 seconds you enter the covered area in front of the library.”

This was a comment I wrote on the WSN site as a comment:

While it is true that your smoking outside may not cause someone to get asthma, it does IRRITATE the lungs of someone who already has it.

I have asthma and feel the effects of this irritation. Walking into a building at NYU, specifically Bobst, is rather unpleasant for me. Most times, there aren’t any alternative routes to take to ensure that I don’t inhale cigarette smoke. The smoke triggers wheezing and shortness of breath. After walking into Bobst, the first thing I usually go for is my inhaler.

Additionally, I agree with WSN that this ban would only be beneficial if enforced. I recommend that NYU focus on Gould Plaza and Bobst. These are two of the most problematic areas at NYU. Alleviating smoke outside of Bobst and in Gould Plaza would do asthmatics a world of good.

—–

I’d like to add:

Yes, I realize I am in NYC and that a billion different things are in the air that are harmful and trigger asthma attacks, HOWEVER, if there is even one TINY regulation that will make it easier for my lungs, I am all for it. My lungs are happy if they can at least win a battle (even if they don’t win the war, lol).

Also, I realize that this ban may be too extreme to enforce on public sidewalks in front of all NYU buildings. I would at least like to see NYU start somewhere, such as in front of Bobst. With the design of the building and the extensive amount of smokers that congregate in front, it is highly unpleasant and unhealthy for everyone’s lungs, including asthmatics.

Maybe this sounds ridiculous, but I usually just hold my breath when I pass a herd of smokers or even a single ambitious one. Same as when I pass some garbage that is particularly stinky. Not comparing smokers to garbage, but saying it’s not too hard to hold your breath for a few seconds if you don’t want to inhale second-hand smoke.

Certainly smokers could have chosen to avoid starting smoking in the first place, but most smokers are addicted, right? So I just figure my discomfort at holding my breath for a few seconds is far less severe than the discomfort they might experience though the various pains of lung cancer.

@Kaela I second that. Though I have to admit that it’s frustrating to have to hold my breath down an entire block when I’m walking behind a stranger – which is to say that even if NYU bans smoking within however-many feet of their building entrances, we’ll still have to deal with inhaling second-hand smoke (and other various toxins) everywhere else in NYC.

Sorry, I meant to say, “walking behind a smoker”