CITY HOT SPOTS SMOKING AGAIN

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ig_ban__regionalnews_angela_montefinise.htm
May 27, 2007
CIG BAN? WHAT CIG BAN?
CITY HOT SPOTS SMOKING AGAIN
By ANGELA MONTEFINISE

May 25, 1:35 a.m.
Bungalow 8
515 W. 27th St., Manhattan

May 27, 2007 -- While Mayor Bloomberg tries to make the world safe
from greenhouse gases, his cigarette ban is going up in smoke.

Scores of trendy clubs and neighborhood pubs across the five boroughs
have become smoking speakeasies, where bartenders and bouncers
regularly ignore the prohibition launched in 2003.

The Post spotted scofflaw smokers openly puffing away in a dozen bars
and clubs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island during the
past few weeks - including celebrity hangouts Bungalow 8, Tenjune,
Butter, Marquee, Plumm and Guest House.

The violations The Post witnessed include:

* A bartender and 15 patrons smoking all night inside Doyle's Corner
bar in Astoria on the rainy night of May 16. The same scenario was
witnessed several weeks earlier.

* A half-dozen hipster patrons at Brooklyn Ale House in Williamsburg
smoking openly at the bar and at back tables early Saturday morning.

* A bartender at Boat in Brooklyn saying, "It's 12:30. You can smoke
now," as they passed out makeshift ashtrays last Wednesday night.

Earlier, she told a patron to stop smoking, but after her
announcement, a number of patrons started up again and the bar was
filled with smokers for another hour.

* Dozens of smokers puffing on the dance floor and in the VIP area at
the Marquee club on back-to-back nights as security guards looked the
other way last week.

* At least 10 people smoking in Chelsea's small, exclusive club
Bungalow 8 Thursday night. A security guard walked past the smokers
to tell The Post, "You can't take pictures in here."

* Half the patrons of the Annadale Inn in Staten Island lighting up
in the wee hours after the bartender closed the window gate to keep
out prying eyes several weeks ago.

* Several smokers blowing smoke in the small basement of Lit Lounge
on Second Avenue last week.

"They used to" enforce the smoking ban, Brett, a Marquee regular,
told The Post last week. "But they barely pay attention now."

Smoking has been prohibited in bars, nightclubs and restaurants since
March 2003, after the Bloomberg initiative became law in the fall of
2002.

Establishments are responsible for prohibiting smoking indoors,
putting up "no smoking" signs and eliminating all ashtrays. Smokers
are not punished.

Fines of up to $2,000 can be issued for every violation, and after
three in one year businesses could lose their licenses. From April
2006 to March 2007, nine businesses were permanently shut due to
smoking.

The city Department of Health said most businesses have been
compliant, although there are violators. "We can't be everywhere all
the time," a spokeswoman said.

Agency statistics show 199 establishments hit with 542 violations
from April 2006 to March 2007, compared to 162 establishments getting
258 violations in the prior 12-month period. The number of complaints
dropped from about 3,000 to 2,000 from last year to this year.

"It's a lose-lose," said an employee of a popular club on West 27th
Street. "If we send people outside to smoke, people in the
neighborhood got annoyed about the noise. If we let them smoke
inside, we get hit with fines."

Allowing smoking indoors is "the lesser of two evils," he said.

Katie Browne, 26, a New Jersey paralegal and frequent clubgoer, said
she has noticed a rise in smoking at nightspots over the past year.

"I hate it. My clothes are back to smelling like smoke, and it's
gross," she said. "But there's no doubt about it - smoking's back."