Bloomberg Retreats on Smoking Ban in N.Y.

NEW YORK —  New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg reached agreement with City Council leaders Wednesday on a compromise measure that would ban smoking in nearly all bars and restaurants.

The mayor won the council’s support only after scaling back his original proposal, which called for a total smoking ban in such facilities. Under the new version, smoking would be permitted in cigar bars, outdoor cafes, private clubs like American Legion halls, nursing homes, and in bars and restaurants that create specially ventilated smoking rooms where employees do not enter.

Bloomberg said the ban -- which the council is expected to pass next week -- would protect employees and others in public places from the effects of secondhand smoke. He told a City Hall news conference that “because of this legislation, it’s literally true that something like 1,000 people will not die each year that would have otherwise died from secondhand smoking.”

“I think that restrictions on smoking in the workplace, which includes bars and restaurants, is an idea whose time has come,” he added.

California and Delaware and some cities ban smoking in all restaurants and bars; the proposed New York City measure is part of a national trend in which municipalities are considering similar bills, according to anti-smoking activists. On Wednesday, for example, Boston’s Public Health Commission approved a measure to prohibit smoking in establishments that serve food and drink. Local officials in Chicago and Cleveland are also considering such measures.

New York’s current law prohibits smoking in restaurants that seat more than 35 customers, but it excludes free-standing bars and restaurants with separate areas for bars. Bloomberg’s proposal, which many smokers and bar owners have bitterly opposed, would affect an estimated 13,000 establishments. Opponents have said the bill would deprive them of the right to smoke and dine in public, and would also put a damper on tourism.

“No one should have to choose between their health and their job,” said City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, who supported Bloomberg’s drive to safeguard employees’ health, but had objected to the original bill’s more sweeping provisions. “The purpose here is not to punish smokers, but to protect employees.”