For some, the Village of Great Neck is now a little less free, according to a new local law passed Monday which bans smokers from enjoying a cigarette on sidewalks along Middle Neck Road.
Without establishing a plan of enforcement, the village board of trustees agreed to pass the local ordinance that prohibits smoking of tobacco and other substances on sidewalks along, or within 125 feet of, Middle Neck Road in front of commercial establishments, the Village Green Park and the Village Housing Authority. The ban also precludes smoking at benches in municipal parking lots with access to Middle Neck Road and within 10 feet around them.
“We are not stopping them from smoking, just stopping them when it interferes with people,” Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said on Wednesday.
The mayor said he would be “shocked” if the bill causes offended smokers to avoid the Village of Great Neck’s shops and restaurants.
“This smoking ordinance will benefit our local businesses,” stated Village of Great Neck Trustee Jeffrey Bass. “Moreover, it is necessary for the health and well being of our residents, business owners and community, overall. As a resident of the community, I believe it is important to take all measures necessary to protect our community. The smoking ban will decrease our residents’ exposure to the dangers of secondhand smoke.”
Great Neck has now joined three other municipalities in the U.S. to expand their no-smoking ordinance to its sidewalks throughout its business district. City officials in Berkley, Calif., were the first to pass such a law which limits smoking on public streets.
Previously, the village banned smoking in and within 50 feet of municipal buildings, in municipal vehicles and in the Village Strathmore Eco-Park.
Opponents of the bill called it nonsensical, impractical and unenforceable at a Nov. 17 public hearing – but that wasn’t enough to sway the board, which consists entirely of non-smokers who unanimously approved the bill at the first regular board meeting of 2011.
Kreitzman said the law was primarily put in place for some village merchants and their customers who complained about second-hand smoke. At the public hearing in November, he said smoke is a “burden to merchants” and interferes with business.
In its press release, the village cited a surgeon general’s report on smoking.
“Low levels of smoke exposure, including exposures to second hand tobacco smoke, lead to a rapid and sharp increase in dysfunction and inflammation of the lining of the blood vessels, which are implicated in heart attacks and stroke,” according to the release.
When asked by Blank Slate Media if automobiles might be banned from the streets of Great Neck in the future because of the known health risks they pose to residents, the mayor said the board is trying to solve one problem at a time.
“You can do what you can do, you’re not going to solve every problem in the world,” Kreitzman said.
The Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island, which cheered the board’s decision at Mondays meeting, will provide the village with free signs that would say no smoking within 500 feet of entry way of buildings in the newly-established smoke-free zone.
Also at Mondays meeting, the board approved a resolution which would prohibit 26-year-old village employees with existing health coverage from being included under the village health-care plan.
