RESTRICT NYC SMOKERS TO DESIGNATED SMOKING AREAS OUTSIDE

The streets of New York are some of the most crowded places on earth. We walk side by side for many blocks alongside each other to get around the city, which is a necessary part of living or working in New York.

While we understand and support people's right to smoke if they choose, when smokers choose to smoke while walking in very close proximity to non-smokers on the streets of NYC, the non-smokers rights are being violated. You have the right to choose to smoke. We have the right to walk to our jobs, homes or appointments without being subjected to secondhand smoke which, after repeated exposure, may take years off of our lives.

Non-smokers have no choice about where they walk, esp since smokers are everywhere on the streets. Just when you walk ahead of one to get away from the smoke, there's another waiting on the next corner and you can't get away from it. You will typically walk with 3-5 smokers in a 2 to 3 block walk in Manhattan. This is unacceptable and unjust.

We petition the City of New York to restrict outside smoking in the city to designated smoking areas only. We call for an immediate end to walking freely around the city openly smoking. This is the only fair solution for everyone, since we all share the streets. The streets are not your smoking area, they are public property shared by all, nonsmokers, children, the elderly.