Bay Terrace Activist Hoped For Smoking Legislation

A new bill was introduced this week that would require owners of New York City residential buildings with three or more units to inform prospective tenants and purchasers whether smoking is allowed inside apartments – as well as on balconies, courtyards and rooftops.

To Phil Konigsberg, of Bay Terrace, it's nearly a dream realized.

"I started out with my mentor Joe Cherner in the late 1980's, who organized Smokefree Educational Services and which was very instrumental with the help of Peter Vallone, Sr. in seeing the passage of the early smoke-free laws under Mayor Giuliani's administration and then the subsequent smoke-free restaurant, bars and parks under Mayor Bloomberg's terms of office," said Konigsberg.

Konigsberg and the Bay Terrace Civic Association the Bloomberg administration for a smoke-free parks bill, which was passed last year.

“We pursued this proposal in response to complaints from New Yorkers," said Bloomberg, adding, "It won’t ban smoking in residential buildings, only ensure that New Yorkers can choose a smoke-free place to live.”

The new law is similar to other disclosure policies such as a history of bed bugs or lead paint, and would require landlords to provide a disclosure form to tenants and apartment purchasers stating the building’s smoking policy before a lease or sale is finalized. Similar laws have been passed in Maine and Oregon, and several local jurisdictions.

The Bay Terrace resident, who said he was surprised when he heard the news this week, said it would be a dream come true if a smoke-free multiple housing were passed before the end of Bloomberg's term.

"Aside from the obvious health concerns of secondhand smoke infiltrating common areas and their own apartments while living in a multiple housing building which has not adopted a smoke-free policy, the often overlooked aspect of smoke-free apartments is the significant reduction of fire risk to both life and property," said Konigsberg, adding, "And when the residence is an apartment building, not only is the home where smoking occurs at risk, but everyone else who lives in that building is at risk as well."