Clean Indoor Act


I Love Smoke-Free New York

About the Clean Indoor Act

The Clean Indoor Air Act was implemented on July 24, 2003, making it illegal to smoke in workplaces, which includes bars and restaurants.

Clean Indoor Act Links

Clean Indoor Act Articles

March 28, 2004

Smoke ban a hit - even outpolls Yanks

Lisa L. Colangelo
New York Daily News

What do New Yorkers like more than the Yankees or a Coney Island hot dog?

The smoking ban.

Or at least that's the conclusion of a poll of 500 registered voters for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

According to the poll, 61% of people strongly support the ban on smoking in workplaces, including bars, restaurants and offices. That's up from 55% in a similar poll conducted in August.

Another 14% said they "somewhat" support the ban.

"Those are amazing numbers," said Josh Isay, a spokesman for the campaign. "People should know that contrary to some press reports, this law is very popular ... it's a vocal minority that opposes the law." By comparison, 46% of respondents reported a "very favorable" view of the New York Yankees, and 39% were big fans of Coney Island hot dogs.

And 70% of people said the rights of customers to be in a smoke-free restaurant or bar is more important than the right to smoke.

Bob Zuckerman of the New York Nightlife Association questioned the validity of the results.

"When you group bars and restaurants together, you get a much different result than if you just ask about bars," he said. "We continue to hear from members and even nonmembers that the smoking ban has hurt business and curtailed the bar business." About 80% of the women surveyed support the ban while only 19% opposed it. Meanwhile, 70% of men supported the ban and 29% opposed it.

The poll had a margin of error of 4.5%.

State says smoking ban has not hurt bar business

By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

May 2, 2005, 3:08 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Despite dire warnings from tavern owners, business at
bars and taverns statewide has remained steady since the smoking ban
went into effect in July 2003, according to an analysis released Monday
by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

Caren Snyder, owner of Dodesters tavern in Syracuse, took issue with the
state, saying her business has dropped about 10 percent because of the
ban.

"To lose that much, it really hurts a small business like this one," she
said. "We've also seen an increase in the fee for a liquor license, our
unemployment assessment is up as well. And liquor companies have
increased prices, which I don't necessarily pass on to my customers
because my clientele is dwindling."

The head of an association representing bars and taverns also disputed
the state's findings, labeling the study as "junk economics."

After a 3.4 percent drop in sales during the first quarter of the ban,
business has remained about the same statewide, Tax Department spokesman
Tom Bergin said Monday. Sales fell 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent in the
two quarters following the ban, but in the period from March 2004 to May
2004 sales rose 0.2 percent to $169.6 million.

Statewide sales rose 1.1 percent in 2004's June to August quarter, the
last quarter included in the report.

"It seems that there was slight decrease in business, but all
statistical evidence points to business improving since then," Bergin
said. "The amount of sales taxes collected in the last quarter we looked
at exceeds amount of sales taxes before the ban. Even bars and taverns
are doing better now than before the ban."

In the quarter before the statewide ban took effect, sales were $169.3
million. In the June 2004 to August 2004 period sales were $176.8
million, according to the analysis, first reported in the New York Post.

Still, the tax department said the figures "should be interpreted with
caution and not be attributed solely to the effects of the smoking ban."

New York City bars and taverns fared better than the rest of the state,
seeing growth in four straight quarters after two quarters of falling
sales following the city's enactment of its smoking ban in March 2003.
From March 2004 to May 2004, business jumped 4.9 percent. Sales
increased 3.8 percent in last year's June to August time frame, the tax
department said.

The report looked at businesses that filed sales tax returns for every
quarter of the 5 1/2 years included in the study, Bergin said.

Scott Wexler, executive director of the Empire State Restaurant and
Tavern Association, said that factor skewed the data by eliminating
businesses that may have failed because of the ban.

He also said the report ignored price increases and the fact that
alcohol sales generally rise along with retail sales in general. And he
said the positive numbers in New York City masked a sales drop of around
two percent in the rest of the state since the ban took effect.

"This is a worthless analysis," Wexler said. "It leaves out most
severely impacted businesses but includes the people who were the least
hurt. It totally undermines the entire report."

"We're just looking at the numbers that came in," Bergin said, noting
there are a number of reasons why a business may have closed. "We can't
fine tune the data to that degree."

The state law banned smoking in bars and restaurants with seating for
fewer than 50 patrons, Off-Track Betting parlors, bowling alleys,
billiards parlors and company cars.

Full-service and limited-service restaurants were included in the survey
of 9,946 businesses statewide, but their data were reported separately.

Full service restaurants showed even greater growth than the bars and
taverns. Sales figures for those businesses rose 0.5 to 4.2 percent in
each of the five quarters since the statewide smoking ban started.
Limited-service restaurants' sales rose 3.5 to 14.3 percent in each of
those quarters.