Posted on 03/06/2005 7:57:33 AM PST by SheLion
In reference to the story "Smoking ban for bars on Legislative agenda" on Feb. 14 by John Zicconi, all I can say is "Hogwash."
I own a successful bar in Greenwich Village. In 2004, we were voted the Best Lounge in New York by CitySearch. My business is down 30 percent since 2002. Since nothing has changed but the smoking ban, I can attribute this precipitous drop to nothing else.
It's remarkable to read that "A New York City official on Thursday will travel to Vermont to testify that Big Apple pub receipts have increased 12 percent since the city's ban went into affect in 2003" since not even Mayor Bloomberg has been able to wrestle the actual statistic for bars ONLY out of the state's finance department. The information they're peddling combines tax receipts for bars and restaurants — including places like McDonalds and Starbucks. This is like comparing a wolf to a Shih Tzu; anyone with any sense knows they're completely different beasts.
New York officials are doing their level best to cover up the fact that for many small businesses the smoking ban is an unmitigated disaster. They say that compliance is at 98 percent. That's such utter nonsense I don't even know where to begin. They say that no one is hurting, using tax information that cannot possibly represent the truth, while fines for noise complaints and capricious health code violations slowly pick away at our sanity.
All I can say is this: I'm a life-long non-smoker and I hated the way my bar smelled. I, too, figured that I'd wait and see. That it couldn't be THAT bad. I've had to cut eight staff, the ones left work fewer hours, and I haven't taken a paycheck since August. It's that bad.
The pub owners in Vermont need to pull their heads out of the sand in time to save themselves. Or, like us, they'll be fighting for their livelihoods while their plight is actively ignored by those who might help.
This includes, by the way, the media, which seems to have jumped onto the no-smoking bandwagon with both feet and no regard for journalistic integrity. Frankly, I'd be surprised if an opposing viewpoint ever sees the light of day.
Amy McCloskey New York, N.Y.
All the bars in my neck of NYC allow smoking. Sometimes you have to wait to 10pm.
hee hee
Maybe you can help wise them up. Maine forced a total smoking ban in January of 2004. It has not gone well at all.
Being forced outside a bar or restaurant to smoke, especially in the winters up here is horrifying. I guess the anti's think by forcing smoker's outside in the winter to smoke will kill us off faster with pneumonia, etc. heh! But that will cause more loss of tax money. It's a no-win situation.
I have read articles about this. Smokers go outside to grab a cigarette and they just keep going leaving a tab.
REALLY? heheh! After BloomingIdiot goes to bed? LOL!
No kidding! That's great. And money flowing. Which is even better! That's the way life should be. Everyone has a choice to go in or not.
(Is there a electric bull there too?)
No electric bull there. Actually, it's a new "Irish" pub named "Finn McCools". It was an instant success, filled everynight from the moment it opened. Find a need, fill it, =$ success $.
I'm a musician who has been playing the NYC clubs for years.Anyone who tells you the smoking ban dosenet have a NEGATIVE effect on business is full of SH*T. Bloombergs logic for it was to keep bar employees from breathing smoke. I've YET to meet the bar employee who believes that or cares.They wouldn't be in the bar business in the first place if cigarette smoke bothered them and everyone of them will tell you so.The mayor feels he bought NYC just like another company he owns. He hates cigaretts and thats that ..PERIOD. Last summer people were complaining that there were crowds outside the clubs and smoke was getting into their open windows. The cops started chasing smokers from the from of clubs.What a mess. A lot of kids now take the Path trains to NJ where it's still civilized and people can have a beer and a smoke.PS Im a non smoker
Move to Texas!!!!!
You must be kidding! Move to "some" places in Texas, you should say.
Smoking has been banned in DALLAS! Just like NYC! Of course, Dallas is run (poorly) by Dims in all important places. Mayor, most of the city council, most all community leaders. Dallas (the city), Dallas (the school district), Dallas (the crime rate) are also a disaster compared to most cities in and around the area - 'nuf. said!
Come to Texas yes, but stay in small towns.
That's it in a nutshell. The liberal antis have taken over the bigger cities.
ROFL,...gosh, sorry,...I meant Fort Worth, not Dallas or PC Austin, (I don't know if you can still smoke in Austin) where I guess there's still a little bit of freedom.
Yes, Dallas is a mess of PC rules. Mayor Laura Miller is a self-righteous and arrogant crypto fascist. The schools, city council, and that wonderful, warm, America loving John Wiley Price and what was his name, Al Lipscomb, the one who was tried for fraud and bribery.
Dallas is a kind of Los Angeles wannabe without the ocean, palm trees and "celebrities".
I met my husband in a very nice Irish pub in New York called "Finn MacCool's."
We don't go there anymore, though, because of the ban. I'll stay at home and pour my own drinks.
Regards,
PS: And yes, OUR Finn MacCool's is hurting badly, too. Used to be a line around the block to get in there on some nights....now it's a ghosttown after the dinner crowd leaves.
That's the story in MANY NYC pubs and clubs. Thanx to the Mayor.If it was up to him he'd have the town shut down buy 7:00pm
How about we just ban cities? It seems this is where all this leftist garbage originates anyway.
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