New Yorkers banned from smoking outside?

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Smokers in New York City have already been banned from smoking in bars, offices, and restaurants, but now the city is thinking about banning smoking in public places like beaches, parks and other places where pedestrian traffic is heavy.

The New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley explains, "Studies show that if you are within 3 feet of someone smoking outdoors, your exposure to secondhand smoke can be the same as when you are indoors. And though places like Times Square are choked with exhaust-spewing traffic, cigarettes are still worse."

The New York Health Department has been pushing the city to take action for the past year. If the ban does go into effect, it will affect around 1,700 parks, beaches, and plazas.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130111848