The NY Times sent an investigative reporter to Bryant Park to test the new city regulation banning smoking in parks and finds non-smoking park-goers incredibly tolerant toward smoking violations while smokers appear compliant with the regulation.
It's a $50 violation, but if the reporter's observation of lack of real violations on the second day of the ban holds, this regulation won't be a money-maker for the city. More telling, though, was the decidedly lack of objection from those subject to inhaling 'illegal smoke'.
As a final test for the experiment, the reporter, lit cigarette in hand, approached a park security guard for directions.
"Yo, boss," this guard said. "Cigarette's gotta go."
"The guard reached into his pocket and withdrew a piece of paper, not much bigger than a baseball card. The paper, which announced the ban, said, "Smell flowers, not smoke."
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
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