Property owners are not holding their breath for a citywide ban on domestic smoking, like the ones barring lighting up in bars or restaurants, but non-smoking is increasingly becoming a requirement for renters in New York City.
The Daily News reports that while the city's health department doesn't have hard numbers on the trend, more real estate companies are forbidding renters to smoke anywhere on the premises. It's not just rental properties either:
Manhattan real estate manager Jeff Lamb said most of the roughly 30 co-ops and condos he handles have banned smoking or are in the process of adopting no-smoking house rules.
That means the co-op boards can deny new applicants if they're smokers, or require existing owners who smoke to ventilate their apartments or plug holes to protect their neighbors.
Audrey Silk of NYC Clash--Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment--is troubled, "First, it was planes for two hours, then six hours, then all planes; then half of restaurants, then all restaurants. Now, the home."
Still, The City That Never Sleeps may soon be The City That Never Smokes, although it's unclear who will stringently enforce such ad hoc regulations. Litigious neighbors in a city full of lawyers are probably a good guess.
