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美英报刊阅读教程Lesson13课文
Lesson 13 Ban Sparks Smoking War
Sleepers are mad at bar patrons, and owners are mad at city
By Charisse Jones
1. NEW YORK-David Rabin doesn’t do cigarettes. In fact, he
can’t stand smoke.
2. But the co-owner of Lotus, one of the hottest night spots
in Manhattan[1], says he now spends a good part of his time
fighting a law that prohibits lighting up in bars and pushes
smokers onto the street.
3. “This is supposed to be the city that never sleeps,” says
Rabin, 42. “It’s now the city that never sleeps because smokers
are huddled beneath a four-story walk-up talking. Where else are
they going to go?”
4. New York City is still coming to terms with smoke-free
night life[2] three months after a ban took effect outlawing
smoking in nearly all work-places, including restaurants and bars.
5. Five states—New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine and
California—have passed similar smoking restrictions that include
bars and taverns. New York State’ s ban, which echoes the city’
s anti-smoking law, goes into effect July 24.
6. Just last week, Maine’s governor signed into law a ban
on smoking in taverns, pool halls, lounges and some off-track
betting[3] sites that goes into effect Jan. 1. Smoking is already
outlawed in restaurants. On May 23, Connecticut’s governor
signed a m easure that will prohibit smoking in cafes, taverns,
restaurants and public facilities by April 2004.
7. On Tuesday, Florida began a smoking ban that’s slightly
less restrictive. It bans smoking in all enclosed workplaces,
including restaurants and bars where food sales make up at least
10% of their business.
Business is off
8. New York City’s law has sparked a million “butts” jokes
in the tabloids and turned celebrities such as Britney Spears into
alleged scofflaws for illegally puffing away.[4] And it has stirred
fear and loathing among some residents and businesses that say
customers don’t want to drink and nosh where they can’ t light
up.
9. One New York City councilman recently called on the city
and state to consider amending the anti-smoking laws—a move
other city officials say is unlikely. Owners and managers of cafes
and bars from Queens[5] to Manhattan say that business is off as
much as 40% and that they have been forced to lay off employees.
Some community representatives say noise complaints have
risen since pub denizens began lighting up on the sidewalk.
10. “If what I’m hearing is correct, this is having a
devastating effect on the city’s economic recovery,[6]” says
Queens councilman Tony Avella, who says he reluctantly voted
for the ban but thinks the council should revisit the issue[7].
11. His office is receiving a dozen complaints a week about
litter, noise and occasional rights among smokers outside
neighborhood bars. “We need to find out if there’s a way to
preserve public health and allow people to drink and smoke at
the same time,” he says.
12. Those who have studied the impact of anti-smoking
measures say such laws protect the health of bartenders,
waitresses and patrons and also bring in customers who were
reluctant to socialize where smoking was allowed.[8]
13. “What the data show is that no smoke-free air acts have
ever hurt business,” says Tom Frieden, New York City’ s health
commissioner. He says four out of five New Yorkers do not smoke.
14. In a city of apartment dwellers, where people live above
restaurants and pubs, some say long-standing tensions between
businesses and residents have only risen since smokers were
forced to congregate outside.
15. “We have found that our number of complaints have
increased regarding noise on the st reet, particularly when it
conies to smokers,” says Kyle Merker, chairman of one of
Manhattan’s community boards. “Realistically, are they going
to repeal the law? No. But maybe we can refine it.”
Earlier closing time?
16. Some club owners fear that anger about the excessive
noise could make it harder for businesses to get liquor licenses,
or it may lead to forcing businesses to close at rather than
4, which Rabin fears would make New York no different than
other cities.
17. “This has brought about a civil war between night life
and residents, both of whom have a legitimate right to exist,”[9]
says Rabin, president of the New York Nightlife Association.
18. Ciaran Staunton, owner of O’Neill’s in Manhattan, says
business is off 20% as former patrons head home to Connecticut
or New Jersey, where they can still smoke in a bar.
19. I’ve met some of my patrons coming out of liquor stores
with six-packs[10] saying, “We’re going to drink where we can
smoke,” he says. “The original legislation was put in to he lp
employees, to provide them with clean air…. Well, we’ve laid off
three employees because of the smoking ban.”
20. Others note that the sour economy could be one reason
some bars and restaurants may be struggling.
21. “These ordinances don’t have any eff ect on the
hospitality business[11], and in the long term are very positive
because they expand the market,” says Stanton Glantz of the
University of California San Francisco, who has studied the
economic impact of smoking bans.
22. On the streets of the c ity, feelings about the smoking ban
are mixed, but many say there’ s no more noise than before.
And they appreciate the smoke-free air inside bars.
23. “The noise is relatively low, and I only mind it when I’
m trying to go to sleep because of work in the morning,” says
Tracy Wallach, 20, who lives next to The Coffee Shop bar and
restaurant in Union Square.
24. Even some bar managers have made their peace.[12]
25. “The first few weeks, (fewer) people came in,” says
Barry Brodsky, manager of Bar None in the East Village, “ Then
they gave in.”
From USA Today, June 3, 2003
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