DAMN! NEW YORK CITY BANS SMOKING IN ALL PUBLIC BEACHES & PARKS!

A unusually divided City Council on Wednesday passed a total ban on smoking in parks, beaches and public plazas.

Council members in favor of the bill gave impassioned speeches about loved ones who died of smoking-related cancers and children who suffered from asthma.

Opponents crowed about civil liberties, but came up short in rallying enough votes to strike down the ban.

It passed 36 to 12.

The ban on smoking in parks is the latest proposal from Mayor Bloomberg to curtail New Yorkers' bad habits.

Bloomberg initially questioned whether the city had the resources to police smoking in its sprawling parks, but changed his tune last summer after the Daily News ran photos for more than 1,000 cigarette butts gathered on the beach at Coney Island.

In September, he formally called for the ban, which requires City Council approval.

It will largely be self-policed.

"Parks and beaches are places where people sit and talk and they deserve to be smoke-free," said bill sponsor Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan).


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