Judge Throws Out N.Y.’s Tough Rules on Smoking

ALBANY, N.Y. — A judge today threw out New York’s tough restrictions on smoking in public places that were to have taken effect May 7, temporarily blocking implementation of the regulations.

State officials said they will appeal the decision by Justice Harold Hughes of the trial-level Supreme Court, in which he said the state Public Health Council exceeded its authority in issuing the regulations.

Hughes said only the Legislature has such power.

“The people affected are unable to vote the 15 appointees who wrought this change out of office, as they could do with their senators and assemblymen,” Hughes wrote.

“This is not the way major social and health policy changes should occur in a representative democracy,” the judge said. “The Legislature has the task of deciding the great issues of the day, and setting the state’s legal course.”

State lawmakers had failed to adopt similar regulations for several years.

The Public Health Council adopted the regulations in February after months of public hearings and over the objections of the tobacco industry and groups representing restaurants and other businesses in the state.

The regulations, touted as among the most stringent in the nation, would have restricted smoking to designated areas in workplaces, larger restaurants, schools and other public areas. In the workplace, the regulations would have required the employer to provide a smoke-free environment if that was demanded by any employee.

The regulations would also have banned smoking in taxis, food markets, banks, auditoriums and courthouses. The only places that were specifically exempt from the regulations were homes, bars, hotel rooms, tobacco stores, restaurants with 50 or fewer seats, conventions and private social functions.