North Hempstead limits smoking in parks

The Town of North Hempstead has voted to restrict, but not fully ban, outdoor smoking in its parks.

The town council Tuesday night approved a resolution that prohibits lighting up anywhere in parks and recreational facilities other than designated smoking areas, which will be located at least 50 feet from building entrances or public congregation areas.

Signs marking the areas and containers to collect cigarette butts should be distributed in a couple of weeks, said town spokesman Collin Nash. The town has 38 parks, including a golf course and beaches in Manorhaven and Port Washington.

Town park staff will enforce the rules, Nash said. A smoker who continually disregards the policy may be asked to leave, he said. If someone becomes hostile, the police would be called, Nash said.

The Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island, an anti-smoking advocacy group based in Hauppauge that pushed for the measure, applauded the move. "We couldn't be more delighted," said Carol Meschkow, the group's Nassau project coordinator "The whole goal of the program is not to be punitive; really the goal is to educate and to change the social norms."

Gary Nolan, a smokers' rights advocate, scoffed at the idea that secondhand smoke had any impact outdoors, calling it "absolutely ridiculous" to suggest "that somebody is suffering an illness from walking past somebody outside who was smoking a cigarette."

Nolan, the U.S. director for the New Hampshire-based Citizens Freedom Alliance Inc., added, "This is purely cosmetic. It has nothing to do with saving anybody's health; it's just because they don't want to see people smoking."

North Hempstead joins other Nassau towns and New York City in enacting park smoking restrictions.

Oyster Bay approved the first town park outdoor smoking ban in 2002, and Hempstead passed a similar measure in November. Several villages in the county also have limited or prohibited smoking, Meschkow said.

In 2007, Nassau County officials proposed a smoking ban in parks, but it's not currently being considered, Meschkow said.

New York City last week enacted a smoking ban in its 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches.