Feds seek to ban smoking in public housing

They wondered how smoking suddenly became a priority given the deteriorating condition of numerous public housing complexes and the persistent financial struggles of the NY City Housing Authority. Venning’s own granddaughter, Nayanta Venning, 24, is one of them. But NY City’s public housing authority is the largest in the country and enforcement would be challenging. This proposed ban, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, would also require that common areas and administrative offices on public housing property be smoke-free. He’s been smoking for 67 years, he said, and no federal edict is going to stop him from lighting up in his own house.

But there were a few opponents of the proposal who said that such a ban would infringe on the rights of smokers.

“To truly realize the potential health benefits of smoke-free public housing policies, residents who want to quit must have access to affordable and comprehensive (smoking) cessation services through private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare”, Hansen said.

Daniel Ramirez, a 16-year-old aspiring actor, felt differently.

At the Lexington Houses in East Harlem, smoking is the least of a few tenants’ concerns. “So yeah, I support a ban”.

“Remember public housing is not free”, Esman argued.

In addition, secondhand smoke causes hundreds of newborns to die each year from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the surgeon general estimates.

The goal is to reduce secondhand smoke, improve residents’ health and save millions in repairs and preventable fires. Rather than banning smoking, the federal housing agency “should focus on getting them signed up for Medicaid and registering them to vote”. If it passes, the housing authority will implement the new policy in their developments within 18 months.

Under the rule, smoking would be banned in all apartments, as well as indoor common areas and outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing or administrative office buildings.

There are 1.2 million public housing units nationwide. The rule would not apply initially to electronic cigarettes, but federal officials are seeking input about whether to ban them.

HUD will take public comment for the next 60 days on the issue.

Hackensack, which is home to six public housing facilities, already prohibits smoking inside a few buildings.

She has lived at The Encore for three years and enjoys the clean air.

“We really never have had to evict someone over that, but we have had to visit with a few people on it”, she said.

Under the ban, smokers would not be able to light-up inside buildings or within 25ft (7.62m) of them. Then again, my sister and I were subjected to second-hand cigarette smoke during the entirety of our childhoods because our parents were heavy smokers.

“And not because of the smell”, his 21-year-old son, Manuel Jr., added in English.