Tobacco Documents Online

• • THE NEW YORK TIMES METRO WEDNESDAY, MAY.10, 1995 Restaurant Owners P_.lan FightAgainstSmokingRestrictions By THOMAS J. LUECK New York restaurant and tavern owners yesterday began what they called a counteroffensive against New York City's sweeping, four- week-old restrictions on smoking in public places, lining up members to testify at a city hearing and releas- ing a survey of owners who said their businesses were hurt by the rules. About 250 restaurant and tavern owners met yesterday at a midtown hotel in hopes of forging a strategy for the law's repeal. The meeting, , called by the Manhattan Tavern and Restaurant Owners Association, at- tracted people from all five bor- oughs,. all of whom appeared to agree with the organizers' conten- tion that the smoking ban is an un- fair invasion of business owners' rights, and is costing them business. "The issue here is not whether smoking is good or bad for people," said Joan Borkowski, the owner of Billy's Tavern in Manhattan, who was the chief organizer of the meet- ing. "This Is a matter of economic survival. We are a service industry, and It is our Job to serve customers. It is not our job to be policemen." Mrs. Borkowski said the next step for restaurant and tavern owners who oppose the ban will be to attend a meeting next Tuesday before 'the New York City Health Commission, to be held In the c6mmission's of- fices on Worth Street. At her urging, dozens of. people at the hotel gather- ing filled out forms necessary to testify against the law. , Since lt took effect on Apr1111, the' law has banned smoking every- where in New York City restaurants with more than 35 seats except at their bars. it replaced a law, accept- ed with little protesf by the restau- rant Industry, that required separate smoking and nonsmoking sections for diners. The smoking ban was approved by a large majority of the City Council, and has been vigorously supported by medical and antismoking groups as a way to cut down on exposure to secondhand smoke. Advocates of the law have argued that the goal of creating a healthier environment outweighs the possibility of a nega- tive impact on some business own- ers. One group, the Coalition for a Smoke Free City, did acknowledge before the City Council that some smokers who had patronized large restaurants might shift their loyal- ties to those with fewer than 35 seats to avoid the ban. For that reason, the group contended that the ban should be applied to all restaurants. To provide evidence of what they called the harsh Impact of the new regulations, the organizers of yester- day's meeting released the results of a poll of 1,000 restaurant owners and managers from all five boroughs, showing that most said their busi- nesses had been disrupted. The poll, conducted from May 3 to May 6 - when the law had been in effect only three weeks - by a firm from Alexandria, Va., was designed to elicit opinions about the lmpact of the law instead of proVde a precise gauge of its long-term Impact on business. The poll showed that most of those who participated were troubled by the ban. About 56 percent of those surveyed said that they had experi- enced a decrease in sales, compared with 38 percent who said sales had not been affected by the ban. The poll also found that a large majority of participants - 81 per- cent - agreed with the assertion that the new smoking ban is "gov- ernment over-regulation of small business." GOOMMU