Tobacco Documents Online

MAY 29. 1995 THE NEW YORK OBSERVER • The Great 1995 New York Smoke-Out Smoke Screen By Richard Motgan BothowskiL the xfftig ptvptiecess of Billv s Tavern on First Avenue and 52nd Sttoetm said. "1 don't want to sacTitice anybody to this law. but economics will fottx us to.-•. Prohibition took 15 long years before it was nepealed• For a lot of us in the nst.w- ram busittess, it s just a matter of weeks." "f gave an inraview to BBC last night-" she said. "and those peopb already think of New York as a place where guns am al- ways going offanddntgs an: being dealt in ning tepeal sentiment. His numbers were fttxn one of two sur- veys. each reaching the satne broad con- t:La9on: (11 "A clac tttalocity (56,41 eserc) of tataurateuts state that they have already experienced a loss of revenue due to the ban." (Survey by Fabtiuo, McL.wehlin & Assodates. conducted for Mr. Htunber's National Smokers Alliance•) (2) Among those responding. 51 pet- oent thought the eitywide smokutg ban had ownets atr !t's no secret restaurant worked up these days. Over smoking• Or. ratlter• nonsmoking. New York City's Smoke-Fme Air Act has abudv demonstrated the power of the big New York issttes: the staying power of fate ptimzs the divisivenessof the Boad of Fdteation and mote hooks than the Ful- ton Fish Matket The cotttroHasy has even managed to paluire nsrautant royalty. So they recently packed the Deposeman of Heahh's 200-snt auditorium on May 16 at the wt-rcstauratatr-like hour of 10 A.M. to protest the city's new atttisntok- ing regulations. They could have slept Lve if they admitted the ttudt: thac the Smoke- Ftee Air Act it ultimudy. a canartl: as an economic fotoem it won't have any effect on city "YMun^« Similar antismoking sanctions have had no economic impact on the fust 15 cities. including Beverly ttnposed them. But this is New this is war. A wak before the Depotmfatof Heahh ttteecttg, the testattnttt awnets gatheted at the Hotei Roosevelt. A flier was being hmded out that nad "Ihis ttteedttg is paid forby Ptsitip Moais"'Ittisbeingwar.hotd setvtiry grabbed the am in chitros and a golf shitt who was disaibutiog the fliers and thnew him ou. He was37-yestddJoe Chanet: a bond ttader far Ktdder Pt•abody a the 1980's. who. tttte to ouren has te- fotmed hitaself as an attiismolting activist for the 90's. His Smoke-Ftm Educational Services had taken a fuII-page ad in Sep- tember in The New York T'uaes b)uiug: "PhiliP Motris. Shame on You!" Which meatu he's enemy No. t. But he hetd his gound in the lobby otttside the meeting toont, tantittg ettoughof a scme to anraa the media and the paiioe. In one tatts vtas 71tomas Htaaber, ptts- ident of the National Smokers Alliancee fiunittg. A vaetanof the tobacco ittdttsay. aodfottttaexavdveatPbilipMottis' pttb & relations fum. BUMOD44ammuff, Mr. Hutnber was at Btason whm I'lrilip Motiis gave ita dcMrbpntent gtaat" toassess the da pto•stttof dag gtatp like the Allimtot; it passed. Mr. H was taavmeed. some 10 tmtuhs aftee the gnup's Augttst 1993' noeQdonc as es pnsidatt and dtief exrx~tove offiot= "Smokas am generally docile, quiet people." he said "Ibey'te not at all of the aaivist stripe." Mr. Humbes daims the Natiooal Smok- esAllatoenosvhasnmte3 tntlhon "gnss- mots" membets--abottt the same as the National Rifle Assadadott--aod almost 50 ootpaate dnootsm iadttding, naturally. lobao:v otatpaoies whose omsrtbut;ottsts be decliaes to sperify.'Td no sooner break am Philip Moais' contribtroon (listl than I would Joe Smith's." be said. Besides. he said of the effotts of Mr. Chemer and oth- ets like him. "I like wntdting them foam." Of die United Restaurant. Hotet Tav- em Assatiadon. a gttxtp against the stnok- i"d ban-the fLerciaimed "Vitnnlly all of its activities opposing New York City's smoho-fire testataatg law, induding ttews- paper ads, tadio ads and ntetuttgs, an; paid for by Philip Morris and other membets of the tobacco cartel•" 'Jntt a Matteof Weeks' In the middle of the bottle an: sotue of New Yark's great ttstaura*= and this is.vbas the poetrr Iies The city will lis- tea to them more than to activists. Joan r.JV cwrww.: Joan Borkoaski of Billy's Restaurant, at a hearina on smoking and ratau- rants at City Department of Health offices on May 16. broad daylight ... thu might be tttte, but if you're btave ertoogh to cottte hes-don't even think about enjoying a cigarette with yourcoffee-" Ptice Waterbacse Joms Battle Early stttveys of the effects of the new law an testaurants bttxtght Mrs. Borkows- ki together.vith Mr. Humber of the Na- tional Stnokess Alliance. She possessed tfte leadetship yualities to emerge as chief organizer for the tda> ation-if not total tepeal-of the Smoke-Ftse Air Act: be possessed some numbets capable of fan- been bad foa basittess. and 41 peteetu te- potted lower gross receipts. (Survey of five-botough tesnutantt by Price Water- hottse, sponsored by the New York Tav- em and Restataattt Association.) Neither survey was as damning as its suttattaty ttiod to suggest. Question I 1 of the Ptice wattxttoase effott for example. asked about gross sales receipts since the Stnoke•Fme A'trAct went into effetx Nine petoetn reported higher trmpts: 41 per- atat lower. 34 peroax sbau the satne: and 16F etceat didn't lmow or n.fused com- ment In other wotds. 43 petrenuepotted - JUST THE FACTS No otber taty hss ittdividuals qttiee as Itaaic as otre, bat that acamly mamea to old bands itYe Stantott A- Cilantz A ptofeswrof tnodidtteat the UttivetsityofCalifomiaat San Francisco anda tttemberofthe instintte for Health PolicyStttdiet. Dr. Glatssz ptactically stifteda yawn svHen nembed-"I ltet nIls every oonple of weeia oeso," he explaiaed, "and it's always the same--dx same formulatlba same eszm:fae, the same n:"atad- mcsk---ELtaess tht:n:alltssonfiamarlthisistbata!>tomeompaniesatevetyclevs: ' andtbe mediaam very lasy-". - - Dr:Glao:z's amdy.'Zbe Effra of OttfinaoorsReMic9ng Smoke-Fiee Rtanu- , taatt oa Raatnatu Sales," appeated.~a!hp Jg;~c,1 Sl9,4,dmetfcaalourna! of Pulr ' •. :Tic Ei+ac l~r-fiimasmply e-a"~:"e+ 6tre?.reaisoftaJes,ias data for thefitst ! 15 US: cities (all in Califotaia and Colorado) to enact stnoke•free>xdinsaces ftlftPSfA""""~ • • Dr- CBttntz then computch tbe.eado 'of reinsmam: sales to a city's total tetatl saks. He did this foc yeaa bdats snd atEer stooting Iegislatioa..If an oid'atattce weteadVGSelY to affeCt te5 lt~ytyrc~l~. rh:e _ra~:n w!r~ir_i h+y._. ~~ri_ ft dtdC t• i " " He also atam oed 15 comparison cities --cities of simiiar size, geography and detnogmphy to the original 15 cities but ttnfettsitxl by smoking restrictions. As befate, if a smoking otdinanx had htut ttztwtant sales, this ratio would have dcopped.It didsi L ' Dr. Glantz said "Wbafs in abttndaace oat tbao is fe•lr. Ratathitaats are aftaid they'll lose the bttsittess of tbeir stnokas, aod this fearis very real Helping this aioag, of cotase, is a svhole shelf of sntdies, staveys and tticks the tabacco rnm- panies draw ftntn to convinee testamatetas they're absotntely right to be a@aid•!' Then- sottading a lot like Mr. Chetner, Dr. Gismz tsfened to.vhat he called the tobacca anel's window of opporntaity: "It'll be two years before anyone can give the definitive answaabout the eeeoomic otxsequeaces of New York City's smoiin g otdittsace: ane yeartocoller1thesales ta:: attotherfor it to beomte part of the public record. Until tben, anybody can come out with vitanlly anything they want in any of their smveys." ' receipts were higher or unchanged. while only 41 percent reported receipts were lower. That didn't ptevutt a I0•000-piece mailing- on Billy's Tavern letterhead but finaroed by Mr. Humber's National Smok- ers A16utce. ftom being sent out to New York City tesnttrAnt owners. Ttte mission was to stir up intaestL and to spur eatery owners to attend the May 16 hearing with the Department of Health. The May 9 dress rehearsal at the Hotel Roosevelt was sympathetically portrayed by lhe New York Tunes as "a counterof- fensive against New York Citv s sweep- itpt fotr-wodo-old rtsaiccats an stttokittg " The meesing, chaired by Mts. BotkowskiL attncred about 430 botu fide ttuauruaas. tohaooosanel types and press. It also. of course, amacted Mr. Chem- er. who unwimngly shated an eferamr with Mrs. Borkowski and Mr. Humber to the meeting's second-floor site. Mr. Chaner. taaecogruzed as he listened to the two plan the meeung, said that Mrs. Borkowski asked at one point. "Whatshould 1 say?' Mr. Humber told hernot to wotry: "Itrse am our fiettdt " 'heep AttKkiag Me' 'Thete was a shouting match•" Mr. Chemersaid of the Hotel Roosevelt scene. "Humber finally yelled. 'You'te not a metttber of the NuiOnal Smokers Alliattce• so get otu of hae!"' Although a few fliers .mdisbutsedd the incident nreived fket- ing mention only in New York Newsdm•• Mr. Humber confumed the encounter but interpreted it as only a true tobacco man can. "My most ptomitxstt temptation was to allow him into the meeong toom: ' he said. setting up a punch line of unex- pected humanity. "bat I was worried for his physical safety- I mean. those people in there were hurt and angry." Thtet days later, a Fadettd Express padc- et, containing a lartr fttxn the National Smokers Alliance. arrived at Mr. Checn- er s Battery Park office- Mr. Hutnber wtoe, "If you ate going to be suxessful as an activist you do need to get it tigfu. Leam to spol Butsonn-Matsteller is cattt:ct. I was a senior vice president of Btttson-Marsteller. i am not ncw." Mr. Humber added that the National Smokers Alliattce's public relations firm was Cohn & wolfa not BtasotrMatstdkx, negleamg to mention the two firms had die same parent company. He also invited his antivnoidng foe to "keep attacking me petsanally. It helps considerably with Na- tional Smokers Alliance membership dri- ves and fvtd-raising effotts." Then he waxed eloquent. "I still futd it inoottfptrltettsible thatyou and yourhand- ful of exttstni.stu cou:d wteak such havoc on a ciry that was once the symbol of wel- cotne and tolerance for all. When extrem- iutt, no tttatterthe cattse, btings the mdting pot to a boil, then the rhetoric must be cooled lest the republic suffer." The lemerattemptedhumor. "Ihae am those who believe they saw me on the grassy imoll." Mr. Chemer wasn't laughing. Speaking in the earttest exaspetatod tanes of a peace- matctt monitot•, he claimed to have no per- sonal vendetraacautct tobacco. The cause• he said, sptang solely from his ituellect. "I believe there ate two sidn to every issue: ' he said. "ihis one came ciosea to havine just one side." But Mr. Humber tsn't buying. "Quotc me as saying that, in my opinion. Joe Chetner is a millionaire dilettante with nothing better to do than to attempt to tm- pose his views on the rest of the wodd," The battle. it seemt ha5 just begun.