Emotions are running high at The Vaux at 372 Central Park West and residents are butting heads over a proposed smoking ban in the building, so much so that the so-called Peace Institute of New York—a "group devoted to mediation and conflict resolution"—has been invited to smooth things over at the next condo meeting.
However, outspoken "smoker's rights activist" Audrey Silk of NYC CLASH is claiming that the condo board has suppressed and ignored voices who oppose the ban. Indeed, according to The Observer, the board invited representatives from the Coalition for a Smoke Free City and the Department of Public Health, but no expert to speak on behalf of the anti-smoking ban constituency, though apparently at least two Vaux residents asked that Audrey Silk herself be invited to speak.
The meetings are just informational and residents will be allowed to vote on the ban in the coming months, but the meeting seems predisposed to lean in favor of the ban. Silk, though, is calling for "a fair pro and con debate," saying that those who lobby for smoking bans so often refuse to engage the other side in argument.
Of course, they could always just stage a good old fashioned smoke-in.
· "Lights Out? Smokers' Rights Group Enlisted, Without Success, to Tangle with UWS Condo Building" [NYO]
· All smoking coverage [Curbed]
Loading comments...