The city’s 400,000 public housing tenants will soon be banned from smoking inside their apartments as part of a nationwide push to designate those areas smoke-free zones.
What We Know:
- A government mandate banning smoking at New York City Housing Authority buildings begins Monday.
- NYCHA officials and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the smoke-free policy.
- The policy prevents any smoking inside housing units, administrative offices and outdoor areas within 25 feet from all buildings.
- The policy applies to cigarettes, cigars, pipes and hookahs.
- NYCHA says the new policy benefits children and seniors by cutting back on second-hand smoke.
The smoke-free rule was ordered in December 2016 by the Housing and Urban Development Department. HUD gave public housing agencies 18 months to enact the public health policy.
What do you think? Should the government be allowed to ban people from smoking in their own homes?
