Vapers will still have to step outside to join their analog cigarette smoking friends after a panel of judges unanimously upheld the city's ban on vaping anywhere smoking cigarettes is banned, including concert venues, bars, and restaurants.
The city's ban on vaping in bars and restaurants, along with beaches and public parks, was passed in 2013 and became law in 2014. A lawsuit from New York City CLASH (Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment) claimed that the City Council violated the city's "one-subject rule" when adding e-cigs to the city's Smoke Free Air Act. Since e-cigs produce vapor and not smoke, and the purpose of the act was to regulate cigarette smoke, the argument from CLASH was that the City Council overreached with the ban.
However, a panel of five judges all agreed that the city was within its rights to add e-cigs to the Smoke Free Air Act, noting that the Council "held a series of hearings" on the matter and amending the act to include e-cigarettes didn't impermissibly lump two different subjects into one law. "The amendment was not buried in unrelated legislation and the subject of the bill was clearly and transparently identified to the public during the legislative process," a spokesperson for the city's Law Department wrote in a statement following the ruling.
So, you still have the option to narc on vapers you see in bars, just remember that being a narc isn't cool.
