The law, (Public Health Law 1399-o), states that “Smoking shall not be permitted and no person shall smoke in the following indoor areas:
- Places of employment;
- Bars;
- Restaurants;
- Enclosed swimming areas;
- Public transportation including subways and subway stations; all ticketing, boarding and waiting areas; and when occupied by passengers, buses, vans, taxicabs and limousines;
- All places of employment where services are offered for children;
- All public and private colleges, universities and other educational and vocational institutions;
- General hospitals and residential health care facilities, however, adult patients in separate rooms can smoke in their rooms;
- Commercial establishments used for the purpose of carrying on or exercising any trade, profession, vocation or charitable activity;
- All indoor arenas;
- Zoos;
- Bingo facilities.
Smoking is allowed in the following areas or businesses:
- Private homes, private residences and private automobiles when not used for day care;
- Hotel or motel rooms rented to one or more guests;
- Retail tobacco businesses (primary activity is the retail sale of tobacco products and accessories and the sale of other products is merely incidental);
- Membership associations where all duties related to the operation of the association are performed by volunteers who are not compensated in any manner;
- Cigar bars (generates 10 percent or more of its total annual gross income from the sale of tobacco products);
- Up to 25% of seating in outdoor areas of restaurants with no roof or ceiling enclosure may be “smoking.”
If your type of business is not specifically listed in the above lists, and you have employees, then you cannot allow smoking in your place of business. This includes the following but is not limited to:
- Any building located in amusement parks;
- Auto body shops;
- Automobile dealerships;
- Billiard and pool halls;
- Bowling facilities;
- Delivery trucks;
- Factories;
- Gymnasiums;
- Libraries;
- Malls;
- Mills;
- Public meetings;
- Storage facilities;
- Theaters;
- Vehicles used for business.
Special circumstances where smoking is permitted.
- Smoking is allowed in restaurants, bars, hotel and motel conference rooms, catering halls, convention halls and other similar establishments ONLY when the enclosed areas are being used for the sole purpose of inviting the public to sample tobacco products and the service of food and drink is incidental to such purpose. A business establishment may have no more than two of these events in a calendar year.
The information on this page was prepared by the NYS Department of Health
Tobacco Control Program, Ursula E. Bauer, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director