Council cracks down on hookah bars

From Brooklyn Daily:

A bill cracking down of the water-pipe watering holes passed the Council on Sept. 27, restricting the flavored “shisha” mixtures smoked in hookahs just like tobacco, tightly regulating existing hookah bars, banning the opening of new owns, and outlawing the practice for anyone under 21.

“Today we once and for all clear the air on the dangers of hookah smoking,” said Councilman Vincent Gentile’s (D–Bay Ridge), who sponsored the bill. “Any way you cut it, hookah smoke is no joke. It is not a safe smoking alternative, and restricting minors makes the decision to smoke up to those of adult age.”

Starting six months after the mayor signs the bill into law, even non-tobacco shisha will be subject to the city’s Smoke-Free Air Act — which bans most indoor tobacco smoking — making it illegal to smoke hookah indoors except in the bars that meet strict requirements for ventilation and other measures.

Existing hookah bars will have three years to bring their businesses up to sanitation, ventilation, and fire code requirements, and are forbidden to relocate or expand.

Hookah bars selling shisha mixtures that contain tobacco will have to obtain permits to continue operating, and all will have to prove that at least half of their profits come from shisha sales.

Tobacco snuck into hookahs

From the Queens Courier:

Following an undercover investigation, the city’s Health Department announced it found 13 hookah bars in the city, including four in Queens, selling a pipe mix that included tobacco for their patrons to smoke on premises, violating the city’s Smoke-Free Air Act.

At hookah bars patrons smoke a substance called shisha, composed of herbs, molasses and, in some cases, tobacco. Serving shisha with tobacco violates the city’s 2002 law that prohibits smoking tobacco in a workplace, including restaurants and bars.

“These 13 hookah bars are knowingly flouting the law by serving tobacco-based shisha,” Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said. “Tobacco smoke is dangerous for the health of the smoker, patrons and those who work in these establishments.”

On Nov. 14, Health Department inspectors, working together with New York University students, went to the 13 bars and “discretely” took samples of the shisha being served. After being sent to be tested, it was found that all the shisha samples tested positive for nicotine.

The bars in Queens included two in Astoria: Fayrooz Hookah Lounge and Bar on 28-08 Steinway St. and Melody Lounge on 25-95 Steinway St.; and two in Fresh Meadows, just blocks from St. John’s University: Layla Hookah Lounge on 181-34 Union Turnpike and Cloud 9 on 179-22 Union Turnpike.

The Health Department is now beginning to take measures to revoke the permits of all 13 bars and restaurants.

Too many hookahs spoil the air

From DNA Info:

The recent proliferation of hookah shops in Little Egypt might be harmful to children’s health, even if they are just passing by on the sidewalk, parents say. 

While some restaurants in “Hookah Central,” on Steinway Street between 25th and 28th avenues, require customers to smoke indoors, other venues have set up chairs in front of entrances, where people enjoy smoking while sipping coffee. And while the smell of apple and mango flavored smoke gives the area its unique character, some parents say the air has become unhealthy. 

“It’s not good for the baby,” said Selna Ael, who on Tuesday afternoon was walking outside the hookah shops with her 6-month-old son, Ali. An Iraqi immigrant, Ael said even though hookah smoking is popular in her homeland, she often avoids Steinway Street to protect her newborn from too much smoke. 

Mustakin Khondkir, 34, a father of two children, ages 4 and 6, agreed about the potential danger. “I quit smoking for my kids, but now they have to inhale all this hookah smoke,” added Khondkir, a cab driver, who has lived in the area for 17 years. “In the last two years the situation has been out of control.” 

A spokeswoman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said hookah lounges are not subject to smoke regulations as long as the hookahs are tobacco free. A police source confirmed the 114th Precinct receives numerous complaints about smoke from a growing number of hookah venues on Steinway Street, especially during summer. The source added that it is illegal to place chairs outside without a permit.

Perhaps we have the wrong priorities?

So the City Council and State Legislature refuse to ban shisha, since it's "cultural" and benefits a certain demographic. It has now been shown to be worse than cigarette smoking in at least one area. But NYS is working on the total prohibition of e-cigarettes, which are actually not nearly as harmful as cigarettes or hookah and help some people quit smoking.

Minors barred from smoking hookah

From the Queens Chronicle:

State legislation barring minors from hookah smoking or buying hookah-related products went into effect on Jan. 1, after Gov. Cuomo signed the bill into law last July.

The legislation regulates a product and business trade that until now has gone largely unregulated.

Hookahs are waterpipes traditionally used in Middle Eastern countries for smoking “shisha,” a fruity, herbal substance that can contain tobacco. Hookah bars and shops selling hookah products are prevalent throughout New York and Queens.

Regulating hookah smoking became a hot-button issue in recent years after the practice experienced a surge in popularity, especially among young people.

Many believe smoking shisha is less harmful than tobacco, or that smoking tobacco through a waterpipe is better for you than smoking cigarettes. But a 2005 study from the World Health Organization found that hookah smoking carries the same health risks as cigarette smoking.

Hookah smoking is popular in many neighborhoods, including Astoria. Hookah lounges and shops line Steinway Street, from 25th to 28th avenues.

“People do say there’s no tobacco in it,” said Sheelah Feinberg, the director of the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City. Regardless, she added, “there’s so many chemicals that go into it, that [it] harms your lung system.”

Woodhaven church objects to liquor sales

From the Daily News:

A Queens church whose members abstain from drinking is bashing a planned hookah lounge that wants to serve beer and wine next door.

The pastor of All Nations Baptist Church in Woodhaven argues the alcoholic offerings would be unacceptable "in God's sight."

The Rev. Dan Shafer voiced his objections to Community Board 9, which will vote Tuesday on the beer and wine license sought by NEBU Hookah Lounge.

"Spiritually, we oppose what they're doing," Shafer said. "It's kind of a sad commentary on society."

But lounge owner Yunior Espinal questioned the legitimacy of the 115-year-old church.

"I can fight them on this," he said. "It's not a church. They don't even do Masses there."

The 80th St. lounge will open in mid-October and operate from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m., Espinal said.

He said he may ask the board to postpone the vote scheduled for Tuesday while his landlord sorts out Buildings Department violations.

The case has ignited debates on whether the state should allow the sale of beer and wine so close to houses of worship.

The State Liquor Authority does not award licenses for hard liquor within 200 feet of a house of worship or a school, but it has no such rules on licenses to serve beer and wine.

No more hookah for minors

From the Times Newsweekly:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed a new law last Friday, July 15, that prohibits the sale of shisha and certain types of smoking paraphernalia to minors.

Under this law, businesses offering these products for sale may only sell to individuals who are at least eighteen years of age with proper identification.

As described, smoking tobacco and using related products poses harmful health risks to the public. In addition to emphasizing the severity of using these products, this law would help control and limit the sale of hookah products and other smoking paraphernalia to minors who are particularly susceptible to the negative health effects of using these products.

This law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

To hookah or not to hookah?

From the Daily News:

Despite popular belief, scientists have recently discovered that hookah smoke contains at least two cancer-causing elements - and can be just as addictive as cigarettes, says a recent Harvard Medical School study.

Someone who smokes a hookah for 45 minutes to an hour at a rate of two 10-second puffs per minute is inhaling 10%-to-50% more nicotine, says a 2009 study published in the Current Science journal.

Sheepshead Bites reports that local pols State Senator Marty Golden, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny and Council Member Vincent Gentile all have pending legislation that would ban or limit hookah smoking.

Legislation to extend smoking rules to hookah bars

From NY1:

A Brooklyn lawmaker is trying to extend the city’s indoor smoking ban to hookah bars.

City Councilman Vincent Gentile is expected to introduce a bill this week that would add all non-tobacco smoking products – including the legal herbal smoke – to the city's ban.

Gentile argues hookah smoke, containing tar and carbon monoxide, is just as dangerous as cigarette smoke.

Under the proposal, no new hookah bars would be allowed to open beginning in 2012.

Existing hookah bars would be required to register with the New York City Department of Health, and would not be allowed to expand or change locations.

From 0 to 59 in 6 weeks?

Perhaps it was the hookah...
or maybe the fake comment?

Hookahloopa throws CB6 for a loop

From the Daily News:

GiGi Malek, co-owner of the trendy Hookahloopa Lounge in Forest Hills, insisted the Metropolitan Ave. hot spot - open till 2 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays - is safe and clean, and respects its proximity to homes.

But concerned locals - caught off guard by the innuendo-filled menu - want Community Board 6 to investigate and possibly craft a resolution urging the state Liquor Authority to deny a license.

"It's practically saying to kids, 'This is fine; this is a big joke,'" said community board member Barbara Stuchinski, also president of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association.

J.R. Nocerino, girls softball director for the Forest Hills Little League, interpreted the provocative labels - which also include "All Night Long," "Sex in the Woods" and "XXX" - as ways to lure underage teens.

"We're trying to lean toward a society of not having our kids smoke anything," he said. "It's like a magnet. It's like a hangout - a smoking hangout, no less."

It's Gigi again? Oy vey!

NYPD padlocks Ridgewood bar of ill repute

From BushwickBK on April 8, 2009:

One of us looks over at the bar (no alcohol yet, but that changes this week) and sees a monster of a hookah sitting atop the counter. It must be about five feet tall! We get the attention of our server, Sam, and ask him what the giant pipe is about. He explains that the size allows for a smoother smoke (yes, this prompts one person in our imaginary group to make the unavoidable remark that in hookah, size does matter…). Sensing our curiosity, Sam asks if we’d like to try it. Would we?! He carefully hoists the beautiful monster over the bar, and sets it on the floor in front of us. We ask if he’d like to join us for a hit or two, and we pass the nozzle around, intermittently scooping up hummus as we talk about…(I’ll leave you there).

But where is the belly dancing? For that, we must come back this Saturday night (April 11), when the Belly Dancing Cafe gets its liquor license and the dancing commences. Fair warning though: if you’re interested in smoking out of the hookah behemoth, make sure you get there early, because you’ll have to beat me to it.

And now as the late, great Paul Harvey would say, is the rest of the story from the Times Newsweekly on April 23, 2009:

Following a lengthy history of violations, police officially shuttered a troublesome nightclub in Ridgewood last Tuesday, Apr. 14, it was announced.

It was noted that the owner of the business failed to obtain the proper liquor license allowing for its operation.

The most egregious violation reportedly occurred on Nov. 5, 2008, when officers from the 104th Precinct discovered that as many as 46 teenagers had been illegally served alcoholic beverages at the café.

A law enforcement source said that the location had gained the reputation of being a haven for underage drinking.

As a result, the owner of the business and a worker were arrested on related charges. Soon after, police said, the NYPD filed a nuisance abatement case against the Belly Dancing Café seeking to have it closed due to repeat offenses.