Here in NYC
the first thing Mayor Billionaire Bloomberg
did after getting elected his first term
was to ban smoking just about everywhere
after watching Guilianni white wash NYC
push sex to the edges of Manhattan
and then into the friggen Hudson
push out the mom and pop stores
and welcome in the superstores
turn Times Square into Disneyland
and yes he did also get rid of a whole hellavalotta crime
but it was a baby with the bath water kinda thing
i was hoping
that a new mayor might mean
a possible salvation of some of old ny
that we didn't want to see go
plus bloomy was some sort of financial wiz having built his own fortune
and nyc was hurting after 911
so whats he do first
86 smoking
bar biz was down 30-% right off the bat
i figured no one would re-elect the guy
especially in democrat nyc
but then i figured no one would want bushie back a second time either
i was wrong
seems a lot of folks are darn happy about the smoking ban
the comments in my previous post
have also shown me that this is certainly not just a nyc thing either
so heres what ive seen now that smoking is 86'd
people still smoke
but they stay outside to do it
so now when i come home
there are always smokers on the front steps to my building
cigarette butts all over the place
smoke blowing in the windows
its like an obstacle course getting thru the hoards of smokers out on the streets
im pretty darn sure i suck down a whole lot more of the 2nd hand smoke now then i ever did
why not bring back the smoking section
and protect the employees for whom the smoking section was banned
by having all smoking sections be self service only
wouldnt this be a little more fair to the smokers
and a little easier on folks trying to make their way around the city|?
worst of all
my beloved Manhattan is turning into
Boston (no offense Boston but you're a different kind of city)
its so squeaky clean that the punk rockers in the east village
can make money giving photo ops
for the tourists
little italy is one block
the yiddish lower-east-side is like one fish store, one knish store
and a kosher style deli
the artists and writers have moved to brooklyn and are now being moved out of there too
just about the only ethnic hood thats flourishing is China town
and yeah
crime is still down
but where is the world famous edge of Manhattan?
i say its time to bring back the speak-easy
a place where down and dirty
edge ridden freaks can smoke
or be around people who want to
or just celebrate their right to
im an ex smoker
i dont like to be around smoke
ex smokers are notorious for this of course
im also an ex bartender
who adored making a forture off smokers
they were always the best tippers
so im not a smoker missing the right to smoke
im a new yorker of going on 25 years
who misses the days when ny was the wild child of the world
and hates to see it lose all of its
bas assness
dont get me wrong
i was sure glad to see the crime go
thrilled to see centrail park get cleaned up
the tires and pollution taken out of central parks waters
and the dead bodies too
i was way happy not to have to climb over a mass of heroin needles
in Union Square park anymore
but just cause you take a shower
put on new clothes
and dont break the law
doesnt mean you dont want to be bad girl too
does it?
