New York: Tax receipts from bars and restaurants jumped 8.7 per cent in the 10 months since New York's smoking ban went into effect, New York City authorities said yesterday.
Health officials say this proves the hospitality business has not been harmed by the ban, which was introduced in May 2003. However, opponents of the ban say that the survey unfairly uses 2002 as a comparison when revenue was badly down because of a recession and a post-September 11th slump.
From April 2003 until January 2004, New York collected $17.4 million in tax receipts from bars and restaurants, compared with $16 million in the same period the year before. "The city's bar and restaurant industry is thriving and its workers are breathing cleaner, safer air," said the health department.
"If the ban was so good for business, why would we try to change it?" asked Mr Ciaran Staunton, owner of O'Neill's Bar on Third Avenue, who said his takings were drastically down on the period before the ban was introduced. He said many of the establishments included in the survey were fast- food restaurants and coffee bars, and it did not reflect the damage done to stand-alone bars.
The report found that the number of workers employed in bars and restaurants was, at 164,000, the highest in at least a decade, that the number of alcohol licences was up, and that the number of bars and restaurants remained steady.
"The bottom line is that New York City a year later is a healthier place to work, eat and drink," said health commissioner Mr Thomas Frieden, whose department pushed for the ban.