May 23, 2005
 
Recently the state Department of Taxation released a memorandum reporting on the effects of the smoking ban on bars and taverns. You cited this data in a recent editorial, claiming it demonstrated we were "blowing smoke" about the impact of the ban.

You dismissed our complaints about the data being flawed. But how else would you characterize a report on the effect of the smoking ban that left out businesses that closed after the ban? Leaving out the hundreds of businesses forced to close because of the ban clearly distorts the findings.

Even with this manipulation of the data, the report found that bar and tavern sales fell dramatically following the implementation of the ban and that they have not recovered since. Translating this into sales, the ban cost New York's bar and tavern owners more than $80 million in sales since the law went into effect.

It's too early to make a final accounting of the harm the smoking ban has caused New York's bars and taverns. But we don't have to "cook the books" to prove that the ban has forced bars and taverns to close. The Health Departments' own records demonstrate the severe economic harm experienced by the hundreds of businesses applying for smoking ban waivers.

Businesses forced to close. Severe economic harm experienced by hundreds of businesses. More than $80 million in lost bar and tavern sales. We may argue about the merits of the ban, but when it comes to the economic impact of the ban ... case closed.

SCOTT WEXLER
Executive Director
Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association
Albany
 
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