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CITY COUNCIL CITY OF NEW YORK ------------------------X TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES

of the COMMITTEE ON HEALTH ------------------------X

May 2, 2013 Start: 1:29 p.m. Recess: 5:53 p.m.

HELD AT: Council Chambers

City Hall

B E F O R E: MARIA DEL CARMEN ARROYO Chairperson

COUNCIL MEMBERS: Inez E. Dickens

Mathieu Eugene Julissa Ferreras Helen D. Foster Rosie Mendez Joel Rivera Peter F. Vallone, Jr. Albert Vann Deborah L. Rose James G. Van Bramer

FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 01/15/2015 05:25 PM INDEX NO. 152723/2014

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/15/2015

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implementation of the bill to address those 2

concerns, we would be happy to talk about them. 3

Again, our experience in other countries--I was up 4

in Canada, and they were complying. They had them 5

in drawers. There was not a problem. I would 6

think most of them would be like that, but there 7

does need to be some--it needs to be done 8

carefully, so that is not abused in one direction 9

or the other. 10

CHAIRPERSON ARROYO: I look forward 11

to that conversation. Let's talk about hookah for 12

a minute, and that the product that is used in 13

that type of smoking, and I know that one of my 14

colleagues has a piece of legislation pending 15

before us that would ban further permits from 16

being issued in the city, but the product that is 17

used in that, is that tobacco? Why is it not 18

regulated in the same way that we are speaking? 19

We have to have a particular piece of legislation. 20

COMMISSIONER FARLEY: There are 21

hookah bars. Those are places where people smoke 22

through a water pipe a product that is presented 23

as not having tobacco in it, and the way that the 24

current law is written if you are smoking 25

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66

something that doesn't have tobacco in it, then 2

the smoke free air act doesn't apply. They can do 3

that. Now there is concern under the part of the 4

Department that often in fact there is tobacco in 5

that product, but it is very difficult to prove 6

that without some difficult and expensive 7

laboratory testing. The smoke that people breathe 8

in when they are smoking anything that is burning 9

in a water pipe is dangerous. It has carbon 10

monoxide in it. It has cancer causing chemicals 11

in it, and so we are concerned about smoking in 12

hookah bars, which is also presented often as 13

being safe when we don't view it as being safe. 14

So this issue came up to us as I think you noticed 15

a few days ago and so we didn't have a chance to 16

think through all of the issues around the bill, 17

but we would be happy to talk to you and Council 18

Member Gentile about what might be appropriate to 19

do about those hookah bars. 20

CHAIRPERSON ARROYO: Okay. And we 21

will pursue that conversation. The Committee is a 22

little bit overwhelmed given Sandy and everything 23

else that is happening, but it is something that 24

we do want to pursue a conversation about. 25