Times Square installs new "Let's be blunt" no smoking signs after complaints over marijuana odor
NEW YORK -- You might say it's the law of unintended consequences.
Newly relaxed laws about smoking pot have New Yorkers moaning about the perils of secondhand smoke.
Times Square officials have now decided to remind people it's time they realized smoking anything is banned in New York City's public plazas.
It has been going on right under the mayor's nose.
"One law that was passed is clearly being practiced right now, 'cause I smell some weed. Someone is smoking ... You smell that, Marcia?" Adams said at a Times Square news conference back in October.
As jovial as the mayor seemed that day, it's not something New Yorkers want to joke about. The pungent smell of weed is just as repugnant to some as smoke from regular cigarettes.
"I don't like it at all," said Felicia Brown of East Flatbush. "Because it bothers me. I have anxiety sometimes, and the smell of the smoke gives me anxiety, especially on the trains."
It has become such a problem that Times Square officials have now put up a series of cheeky signs reminding lovers of the herb that all smoking - including their beloved Mary Jane - is banned from the public plaza.
The signs pull no punches, saying "Let's be blunt. No smoking in the plazas."
For the record, and the benefit of the high and the mighty, the no smoking ban has been on the books for more than a decade - 2011 - courtesy of then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who didn't want his fellow New Yorkers to inhale.
"If we can protect our children from the dangers of smoking, we can raise an entire generation of New Yorkers who are free from the danger of nicotine addiction," Bloomberg said at the time.
Even with the new signs, CBS2 cameras found a number of people smoking in Times Square, some enjoying the benefit of getting high.
"How do you feel about people smoking marijuana in public?" Kramer asked one woman.
"I don't like it. No, I don't like it," she said.
"I don't think it's right," another person said.
"I have mixed feelings about it... It makes me feel uncomfortable because I don't do it, but I try not to be selfish. It's not all about me. There are people who enjoy doing it in public," said another.
"I don't love it, but I understand why it's been made legal," one person said.
"So what should the mayor do about it?" Kramer asked.
"He needs to have a place that they can smoke. Give them their own place to smoke. Give them a hall or downstairs, where everybody wanna smoke. They got the smokehouses that they have. Give them that," one person said.
Weed smokers should also know that last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill that makes it illegal to smoke in public parks, beaches and even boardwalks. The fine is $50.