Home No Haven For Smokers

A Manhattan co-op has taken a stand against smoking by barring new residents from lighting up in their apartments.

Real estate experts called the ban, approved unanimously by the building's co-op board, last week, the first of its kind in the nation.

"I think most (co-op boards) are still getting around to banning smoking in the common areas," said Douglas Kleine, director of the Washington-based National Association of Housing Cooperatives.

Under the rule, which affects anyone moving in after April 22, violators could be evicted and forced to sell their units in the Lincoln Towers complex, near Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side. Current residents will still be allowed to light up.

Board President Scott Wechsler said residents of the 29-story, 452-unit building have complained about smoke seeping into their apartments through the air vents.

"The No. 1 thing we do is look out for the safety, health and well-being of our shareholders," Wechsler said.

Potential buyers also must tell the board whether they smoke, according to the new rules, reported Tuesday in The New York Times.

Kleine said there are about 1.2 million cooperative apartments in the country, half of them in New York City.

Co-op residents own shares in their building. In contrast, condominium residents actually own their apartments. Co-op boards have long regulated issues like noise level and the size of dogs.

E. Christopher Murray, legal director of the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, called the ban "a real overreach."

"What if the co-op says, 'We don't want people drinking in their apartment because they might stumble in the halls?'" he said. "There have to be some limits."

Stuart Saft, the co-op board's lawyer, said he expects a lawsuit: "This is New York City. There is a legal challenge to just about anything."

Saft, who is also chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, said he believes the ban would survive such a challenge.

Mark Lipschutz, head of real estate at the Manhattan law firm of Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman, said current owners could challenge the rule on the grounds that it would make it harder to sell their apartments.

"Courts look down on concepts that tie up the marketability of a property," Lipschutz said.

The ban follows a national trend, with widespread prohibitions imposed in recent years on smoking in restaurants and offices. Lawmakers in Montgomery County, Md., recently considered -- but ultimately shelved -- an ordinance that would have banned smoking in single family homes.

While boards of smaller cooperative complexes may have previously passed similar prohibitions, Douglas Kleine, director of the Washington-based National Association of Housing Cooperatives, said this was the first time a large complex prohibited owners from smoking in their own units.

Residents of the building, where studios start at around $210,000, generally supported the new rule.

"I never smoked in my life, so for me it's great," said Adele Berkowitz. "Stuff does come in through the vents."

Scott Gordon said he had mixed feelings about the ban, which strikes him as difficult to enforce.

"As a nonsmoker, I welcome the effects of it," he said. "However, as a resident of a community, I realize that there are issues concerning other people's freedom to conduct themselves as they desire within the confines of their homes."