It’s not about the smoking. That’s what New York City Housing Authority resident Hector Melendez thinks about the new smoking ban that prohibits residents from lighting up inside their apartments.
“It’s a way for [NYCHA] to have people tell on each other to get people evicted,” he said.
Melendez has asthma and doesn’t like to be around smoke, but he also doesn’t like to be monitored. “They just want us out.”
Starting Monday, public housing authorities across the country began enforcing the ban, according to which smokers must exit the building and walk 25 feet away before taking their first puff. Smoking was already banned in lobbies, stairwells and on roofs.
NYCHA said in a statement the ultimate goal of the ban was public health and that young residents and elderly are the most negatively impacted by second-hand smoke. The authority also said that repeated smoking violations could lead to eviction.
To begin disciplinary proceedings, NYCHA requires at least one staff member or three tenants to witness and report a tenant smoking on NYCHA property.
Edward Josephson, the director of litigation and housing at Legal Services NYC, agrees in the abstract with the benefits of a smoke-free environment, but said the eviction threat is problematic.
"Public housing residents often face multiple challenges in their lives and the last thing they need is for NYCHA to have a new basis to commence eviction proceedings," he said.