What's happening
This bill bans smoking on restaurant and bar patios in New York State.
Why it matters
Impacts tens of thousands of restaurant and bar patios statewide, especially in cities with dense dining scenes like NYC, Buffalo, and Albany, as well as popular tourist destinations. This change directly affects where patrons and employees can expect smoke-free outdoor air.
Aims to protect service workers, children, and non-smoking patrons from secondhand smoke exposure outdoors, closing a major gap in prior smoking restrictions that focused mainly on indoor spaces. Prior exemptions for patios often left vulnerable groups exposed.
Represents a significant policy shift by removing a longstanding exception in the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act, expanding the scope of smoking bans and setting a new statewide standard for outdoor hospitality spaces. This could influence local enforcement, compliance costs, and public health outcomes.
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Who cares
Restaurant and Bar Owners
They care because repealing the provision could allow smoking on patios again, impacting their policies, customer experience, and potentially their business model.
- Likely concerns
Public Health Advocates
They are concerned about the repeal because it could expose more people to secondhand smoke, affecting community health outcomes.
Smokers and Smoking Advocacy Groups
They care as the repeal could restore their ability to smoke on restaurant and bar patios, directly impacting their freedoms.
Non-Smoking Patrons and Employees
They are stakeholders since the repeal may affect their exposure to secondhand smoke when dining or working in outdoor patio areas.
Headline styles
Ban Smoking on Patios
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 42
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
Companion bills
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Smoking on Patios
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Extend Physical Therapy Assistant Law
Signed by Governor · Sponsor Vivian Cook
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10006
IN SENATE
April 22, 2026
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to repeal paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of the public health law relating to making restaurant and bar patios one hundred percent smoke free
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of the public health law is REPEALED.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00433-01-5
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to repeal paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of the public health law relating to making restaurant and bar patios one hundred percent smoke free
Purpose
To close a loophole in the 2003 Clean Indoor Air Act to make patios 100% smoke free.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Repeals paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of the public health law.
Section 2: Sets effective date.
Justification
When the Clean Indoor Air Act was written, the language allowed for a quarter of certain restaurant patios to be designated as smoking areas. Today, this exception remains on the books, though most patios in New York State are 100% smoke free. Secondhand smoke contains harmful carci- nogens, and these can be spread whether smoking is allowed on all or part of a patio. The 7000 chemicals in secondhand smoke, at least 70 of which are known to cause cancer, account for roughly 7,300 lung cancer deaths and 34,000 heart disease deaths in the USA each year.
This bill protects both restaurant employees and their guests, while providing clearer industry standards. Smoking on patios has a dispropor- tionally high impact on women, who are more likely than their male coun- terparts to work as servers or waiters, despite men making up a larger percentage of the overall restaurant workforce. This will also protect pregnant servers and guests, as well as other patrons, including chil- dren and families, from secondhand smoke exposure.
Legislative history
Senate:
2023: Referred to Health.
2024: Referred to Health.
2025: Referred to Health.
Assembly:
2023: Referred to Health.
2024: Referred to Health.
2025: Referred to Health.
2026: Referred to Health.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.