2. What is the goal of the ban, according to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn?

3. List the previous health laws/ban the NY City Council has implemented during Mayor Bloomberg's administration over the past 10 years.

4. a) Read what some of the Council members said about the ban. For each, write agree or disagree and explain your answer.
b) Ask a parent the same question, and discuss your answers. Do you share the same opinions?

___________________________ Robert Jackson [Democrat]: "I truly believe that government is being too intrusive into the daily lives of New Yorkers. I truly believe that the government is being too restrictive in this matter." Note that Jackson identified himself as a nonsmoker. (from para. 4)

___________________________ Daniel J. Halloren [Republican]: "It is not the business of the government ever to coerce behavior from us" and added that the bill violated the public's trust and vindicated "slippery slope" claims about such "nanny state" legislation. Halloren noted that in 2002, when a law took effect to ban smoking in indoor public facilities, city officials "promised that they would not fall onto the slippery slope" by introducing further legislation on this matter. (from para. 5-6)

___________________________ James F. Gennaro [Democrat]: "The message that this action sends is that smoking is aberrant behavior. This is not normal behavior, this is killer behavior; we have to do everything we can to demoralize this activity." (from para. 7-8)

___________________________ Ydanis Rodriquez [Democrat]: noted that parks and beaches are used primarily by families and said council members needed to make them safe. "Our public parks and plazas are the few places we can still go for fresh air." (from para. 9-10)

___________________________ Lewis Fidler [Democrat]: says a public ban on a legal product goes too far: "I think Congress would be justified in making tobacco a controlled substance. But smoking is, for better or worse, a legal activity. I can't support this." Note that Fidler has voted in favor of the smoking ban on smoking in bars. (from para. 15-16)

5. a) Define nanny state.
b) Do you think New York City is becoming a nanny state? Explain your answer.