Council’s ban plan tougher on puffers

An attempt by lawmakers to impose strict new limitations on smoking went too far even for the anti-tobacco de Blasio administration Thursday.

City Hall raised objections to two of 10 bills being considered by the City Council. One would ban smoking in cars where a child of 8 or under is present; the other would prohibit smoking in city-financed housing projects.

Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett questioned how the car ban would be enforced, and wondered how the council selected 8 as the cutoff age.

“While we certainly don’t want anyone to smoke or vape near children, it’s not clear how this law would be enforced or if the age limit is appropriate to ensure public-health benefits,” she said.

In response, Councilmember Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx), the legislation’s prime sponsor, asked whether it would be easier to enforce such a ban if the age of the passenger were raised to 17.

“I appreciate the fact that all of us are seeking to limit the space where people can smoke,” Bassett responded.

“I think that there were two separate issues: The idea of how to enforce vaping and smoking bans inside the car was something that our Police Department wasn’t sure that they would know how to enforce, and the idea of the age cutoff at 8 is something that we could discuss.”

Bassett also expressed concern about potential legal issues with banning smoking only at city-financed housing, which is typically reserved for low-income New Yorkers.

De Blasio has launched his own crackdown on smoking by calling for a $13 minimum price on a pack of cigarettes, up from the current $10.50.

Floor prices would also be set about 20 percent higher for other tobacco products: a cigar couldn’t be sold for less than $2.20, a pack of smokeless tobacco would go for a minimum of $8.80, and loose tobacco would start at $18.70.

All the prices include tax.

Other anti-smoking measures under consideration include prohibiting the sale of tobacco products at pharmacies and stricter licensing rules for tobacco retailers.

As of 2015, an estimated 14.3 percent of the city’s residents smoked.

The mayor has set a goal of reducing the figure to 12 percent — or 160,000 fewer smokers — by 2020.