Smoking Prohibited at Brookhaven Town Beaches

Smoking laws just got more stringent in Brookhaven Town, as the Town Board voted recently to add town beaches to the list of places where smoking is banned. In the original January 2011 law, the town banned smoking in its parks, playgrounds, pools, golf courses, cemeteries and athletic fields. The law would prohibit anyone from smoking or carrying lighted cigarettes or other smoking devices at those locations. The amendment adding beaches is effective immediately. Councilwoman Kathy Walsh (R-Centereach) sponsored the original legislation and said beaches were not included to ensure the original resolution would pass easily. "When I drafted the original law we were concerned about getting opposition to it," she said in a phone interview Tuesday. "So what we tried to do originally was try and make it an enforceable law and something we wouldn't get a lot of resistance to." Still not included in the Brookhaven ban are town marinas because the town doesn't want to restrict the public's use on private property — boats. Other Suffolk County towns have also joined the fray in limiting where people are free to smoke. The Town of Huntington doesn't allow smoking on playgrounds and became the first town on Long Island to ask retailers to cut down on tobacco product advertising. The Village of Southampton banned smoking within 50 feet of its Agawam Park and Coopers Beach, as well as banned smoking at Downs Family and Windward Way parks. In Nassau County, the Town of Oyster Bay restricted smoking in its parks, limiting it to designated areas and has completely prohibited smoking at its beaches. The Town of Hempstead also banned smoking in its parks.