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Jaffe: Ban Smoking On Metro-North, LIRR Platforms

PEARL RIVER, NY (WCBS 880) - It's an intriguing question about outdoor smoking. Is second hand smoke a concern in the open air?

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WCBS 880's Sean Adams reports

Rockland County Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffe said walking on a sidewalk you may not be as affected but on a train platform, huddled together shoulder-to-shoulder, she says you are bound to get a face full of second hand smoke.

"Obviously, we kind of overimposed restrictions, but I do believe on a platform it is a contained area," Jaffe told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams. "Even though it is outdoors, it is contained."

She's proposing a ban on smoking on Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Railroad platforms.

She's now seeking support in the New York State Senate.

Reaction is predictable along smoking and non-smoking lines, although one non-smoker said Thursday morning he wondered why they don't create a smoking section, like what used to be done in restaurants.

It's already illegal to smoke on trains or in enclosed platforms and stations. NJ Transit banned smoking on its platforms in 2006.

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