NEW YORK -- Was it a vision of the future in Milwaukee? Saturday night outside Sweet Ups, 277 Graham Ave., in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a steady, soaking rain fell and still the smokers went out for a cigarette, huddling together beneath the awning of the shuttered business next door.
Asking around, it seemed to me that smokers are taking New York’s smoking ban in stride ... or taking the opportunity to cut back or quit. Everyone I talked to -- rather humorously admitted that they only smoke while drinking and are planning on quitting, anyway.
And, really, it didn’t seem as though there were nearly as many smokers as one would have seen in the past in a New York tavern.
A life-long New Yorker told me, “Maybe it’ll help make people quit. Seems like a good idea.” And, anyway, he added, a lot of bars allow patrons to light up around 1 a.m., banking that no one will complain or report them.
A second smoker, born and raised in Florida, agreed the ban is good and also approves of the high cigarette tax. Then he said he even understood why the MPAA would consider giving an R rating to any film in which an actor is seen smoking.
However, he said, he believes most people start smoking in their teens because they’re friends are doing it, not because they saw an actor smoking on screen.
A bar like Sweet Ups has adapted to the ban by adding an outdoor seating area, where smoking is apparently allowed. But being uncovered, it’s of little use to smokers on a night like Saturday.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
