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Council Passes Law Barring Smokeless Tobacco in NYC Sports Stadiums

By Maya Rajamani | March 22, 2016 6:36pm
 Yankee Satdium.
Yankee Satdium.
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newyork.yankees.mlb.com

CHELSEA — Big Apple ballplayers may keep spitting on the field during games at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field — but it won’t be because of chewing tobacco.

On Tuesday, the City Council passed legislation banning players and fans from using smokeless tobacco products inside New York City baseball stadiums, sports arenas and recreation spaces by a 44-3 vote.

Councilman Corey Johnson, whose district includes Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea, first introduced the bill in February, in line with a larger campaign to make Major League Baseball tobacco-free.

“Today we’re taking tobacco out of baseball in New York City,” Johnson said in a statement. “When athletes who are role models to children are regularly shown on TV using smokeless tobacco, that sends a harmful message.”

In a 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control, 14.7 of high school boys said they used smokeless tobacco, Johnson said in a statement last month.

Both the Mets and the Yankees endorsed the bill, he added at that time.

Revered baseball players like Tony Gwynn, who succumbed to salivary gland cancer in 2014, and Curt Schilling, who was treated for oral cancer the same year, both said their ailments were a result of chewing tobacco use, Johnson said Tuesday.

“There may not be many baseball issues where Mets and Yankees fans can agree," he added, "but this is certainly one of them."

The legislation will be signed by the mayor in time for Opening Day, Johnson added.