CITY OF NEWBURGH - Smokers and vapers have until May to kick the habit of smoking in parks before it is banned through an expanded anti-tobacco law in the City of Newburgh.

City officials passed the new law that is intended to reduce public exposure, particularly for children, to the hazards and general annoyance of secondhand smoke.

It bans smoking on all city property, as well as at outdoor city events, and 25 feet from any entrance, exit, windows or ventilation intake system at a city-owned building.

The ban will take effect May 1.

The city held a public hearing Feb. 25 on the new law and passed the ordinance on March 11 with unanimous support.

Violators will face fines of at least $50 for the first offense, $100 for a second offense and up to $250 for third and subsequent offenses.

Megan DuBois-O'Connor, with POW'R Against Tobacco, praised the law during the public hearing as one of the strongest anti-smoking policies in Orange County.

"I'm sure many of you know, the City of Newburgh has very high cancer and asthma rates, so this is definitely going to be something that is helpful in prevention and setting a correct message, and a healthy message, of health equity inside the City of Newburgh," DuBois-O'Connor told the council.

Councilman-at-Large Anthony Grice championed the new policy.

He worked with Corporation Counsel Michelle Kelson and POW'R Against Tobacco to craft the legislation that targets both cigarette and e-cigarette smokers.

There will be signs alerting people to the smoking ban in the affected areas and cigarette-butt receptacles along the perimeter.

"We're not telling people that you can't smoke," Grice said during the public hearing.

"What we're asking is that in those certain areas, please be respectful of the children or the other people that might have those sensitivities to that, or might not want to smell that."

Chris Sladeski, a Town of Newburgh resident who works in the city, said Monday he can understand why the council would want to strengthen its no-smoking laws.

"The parks are for everybody, you know?" he said. "... It's all about respect. Everybody respecting everybody."

Sladeski noted that banning smoking in parks may create an inconvenience for smokers living in more congested parts of the city where rules bar them from smoking on the sidewalks in front of businesses or city buildings.

"To me, as a smoker, I don't like my own cigarette smoke in my face. It bothers me," Sladeski said during a smoke break at Safe Harbors Green on Broadway, which is not a city-owned park and would not be included in the ban.

"It should be no problem as long as you respect the non-smokers' rights."

Valentina Ditomasso, a Dutchess County resident who works in the City of Newburgh, was also taking a smoke break in Safe Harbors Green on Monday.

She also said that though she is a smoker, she is uncomfortable when cigarette smoke gets in her face. In fact, Ditomasso doesn't even like to smoke around other smokers.

She is not worried the new law would inconvenience her.

"You just go on the sidewalk or just go 35 feet from the building like they tell you to, or you go to a parking lot, you know, you've got to respect everybody," Ditomasso said. "... Most parks are made for children to come play, and children don't need secondhand smoke. Why subject them to something we all know is bad for us?"

lbellamy@th-record.com