I was wondering if there is any smoking at all in any of the clubs in nyc. As a smoker this is a concern of mine. What do the smokers do when they want a cigarette? I can't imagine just not smoking at work for 8 hours.

I was wondering if there is any smoking at all in any of the clubs in nyc. As a smoker this is a concern of mine. What do the smokers do when they want a cigarette? I can't imagine just not smoking at work for 8 hours.
They are gonna have to go outside! We have bans here too - some with restrictions and some that are absolutes. Freaked customers out, broke up their visit every time they wanted to light up and it did put a certain strain on the flow or atmosphere inside the bar (no I dont mean atmosphere literally) booze n cigs. Hard to break those two lovers up! Then some bars said yah smoke but dont let me catch ya, so they were smoking inside on the sly. Using the floor and bottles as ashtrays (yuck). Some bars you could still puff at you had to be up at the bar physically and no where else - which is stupid, the air is shared by all....duh. In any event it has settled in, and no one is really policing this bylaw either strangely enough. Seems its all back to business again regardless of that law.
Could be different where u are - I think your new law is an absolute, meaning NO smoking at all inside the building. It is gonna be weird for a spell I think, and what of customers that paid acover charge will they have to pay coming back in again? Are they stamped? Now theres gonna be folks milling around the entrance puffin away oh this goes into a whole new set of problems dont it?
LIVE LONG & PROSPER!
Leigh Landon
Never explain yourself to anyone, because the person who likes you doesn't need it and the person that dislikes you won't believe it.





It IS different where we are! Actually, it's now much easier for would-be NYC dance club customers to cross a bridge or tunnel into North Jersey at the beginning of the evening - which only takes an extra 10-15 minutes! They can smoke in the NJ restaurants and clubs, club cover charges are cheaper, girls are just as pretty and usually less 'hard sell' , plus NYC dance club ordinances in regard to contact restrictions don't apply etc.
The new no smoking law may be the 'straw that broke the camel's back' providing yet one more reason for business travellers and tourists to stay on the Jersey side of the river and only come into Manhattan for sightseeing in the daytime and to do their business. After all, Broadway shows were closed down due to the musician's union strike, NYC security police are everywhere since the war started, and EVERYTHING is way more expensive in Manhattan from hotel rooms to restaurant meals to club cover charges. And guys can take a commuter train or shuttle bus from Jersey into Penn Station in Manhattan (or in the other direction) for like 5 bucks!
Also, last week both houses of the NY state legislature and the Governor signed a bill to extend the bar and restaurant smoking ban state-wide effective this July. This should drive 3 or 4 times as many New York clubgoers across the state line into NJ and CT clubs. This might be good news in a way, though, because it will probably serve as financial incentive for some NYC clubs to relocate or new clubs to open up just across the state line near major highways. One smart NJ Clubowner just did a huge elegant expensive remodeling job on a former sleazehole club in Weehawken, NJ in response to NYC's no-smoking law. This new club is literally on the opposite side of the river from Manhattan, and literally only a 5 minute cab ride from Times Square via the Lincoln Tunnel.
My take is that Manhattan club business is definitely going to suffer, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights when clubgoers usually make a night of it. On weeknights when customers tend to be businessmen I would imagine that it will shorten the club customer's average stay inside the club to 90 minutes or less, i.e. two drinks and two private dances - maybe. Also when business guys hit clubs in groups, this will probably mean that the entire group will pack up and leave the club and not just the group members who smoke. I don't even want to think about next winter, when going outside for a smoke means facing 10 degrees below zero with winds blowing down the "canyon" between hi-rise buildings like a hurricane. This is also going to make it difficult for dancers who smoke to be booked / hired in Manhattan clubs, since the NYC clubowners won't want to take a chance that the dancers who smoke will be sneaking a smoke out the back door every hour or two instead of working the room like they're supposed to be.
I haven't made any future NYC bookings AT ALL, and I already plan on working North Jersey clubs instead when I come to the NYC area on other business. It's already difficult for a girl like me who is an '8' to get booked into the better North Jersey clubs - I would imagine it may get even more difficult or virtually impossible in the future if NYC dancers also start to try and get bookings in the better North Jersey clubs in an effort to maintain income levels. After all, if a club books 50 girls total, and there are 50 girls who are '10's on the waiting list trying to get out of Manhattan clubs in favor of higher earnings in NJ clubs, the odds won't look good for girls like me who are '8's (unless the clubowner happens to love huge boobs, anyhow!).
This transition also becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy eventually, as some of the better looking dancers leave NYC clubs the eye-candy appeal of the NYC clubs drop - while at the same time a new club in Jersey with a reputation of having nothing but super stunning dancers draws more and more guys across the river to check it out (even if they don't smoke!). Once these guys discover that the NJ club girls ARE super stunning, plus the mileage available is higher, plus the cover charges are lower, plus they can smoke and drink to their heart's content, odds are they won't be returning to those NYC clubs very often.
But in the final analysis, the anti-dance club ordinances plus the no smoking laws plus political crusades, plus dancer busts will undoubtedly just take a bigger and bigger bite out of live dance club earnings. On the flip side, this will convince more guys on a tight budget and/or guys who smoke and or guys who are worried about having a brush with the law to stay home and buy a pay per view porno or go online searching for WebCams instead !
...all I know is that it will be interesting to see how this first week with the smoking ban turns out - :-/
Our club actually has a cigar bar upstairs , that was open before Dec of '01, so I guess it can be a designated smoking area - so perhaps that can be a way around it -
I think Melonie's right and a lot of people will venture out to NJ - especially if they are 1) going out for the sole purpose of going to a strip club and being able to smoke/drink. 2) originally from NJ (we get a lot of bridge & tunnel crowd on the weekends)
Personally, I don't mind if the bridge & tunnel crowd goes over to NJ because they really aren't big spenders - they like to sit there, drink & smoke. Very rarely do I get someone from NJ who spend a good amount of money.
time will tell - let's see what happens!!
Jax
"You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything." -Claudette Colbert
Yeah I also believe that this ban will bring more customers to NJ. Especially clubs in places like Weehawken which are 6 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel. Also alot of NY customers frequent NJ clubs already because you don't have to stand away from customers during lap dances like most NYC clubs. Hopefully some big spenders will come this way! [lightup]





Every business should ban smoking. It is truly bad for our health as dancers breathing it in for 8 hours at a time and having our costumes and hair wreak of it.
Your main concerns are how it will effect business. All the clubs I have worked at that don't allow smoking have areas outside for dancers to smoke in and allow customers in and out to smoke and some have areas adjoining the club by the bathrooms for smoking.
What you may see in the short run is that the smoking customer might not stay in the club as long, but as they become used to going outside or to a designated area to smoke it won't be any big deal.
People are NOT going to forfeit going out over not being able to smoke a cancer stick with their drinks.
You'll see. Just like smokers have to go outside to smoke at work nowadays, they'll become used to not being able to smoke in public and still party as usual.
Well tonight was my first night working with the ban. The club was definitely slower, but I don't think the ban had too much to do with it. I still had 2 of my customers come in, both who smoked, and the one just went outside to take a break now and then. I'll admit it's a PAIN in the ass because now the customer gets up to go to the bathroom *and* for a cig break, and it breaks into your money making time. Also, there's nowhere at all for the girls to smoke. For now they are letting the girls smoke in the champagne lounge , but that will be for a short time - and that's only if you're upstairs with a customer in the lounge (talk about strange incentive).
Personally, I do think it may affect the weekend crowd - not the week-day crowd. The weekend types will venture across to NJ and are more apt to do so since they don't have to "work in the morning"...but a lot of people , even though NJ is close, hate to go to NJ since the commute can be a pain, even though it's close.
I have had some people say what Tina said - that they will get used to it and all will return to normal -
for now, I must say the air is much cleaner @ the club - only from a mere 2 days of not smoking! [lightup]
"You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything." -Claudette Colbert





I'd appreciate it if you'd keep us all posted. The New York State Legislature has just passed the same Manhattan smoking law to take effect state-wide in July! It will be curious to see how this develops over the next month or so in Manhattan. It will also be curious to see what happens once your club is inspected and smoking in the Champagne lounge is stopped as well, leaving the dancers with nowhere to smoke except outside the building (hmmm, might be good advertising during the summer !!!).
Well for me as a customer who hates smoking and has to come home and wash my hair before I get " caught" LOL I wish they would do this in Massachusetts too. I can only imagine how much nicer it will be to be without the smoke all night for you girls.
And again I know I am in the minority by going to a club for the GIRLS only,,, I usually am still on my first beer by the time I have had several dances,,,, (I hate to even let my beer bottle block one second of my show,,, hehe while trying to drink it during a dance.
I just LOVE the prvt dances sooo much that I think even if I did smoke I would not let it affect my going to a smoke free club.
Just for all your information, the state law that will kick in in New York in a couple of months is different from (and stricter than) the city law now in effect. The state law will NOT allow special smoking rooms in bars. So the "cigar bars" and other smoking rooms now being set in clubs up will no longer be allowed when the state law becomes effective.
I'm not a smoker, but I think these laws suck.
well here in fla they are still trying to iron out all the details. the chain resturants ect have complied with the law, but it doesnt go in to full and final effect till july i think. i was hopeing we could get away with it as "stand alone bars" can. but we have a resturant/sports bar as well as the "show" bar in the same building so i guess we wont fall under stand alone bars and will have to have an outside area. grrrr
As quoted by Luckyone:
I asked directions from a genie in a bottle of jim beam and she lied to me.
Methodus saved my life!





any updates from the NYC area with this being the first full weekend of no smoking ?
Velvet here on my side of Florida the ban has started in feb. If they sell food anyplace inside the club, no smoking. If it's a bar only, no food, yes to smoking. Sanctuary got around this by one small side being a restaurant days, no smoking inside. But evening comes it's strictly a night club, so smoking is allowed. Restaurant has to be closed. So they still do their fair share to customers at different parts of the day.
It is wierd now, seeing people who work reatsurants standing right outside the door to the restaurant smoking..?
Why is it where you are in Florida there are problems? Over here it's a done deal. Strange, Huh? Thats Florida for ya! I read your post again Velvet, yep you will go the same way we did it seems.
Pamela
nope north fla has not complied at all completly and here in tampa the same thing some have ,some havent. i work in north east fla so it's still the east coast of fla. and no we havent stopped smoking yet!
As quoted by Luckyone:
I asked directions from a genie in a bottle of jim beam and she lied to me.
Methodus saved my life!
I can just provide some info on Scores. They are still allowing smoking throughout the club. I read a sign that says that they are a cigar bar and have been for a number of years. I am happy about this because I am a smoker and I wasn't looking forward to running outside to smoke in the street dressed in a gown, and also I think that business had been down in the days after the war started and now customers from other local clubs are coming in because they can smoke. It doesn't help me in my never ending quest to quit though. oh well.





Hi Lane. Enjoy it while it lasts (the cigar bar). When the new statewide smoking ban takes effect in July the cigar bar will be history, and so will many smoking customers.
By all means enjoy it now!!!!! We have it already in full effect in my neck of the woods.
Whats is going to be funny to see, i have noticed...No smoking inside, but they flock right at the door to smoke. Even at the hospital i work...I am near admitting, and we have people come in with Respitory problems for example, and have to walk through employees and visitors as well as patients who go out to smoke.
Ash trays at the friggin door. Not a smart move.
Yep - I heard about that cigar bar thing being abdicated, as well. Oh well - thanks bloomberg!
As for us, they are being fairly strict - We did not open the cigar bar upstairs, and customers must go outside to smoke and the girls are allowed to smoke in the bathrooms (even though there's a big NO smoking sign in there). Also, we can smoke (for now) while in the champagne lounge) Now - as for what I've heard, it's good that we are being a little stricter - when the "smoking police" go through and note the places that are adhering to the new law, they will be checked on less often. for those places that are bending the rules a little too much, or just blatantly ignoring the ban, they will be "raided(?)" more often ... raising their chances for penalties and for being a "watched" establishment much higher
As for work - this Saturday was slower, but I think that's because of the game and the fact that it was Saturday (and daylight savings - a lot of ppl thought we were closed at 4, when technically, we stayed open till 5)- and if you see my post above, Saturdays are more bridge & tunnel - so they probably went to NJ for stripclub action. We had only one bachelor party, as opposed to the regular 3-5. (which is fine because i hate bachelor parties - they are cheap - and when you dance for one guy, you dance for all of the guys!) I'm waiting to see what this next week will prove - money-wise things haven't been all too different - but only a few more weeks will tell...
"You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything." -Claudette Colbert
This week i've had a few instances where the no-smoking policy was a problem as far as making money. On saturday, a couple came into the club and the man called me over. i sat with them and they paid me while i sat - they kept getting up to smoke a cigarette, taking turns to go outside. this broke right into the groove of my giving his girlfriend dances, me getting called to stage, and their giving me money to sit - i lost out on at least $150-200 since they came into the club later in the evening , so the 7-10 minute smoke would make 10 minutes of idle time for me.
I also had a customer last night who normally smokes and usually gets at least 10 dances. last night he got only three and went to meet friends at a bar where he could smoke.
Of course, these are just two isolated instances, but the business is not what it was a few years ago - so a $140 or so makes a big difference.
I'll admit, on a different note- the cleaner air is nicer, and i enjoy coming home not smelling like a smokestack!
Jax
"You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything." -Claudette Colbert





not to be contrary, but isn't a $140 per night pay cut a little expensive for the privelege of not smelling like smoke? Just my own opinion of course! In July I'm going to be stuck with the same problem when the statewide law goes into effect. I'm thinking of moving back to North Jersey now to beat the rush of ex-NY dancers who can't tolerate a permanent pay cut of that magnitude! Moving back to Jersey would also result in a state income tax reduction from NY's 8% to NJ's 4%, which is worth a few thousand all by itself since my webcam earnings are 100% taxable. Plus gasoline is 20 cents cheaper, cigs are $2 a pack cheaper etc. Damn, I better stop typing and start packing!
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