With the weather warming up and more people enjoying the outdoors, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich will kick off a drive on Friday to encourage more towns to support restricting smoking at public parks and beaches.
Vainieri Huttle and Sokolich will be joined by various mayors and county officials on Friday, April 25, at 10 am in Constitution Park (Fletcher Ave. and Lewis Street) in Fort Lee where the borough recently banned smoking in the interest of protecting the public health. They will also be joined by officials from NJ GASP (Global Advisor on Smoke-free Policy) and the Bergen County Prevention Coalition.
Vainieri Huttle is the lead sponsor of legislation (A-1080) that recently passed the Assembly, which would prohibit smoking at public parks and beaches throughout New Jersey. With roughly three dozen municipalities already enacting similar bans in Bergen County, Vainieri Huttle pointed to the county as a leader in the growing movement to reduce public exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and preserve the state’s natural assets by reducing litter and fire risks.