In response to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which reduced by up to 10% the federal highway funding of any state which did not have a minimum purchasing age of 21, the New York Legislature raised the drinking age from 19 to 21, effective December 1, 1985. (The drinking age had been 18 for many years before the first raise in 1982.) Persons under 21 are prohibited from purchasing or possessing alcohol, from consuming alcohol in public (though they may do so in the privacy of their own homes with consent of a legal guardian), or from having a blood alcohol level of more than 0.02% while driving.

United States
In the USA, smokers and hospitality businesses initially argued that businesses would suffer from smoking bans. However, a 2006 review by the U.S. Surgeon General found that smoking bans were unlikely to harm businesses in practice, and that many restaurants and bars might see increased business.[78][79]
In 2003, New York City amended its anti-smoking law to include all restaurants and bars, including those in private clubs, making it, along with the California ban, one of the toughest in the United States. The city's Department of Health found in a 2004 study that air pollution levels had decreased sixfold in bars and restaurants after the ban went into effect, and that New Yorkers had reported less second-hand smoke in the workplace. The study also found the city's restaurants and bars prospered despite the smoking ban, with increases in jobs, liquor licenses, and business tax payments. The President of the New York nightlife association stated that business had been harmed and that the Department of Health had included all restaurants in the figures, including "Starbucks and McDonald's".[80] A 2006 study by the New York State Department of Health found similar results: "(...) the CIAA has not had any significant negative financial effect on restaurants and bars in either the short or the long term."[81]

Statewide smoking ban: Effective April 1, 2003, smoking is banned statewide in all enclosed workplaces in New York, including all bars and restaurants and construction sites.[232] The law exempts (1) private homes and automobiles, (2) hotel/motel rooms, (3) retail tobacco businesses, (4) private clubs, (5) cigar bars, (6) outdoor areas of restaurants and bars, and (7) enclosed rooms in restaurants, bars, convention halls, etc., when hosting private functions organized for the promotion and sampling of tobacco products.[233] Local governments may regulate smoking more stringently than the state law.[234]

New York City, March 30, 2003, banned smoking in all enclosed workplaces, including bars and restaurants; exempts tobacco bars, owner-operated bars, separately ventilated smoking rooms in bars, private clubs with no employees, private functions organized for the promotion and sampling of tobacco products, and retail tobacco shops.[235] On January 21, 1908, the New York City Council had passed the Sullivan Ordinance, which would have banned women from smoking anywhere except their homes, but was vetoed by the Mayor within two weeks of its passage.

Each state and many localities have different smoking laws, which makes the age of smoking difficult to understand, but it is commonly at 18 years of age. Any state may set the purchasing age limit lower than 18 years—but at the loss of grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that otherwise would be given for a natural disaster in the state.
When a customer appears to be under a specific age, state and local laws may require retailers to verify age from official documentation. The tobacco purchase age has been raised to 19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, Utah, and Nassau, Suffolk, and Onondaga counties in New York.