Bronx residents are reacting with mixed feelings when it comes to the federal ban on smoking inside of public housing facilities.

Residents inside the Castle Hill Houses on Castle Hill Avenue in East Bronx were both elated and devastated to find out smoking inside the NYCHA facility is now banned. 

The new federal law bans smoking inside public housing buildings; including inside units, indoor common areas, and outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative offices. 

The ban is intended to prevent people from smoking tobacco products in an effort to reduce residents' exposure to second-hand smoke, which has been linked to cancer. 

Elsa Q , a Bronx resident, thinks there are bigger concerns than smoking bans when it comes to public housing, "How about mandating housing to fix apartments that are deteriorating?" 

 

Others like Ariane W. say, "It's a person's right to decide if they want to smoke inside their home or not, and the government should just stay out of it. "How are you going to tell people what they can do in the privacy of their own homes?"

Nearly 200,000 public housing facilities across the United States are already smoke free, however, officials say the new ban would bring that number up to 900,000 facilities.

Agencies have 18 months to begin enforcing the smoking ban.