NS Considers Smoke-Free Lang Courtyard

On March 31, the university community was outraged when flyers appeared around campus announcing a smoking ban in the Lang courtyard, which has long been a smoker's haven.

Don't worry - it was just an early April Fool's Day joke. But the anonymous pranksters did their homework, writing that the supposed ban was in accordance with Mayor Bloomberg's new amendment to the Smoke Free Air Act of 2002, which prohibits smoking in a number of public spaces.

Here at the Free Press, the prank caused quite a stir: we had reporters calling New School authorities and reading Bloomberg's amendment to check the legality of the ban. We were ready to publish the story when we realized we'd been duped.

So hats off to whoever posted the flyers - you got us.

Smoking isn't banned in the Lang courtyard - yet. Peter Taback, director of communications at The New School, said the university had nothing to do with the flyers, but suggested that such a ban may eventually take place.

"Cigarette smoke in the courtyard does enter the surrounding offices and has resulted in several complaints," Taback wrote in an email. "As such, the extension of the smoking ban to the courtyard is under consideration."