Sales of menthol-flavored cigarettes in the Big Apple could soon be going up in smoke.
A Bronx councilman who sponsored legislation to ban the sale of menthol- and other minty-flavored cigarettes says he’s gotten enough support from colleagues to ultimately have it become law.
Fernando Cabrera told The Post Friday that four more council members have joined on to his bill, giving it support from 29 of the 51 members – enough votes for the majority needed to put it over the top.
“This is going to happen, and it’s going to be one of the biggest things this council has ever done,” Cabrera said.
“It’s the right thing to do! It’s the moral thing to do!” added Cabrera, referring to his proposed ban.
The push to ban menthol cigarette sales citywide is gaining steam, while there’s been an even larger groundswell of support nationwide to pull flavored e-cigarettes with flavors ranging from cotton candy to bubble gum off store shelves amid a national vaping crisis that has taken at least six lives.
The council has long been split on a bill sponsored by Manhattan Democrat Mark Levine to ban flavored e-smoke sales citywide, but Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who is currently using a Juul in a bid to beat a decade-old smoking habit, gave that legislation a big boost last week by saying he’ll support it.
Johnson, who will ultimately decide whether the bills gets to the council floor for a vote, said he’s not ready to back a menthol cigarette ban just yet because he thinks that “situation is a little more tricky.”
“A lot of menthol cigarettes … have been used by African Americans in New York City,” said Johnson, who has not yet decided whether he backs the proposed legislation. “And some people say if you ban menthols, you’re basically just making it harder for African Americans who through their own choice decide they want to smoke those menthol cigarettes.”
“I don’t have a firm position yet, but I feel like we are heading in a very good direction and working through some of the issues that have been raised by some folks who had some concerns,” he added. “I think we need to continue to ensure that we keep as many people in New York as smoke-free as possible.”
Still, Cabrera said he’s “very confident” the speaker will bring the bill to the floor.
The NAACP supports the bill because it blames menthol tobacco for being a leading cause of African Americans getting hooked on smoking. A 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 9 out of 10 black smokers prefer menthols.
The civil rights group is butting heads with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has said banning menthol-flavored cigarettes could create “another Eric Garner situation” because the legislation fails to address how cops would enforce such a law.
“Eric Garner was killed during an encounter selling loosies,” Sharpton said in January, referring to the Staten Island man who died in 2014 after being taken down by a cop amid a dispute over selling illegal smokes.
However, Cabrera and other critics have questioned whether the opposition by Sharpton is being fueled by the group’s cozy relationship with RJ Reynolds — which produces Newport, the top-selling menthol cigarette in the nation, and which has a long history of donating big bucks to Sharpton’s National Action Network.
Sharpton, who wields significant influence over some council members, did not return a call for comment. However, he has in the past denied that donations played any role in his opposition.