By Beesan Sarrouh
Every afternoon Mario Marcono comes to Café Azzurri to play cards with his friends, drink a cup of coffee and smoke. Although Marcono, 62, has been smoking for 50 years, he supports the proposed Ottawa bylaw that bans smoking in restaurant or bars.
“I think the bill is a good idea,” he says, stubbing out his cigarette. “But I don’t know how effective it will be. Some people will obey this law, some people won’t.”
Among Morcono and his friends are a few non-smokers who come to the Preston Street café to socialize. They’re anxious that the bylaw be passed, too.
“I quit smoking three and a half years ago. I had been smoking for 46 years before then, but had trouble breathing and kept coughing all the time. Not healthy,” says Emidio Gagliardi, 68. “The air in here is so smoky and thick,” he adds. “All you smell is smoke, and the air purifier doesn’t work too well.”
The fear of losing clientele doesn’t worry Café Azzurri.
“I don’t think this bylaw will have an effect on business,” says one employee. “Ever since this place was converted from a postal office into a café 30 years ago, it has been catering to the same people.”
Carmine Pugliese, a smoker for 65 years, agrees.
“I don’t think (the bylaw) would make me stop coming here,” he says. “I’ve been coming here for almost 20 years to play cards with my friends. I just wouldn’t stop coming.”
Gagliardi says the café might actually gain customers.
“I would come here more often if they would pass the bylaw,” he says. “The same men come here everyday because they have no other places to go,” Gagliardi jokes.
Even Café Azzurri workers support the bylaw.
“I don’t think it would stop people from smoking altogether,” says an employee. “But if it’s not allowed at bars the young people might not start as much.”