New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a series of anti-tobacco measures that will substantially raise cigarette prices and set limits on the number of retail licenses issued tobacco and vape shops, WNBC-TV reported.

Cigarette prices will rise to a minimum USD 13 (EUR 10.88) from USD 10.50. A floor price also will be set for cigars, smokeless tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and shisha containing tobacco.
Vape-product retailers will be required to obtain a retail license from the city and their numbers will be capped through attrition at half the current number in a district, WNBC said. Tobacco retail licenses will be capped at 50 per cent of the current number. New licenses will only be issued in a city district when the number of tobacco shops in that district has been reduced by half.
Cigarette license fees, collected biennially, will rise to USD 200 from USD 110. Pharmacies will no longer be allowed to sell tobacco and vaping products. Smoking will be prohibited in common areas of multiple-dwelling residential units. Apartment building owners will be required to create smoking policies, however the measure does not mandate a no-smoking policy, WNBC said. Roughly one million smokers live in the city and the measures target a 160,000 reduction by 2020, according to WNBC.