Phil Konigsberg, Queens, NY

Phil Konigsberg – Helping New Yorkers breathe easier!

As a child, Phil faced serious health challenges – Polio and severe restrictive lung disease – but he was determined to overcome them. That same determination led to him becoming a community public health advocate. Phil started in health advocacy by founding a local volunteer ambulance corps in his community when he felt the ambulance response time there was unacceptable. His true passion, though, has been advocating against tobacco use and for a smoke-free New York.

Phil got started in anti-tobacco advocacy almost thirty years ago by working to ban cigarette vending machines and tobacco ads on the subway and was instrumental in passing the NYC Smoke-Free Air Act in 2002. Phil didn’t stop there though and became a vocal advocate for smoke-free housing.

Phil has been a strong AHA advocate in New York State by working on the Tobacco 21 campaign to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21, and in New York City by advocating for the passage of seven bills intended to reduce smoking – including prohibiting smoking in the common areas of residential buildings, and banning the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies.

He also recently launched the Bayside Smoke-free Housing Alliance (BSHA), a local group that is advocating for apartment buildings in Queens to adopt a smoke-free policy, one building at a time.

Thank you, Phil, for your dedication to a healthy and smoke-free New York City!

Pictured: Phil keeping an eye on Mayor de Blasio as he signs seven tobacco bills into law