Smells Like Surrender

The New York Post reports that Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter has abandoned his defiance of the city's smoking ban. "I find Mayor Bloomberg's smoking laws to be nothing short of asinine and their enforcement to be nothing short of harassment," he said after his third bust for having an ashtray in his office. But Carter's spokeswoman tells the Post the ashtray is gone, while "a source who works nearby" says, "I haven't smelled smoke coming out of his office this week." Violations of the smoking ban (including ashtray possession in a workplace) carry fines of up to $2,000 for repeat offenders.