Famed NYC venues in trouble

Not one, but two, famed venues in New York City are in serious financial trouble. First, there is Tonic, a venue catering to jazz and other experimental forms of music that have difficulty being recieved elsewhere. Now, it appears as if legendary punk rock venue CBGB is also in dire straits, as I learned from this Yahoo News story.

While a number of reasons are cited for the financial troubles plaguing both venues, I can't help but wonder if there is another factor at play here. Could it be that such troubles are also an unintended consequence of NYC's draconian smoking ban for bars and venues such as Tonic and CBGB?

This is definitely some tragic news for music buffs such as myself. It's also ironic since these smoking bans are usually supported by the same types who also support public financing of the arts in order to preserve and protect the types of artists who now face the possibility of having fewer venues available to share their art with the public.