Big Smoke, Big Apple

Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Brain Daley (above) shows off his cigar horde. The Big Apple welcomed more than 3,000 cigar devotees last week for the sold-out Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke New York City held in the heart of Times Square at the Marriott Marquis hotel. The now not-so-smoke-friendly City that Never Sleeps returned to its plentiful puffing days of yore for one night before the long Thanksgiving weekend. A crowd of aficionados from around the country descended on Manhattan as they have since 1993, and took over the hotel ballroom for a pair of two and a half hour sessions, filling the cavernous place to the ceiling with smoke. Music boomed and dancers gyrated to the beat, silhouetted behind neon screens, as guests treated themselves to some of the best in cigars, booze, cuisine, accessories, transportation and entertainment. Here are some of the sights from the evening. If you were there, they will trigger happy memories, but for those who could not attend, they will give you a hint of what life is like at the Big Smoke.

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