In July last year, state legislators expanded upon existing law to add “hookah”—water pipes—and “shisha”—the mix of fruit, herbs, and tobacco smoked in the pipes—to the list of tobacco products that merchants are banned from selling to minors.

The granite arch and support piers of the Manhattan Bridge, spanning streets and sidewalks paved with cobblestones, frame vistas of DUMBO's vaunted “gritty elegance”—industrial warehouses, dock storehouses, and remnants of a defunct railroad.

On a cold morning in early April, six immigrant women in puffer coats, denim jackets, and headscarves gathered for a citizenship class at a center for Arab Americans in Bay Ridge.