NEW YORK CITY – Electronic cigarettes could join their traditional counterparts in being ousted from public in New York City, CNBC reports. While currently New Yorkers can light up an e-cig in bars and restaurants — not to mention beaches and parks — the city council may change that soon.

This week, the New York City Council held a hearing to talk about whether electronic cigarette smoking should fall under the same rules as cigarette smoking. Council members acknowledged that research as to whether e-cig smoke was as harmful as traditional cigarette smoke is inclusive, some expressed concern about the safety of nonsmokers.

Councilman James Gennaro sponsored the bill to forbid the public smoking of e-cigarettes. “[I want to] err on the side of caution,” with this ban, he said, pointing out that the city’s prohibition of smoking in public, outdoor areas, had more to do with public approval than actual science. “Those second set of measures were more about sociology and denormalizing than they were hard medical science,” he said. “We thought it was important to make sure smoking was completely denormalized.”

Meanwhile, Chicago’s mayor wants to ban electronic cigarette smoking wherever regular cigarette smoking is forbidden. Electronic cigarettes have become a billion-dollar business this year, triggering calls for more regulation by federal, state and local governments. Already, the European Union has announced it will regulate e-cigs like traditional tobacco products.