Desperate New Yorkers Seek Cigarette Tax Refuge Across State Lines 4.61K Richard Lawson 08/12/10 02:41PM Filed to: Smoking Smoking Cigarettes Taxes New York Pennsylvania shutterstock Various huddled masses, yearning to breathe however they so choose, have been journeying in droves across the border to buy cheap smokes at Indian reservations. New NY state taxes have made cigarettes cost upwards of $13/pack in New York City.