Photo: AP
New York City’s billionaire mayor,Michael Bloomberg, announced on Wednesday his intentions to ban the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. That covers everything from sodas to sweetened iced teas to energy drinks.
This isn’t the first time Bloomberg has gone out of his way to enact laws that he deems good for our health, our environment and our economy. He seems to have made it something of a personal quest to improve our well-being through government action.
Here’s a recap of some other notable Bloomberg initiatives:
1. Calorie Counting At Restaurants
To combat a growing obesity epidemic, the New York City Board of Health voted in December 2006 to post all calorie counts on menus and menu boards. Before that, they were often found in brochures hidden behind displays, or buried on websites. Now caloric intake listings are increasingly the norm throughout the city, and country.
2. Trans-Fats Banned
The Board of Health passed legislation, also in December 2006, banning the use of artificial trans-fats in foods, giving restaurants until July 2007 to stop frying foods in oils that contain trans-fats, and until July 2008 to completely remove them from all foods. The ban allowed for restaurants and stores to serve offending foods so long as their were in the manufacturer’s original packaging. “Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers — I love those things, too,” Bloomberg said after the decision was announced. “But if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that.”
3. Bullying Salt
In January 2007, Bloomberg’s commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden pushed for a 10 year plan to cut the sodium levels in processed and pre-packaged foods by 25% twice in two back-to-back five year periods. And if there isn’t progress? He has legislation planned for that.
4. Smoking Limits
In February 2011, Bloomberg announced a ban on smoking in public places, including Times Square and Central Park. More recently, he has announced plans to require building owners to create written policies outlining exactly where smoking is allowed in and outside their properties, and to share this with potential renters. Of the plan, Bloomberg said: “We’re not trying to ban anything. I’ve always believed, as you know, that if you want to smoke I think you should have a right to do so. But it kills you.”
5. Hybrid Taxi Fleet
In May 2007, Bloomberg announced plans to convert the city’s 13,000 taxi fleet into one composed of hybrid cars, replacing the emblematic CrownVictoria, which got 10 to 15 miles per gallon in the city. (The hybrid Ford Escape, in contrast, gets 34 miles per gallon). He argued that the switch would save drivers $10,000 a year in fuel costs, offsetting the increased investment in the more expensive hybrid vehicles. About 1,100 of the 13,000 cabs were hybrids by fall 2008, and the mayor’s plan has called for a 20% increase each year since.
6. Limiting Liquor Access
This one is still in the planning phases, but in January, Bloomberg announced his support for a plan, in coordination with the group Healthier New York City to reduce “alcohol retail outlet (e.g. bar, corner store) density and illegal alcohol.” As well as to “reduce the exposure to alcohol products and bar advertising and promotion in retail and general (trains, buses, etc.) settings (stores, restaurants, etc.)” So keep a lookout for that one.
7. Money For Laid Off Financiers
Bloomberg’s fortune comes from the world of finance, and his eponymous firm, Bloomberg L.P., still makes a killing selling the Bloomberg Terminal, a one stop shop for trading tools, resources and news. As mayor of one of the world’s most important financial capitals, he can’t ignore the prominent contributions to the New York tax base that NYC’s financial community provides. In February 2009, following predictions that the financial crises could cost Wall Street 65,000 jobs, Bloomberg announced a plan to invest $45 million ($15 million in city funds, and $30 million in federal funds) to retrain bankers and traders who had been laid off. He hoped to prevent a max exodus from the city. Deflecting potential cries from boot-strappers when unveiling the plan, Bloomberg admitted that he received no government funds to get Bloomberg L.P. off the ground, but that didn’t count as a reason not to act in response to the recession.
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