Michael Medici Bloomberg

I’ve blogged before about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s mandated improvements to the dietary habits of the city’s residents, but his influence has reached far beyond banning trans fats and gallon containers of soft drinks. After 12 years, Bloomberg will leave office at midnight December 31st with The New York Times reporting that his stint has mayor has cost $US650 million ($AUD730 million) of his own money. From the tropical fish tanks he installed in city hall, across staff meals, charitable gifts, campaign funds, private plan travel through cultural philanthropy and much more, the man can only be compared to a modern-day Medici.

Eschewing the normal mayoral salary of $US2.7million, accepting just $US1.00/year, then pouring funds from a seemingly bottomless well into all manner of causes, could be reasons for his three terms in office. But extraordinary philanthropy aside, it’s worth looking to Bloomberg’s other legacies, crime reduction, sidewalk safety, skyline-altering construction, gun-reform, immigration control and volunteerism, because it’s unlikely that New York or any other metropolis will see the likes of Michael Bloomberg again.

Maybe not, but then we do live in extraordinary times, so who knows?

RIP Mayor Bloomberg’s soft-drink initiative? Maybe not ...

Mere hours before it was to take effect, a judge reversed the proposed ban on the sale of jumbo sized soft drinks in New York. Wonder who paid him to “permanently” stop Mayor Bloomberg’s much-touted ban on drink sizes greater than 480ml in cinemas, sports stadiums and other public places. Never mind who paid the judge, whose interests could possibly be served by a soft drink size that openly boasts 64 ozs. (that’s 2 litres or close to 1/2 US gallon), 800 calories and almost 1/2 lb. (224g) of sugar?

Certainly none of the 6000 NY residents who die every year from complications of obesity or those suffering from diabetes - now estimated to be 1 in 8 New Yorkers!

But the good Mayor Bloomberg is undeterred by a small set-back, unfazed by claims that he is running a “nanny state.” During his 11 years in office his successful initiatives include obligatory posts of calorie counts in fast-food restaurants, bans on the use of artificial trans-fats and reduction in salt levels. NYC has successfully outlawed smoking in bars and offices, promotes breast-feeding over infant formula and last week, the Bloomberg administration announced a campaign to warn young people they risk hearing loss from cranked-up earphones. NYC is no stranger to defending its health-promotion measures in court either. But this time Bloomberg believes that the tide of public opinion is already turning and that voluntary adoption of his soft-drink initiative is underway.

"We are confident that we will win that (appeal), but while the legal case plays out, the conversation we started about the dangers of the portion sizes of sugary drinks has prompted many people ... to take action," he said. A few hours later, the city filed formal notice of its plan to appeal.

May the force be with you Michael Bloomberg!