By Kim Velsey 12/17/12 2:55pm

Smoked Out

Those were the days: Pianist Willie "the Lion" Smith smoking in his NYC apartment in 1947.

Bloomberg Offers Cash to Community Groups Who Convince Buildings to Go Smoke Free

It’s been a few months since we’ve heard anything about Mayor Bloomberg’s war on smoking, so we should have known that something was brewing. Especially since our health czar had uncharacteristically long spell of down time—the soda ban passed in September—in his crusade to force New Yorkers to lead healthier lives.

Well, The New York Post reports that Mr. Bloomberg has been planning a secret assault on smoking this whole time. Well, sort of. He’s offering community groups who convince buildings to go smoke-free a $10,000 thank-you, to be paid out by a Centers for Disease Control grant. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/11/12 4:27pm

Cola Wars

3 Photos

Fighting for the Right

Protestors and City Councilman Dan Halloran Demanded Beverage Choices at Monday’s Million Big Gulp March

“What’re they going to tell us next? Are they going to get in the bedroom?” asked 19-year-old Zach Huff. The spokesperson for NYC Liberty HQ, barely tall enough to reach the microphone, was cheekily addressing a small group of rather tame demonstrators amassed in front of City Hall Monday for the Million Big Gulp March, a rally protesting Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large sodas.

If passed, the ban would prevent restaurants, delis, movie theaters and street carts from selling sugar-laden drinks that exceed 16 ounces. The protesters were, in a sense, advocating on behalf of beverages that contain 25 percent of one’s recommended daily caloric intake.

We stood waiting for some small eruption of jeering or whistling from the crowd in reaction to Mr. Huff’s aside. Nothing. Perhaps the lackluster response was a result of his bizarre logic leap from soda ban to bedroom play. Or maybe he hadn’t quite lowered the microphone enough to be heard above the slurping. Read More