Politics & Government
Six in 10 New Yorkers Oppose Bloomberg's Soda Ban
A poll by the New York Times says the most New Yorkers are against the plan, even if they aren't big soda drinkers themselves.
Sixty percent of New Yorkers oppose Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban the sale of large sugary drinks, while only 36 percent agree with it, says a New York Times poll.
The Board of Health will vote on the proposal on Sept. 13 – and is likely to approve the ban. Of the 1,026 adults polled, the opposition to the plan spanned age, race, gender, political persuasion and soda consumption habits, says the Times.
“The ban is at the point where it is an infringement of civil liberties,” Liz Hare, 43, a scientific researcher in Queens, told the paper in a follow-up interview. “There are many other things that people do that aren’t healthy, so I think it’s a big overreach.”
Find out what's happening in Fort Greene-Clinton Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The ban will have the biggest effect on black and Hispanic residents, who the Times found are much more likely to drink regular (non-diet) sodas.
Seventy percent of black New Yorkers, and about 60 percent of Hispanics, said they usually drank regular sodas, compared with nearly 40 percent of whites.
Find out what's happening in Fort Greene-Clinton Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In Fort Greene, three businesses , saying that it would hurt sales in an already rough economy. La Bagel Delight and S&S Brooklyn Pizza were against the ban, while Connecticut Muffin said a ban on large sweetened iced coffees could take as much as 85 percent of their summertime revenue away.
Interestingly, a Patch poll in late May , while 20 percent believed it was their personal choice to drink a large soda. Thirty-six percent thought the ban was just a waste of time, and would ultimately hurt business owners and one percent weren’t sure about the situation.
