The City That Never Sleeps is Becoming the City That Never Smokes Too!

Kudos to the Big Apple!

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and company recently announced that New York City’s adult smoking rate has reached an all-time low with only 14 out of 100 New Yorkers still smoking.

Since inception of aggresive smoking ban ads in 2002, there has been a 35% decrease in New York smokers. This equates to 450,000 fewer adult smokers.

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death in New York City and the nation today and we’re proud that a record number of News Yorkers are saving their own lives by quitting,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

“The fact that the adult smoking rate is the lowest it’s been since 2002 means that lives are being saved, our air is cleaner and New Yorkers are healthier,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “In the last ten years we’ve become an increasingly smoke-free city. We’ve reduced the exposure to secondhand smoke for millions of New Yorkers by passing several measures to strengthen our Smoke Free Air Act, including an amendment last May that made our public parks and beaches smoke-free. This matters because according to experts secondhand smoke causes more cancer deaths than asbestos, benzene, arsenic, and pesticides combined.”