Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor Who Lengthened Lives

The lobby for tobacco and its allies, including the owners and clients of New York’s bars and restaurants, have their backs against the wall. By banning smoking in these private establishments, Michael Bloomberg had not only given himself over to unprecedented harassment from smokers; he threatened the night life of the city to which he was just elected mayor.

The threat has not materialized — far from it. Since March 30, 2003, the date this controversial regulation came into force, the number of bars and restaurants in New York has increased by 6,000, a 43 percent rise. As for New York smokers, there are no longer enough of them to complain nor to harass — for good reason. Since 2002, around 500,000 inhabitants of the Big Apple have turned their backs on smoking, a decision which is also due to increases in taxation on tobacco repeatedly decreed by the city.

Michael Bloomberg’s crusade against smoking has not only transformed the New York air, where the percentage of smokers reached an all-time low in 2011, 14 percent. It has also inspired more than 500 American cities, 35 states and 48 countries to adopt anti-tobacco laws as restrictive as those of the Big Apple.

Is it also possible that this campaign may have contributed to the increase in life expectancy in New York, which settled at 80.9 years in 2011, a whole three years more than in 2001 and 2.2 years more than the national average? Linda Fried, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Columbia, is convinced.

“A great part of the increase in life expectancy under the administration of Michael Bloomberg is the result of interventions which have reduced the number of deaths due to heart disease, cancer, HIV and accidents,” she responded to La Presse, mentioning in particular the anti-tobacco laws of New York, where it has also been forbidden to smoke in parks and on the beach since 2011.

As in many other American cities, New York’s electors will go to the ballot box on Tuesday morning to elect a new mayor, Michael Bloomberg not having the right to apply for a fourth term. Time is up for this businessman and multimillionaire whose first term began under the worst imaginable circumstances. Having hardly recovered from the effects of the national recession, New York took the psychological and economic shock provoked by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Twelve years later, Michael Bloomberg has transformed New York in ways which few of his predecessors have succeeded in doing. He has increased the surface area of the city parks by 1.2 square miles, notably approving the High Line, an undeniable success. He has added 285 miles of bicycle paths, adopted the highly successful Bixi public bicycle sharing system and created a pedestrian zone in Times Square.

He has changed the zoning of Queens and Brooklyn to allow for construction of housing towers along the East River. He has taken the reins of New York’s public schools, whose graduation rate has increased by 39 percent between 2005 and 2012.

He has contributed to the creation of 405,400 jobs since Dec. 2001, which is close to 10 percent of jobs created in the U.S. during this period. He has given the green light to ambitious projects which only saw the light of day after the start of his term, including the construction of a technology campus on Roosevelt Island.

His opponents, including Bill de Blasio, the favored candidate for his succession, reproach him for having only helped Manhattan and the more fortunate residents of New York. These are, however, most likely unfair accusations, forgetting notably that Brooklyn is the region which has prospered the most over the course of the last 12 years.

However, one of this special-edition mayor’s most unusual legacies will without a doubt be the effects of his policies on the life expectancies of New Yorkers. Linda Fried of Columbia University not only pays tribute to the anti-tobacco laws, but also highlights the importance of the policies of extending the bicycle paths, banning the use of unsaturated fatty acids in restaurants and compelling food chains to display the number of calories in their dishes.

“All the departments have assumed responsibility of improving health, under the direction of the Department of Health,” asserted the professor of medicine and epidemiology, highlighting in particular the work of the Department of Transportation, who reduced the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents.

Michael Bloomberg would no doubt highlight, from his point of view, the work of the police force of New York, whose methods, according to him, have contributed to the spectacular fall in homicides in New York.

He could even boast, one day, of having been the mayor who lengthened lives.