Chart of the Day
The greatest legacy of Michael Bloomberg's reign as NYC mayor may be the city's nose-diving number of adult smokers, a reduction widely credited to frequent cigarette tax increases, fewer places to smoke legally, and the city's unforgettably gruesome anti-smoking commercials. The total number of smokers has decreased by an estimated 500,000 since Bloomberg took office. Meanwhile, a pack of cigarettes currently sells for $13-$15 in Manhattan.
Via Joe.My.God
Of course, alarm bells should be going off in your heads. Compared to what? After all, if the national smoking rate had gone down in similar fashion, this would be nothing to get excited about; in fact it might be something to get upset about.
Fear not (this time!). It turns out that in 2002 the adult national smoking rate (pdf) was about 22%, and in 2009 it was still about 20%. So something was very likely having a pretty strong effect on NYC rates.