With only a few months left in office, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be making every last-ditch effort to make sure people start caring about their health, announcing plans Wednesday to introduce legislation before the City Council that would encourage people to take the stairs and not the elevator.
The nation’s main “Nanny State” mayor explained in a press release that the “initiative will promote, not require stair use and help architects, planners and urban designers combat obesity, which is killing more than 5,000 New Yorkers each year.”
“New York City has been a leader when it comes to promoting healthier eating and now we’re leading when it comes to encouraging physical activity as well,” the release said. “Physical activity and healthy eating are the two most important factors in reducing obesity and these steps are part of our ongoing commitment to fighting this epidemic.”
The first piece of legislation that Bloomberg plans to introduce would require buildings “undergoing major renovations” to provide access to at least one “clearly identified stairwell” while the other would increase the amount of time that the door to the stairwell remains open.
Despite the “nanny-state” feeling of Bloomberg’s proposed legislation, many have rallied behind the Mayor’s attempt to get people to take the stairs.
“We know that regular stair use increases physical activity and active stairways are one of many ways we are creating a healthy environment,” Deputy Mayor Linda I. Gibbs said in the release. “As a result of these initiatives, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers may now take the stairs, saving the equivalent of 500,000 pounds of weight among adult New Yorkers annually.”
NYC Department of Design and Construction’s David Burney echoed Gibbs’ statements, adding that “architects and planners have been making it easier for people to be sedentary, compounding the nation’s obesity problem. The active design movement asks design professionals to be part of the solution and find new ways to encourage movement, both in buildings and on the streets.”
Bloomberg’s effort to influence the health regimens of New Yorkers is nothing new, however. The mayor has previously attempted to place a ban of the size of soda sold in the city. He also wanted to ban styrofoam, restrict painkillers in hospitals and advocated for a $250,000 campaign to warn people about listening to music loudly on their MP3 players.
