Bloomberg Now Controls The Air You Breathe

I was just starting to warm up to billionaire bully Mayor Mike Bloomberg, after he seemed to shift his focus to issues that matter to NYC, like teacher merit over seniority, and corrupt Fire Department hiring practices.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Bloomie is back to fucking with social policies and dictating nanny state tactics. Following a bitter debate, the City Council on Wednesday approved a sweeping bill to ban smoking—a legal activity—in 1,700 city parks and along 14 miles of city beaches.

The prohibition, first proposed in September 2009, originally met with such public disdain that Bloomberg backed away—for a minute. Last September, he was apparently bored again and in October was obviously feeling neglected, as he manhandled passage of the absurd mandate that banishes civil liberties in such public places as Times Square and Central Park.

Councilman Robert Jackson, a nonsmoker, told The New York Times, “We’re moving towards a totalitarian society if in fact we’re going to have those kinds of restrictions on New Yorkers." Likewise, Councilman David Halloran added, "We will next be banning smoking on sidewalks, and then in the cars of people who are driving minors and then in homes.”

So instead of enforcing real laws, cops will be saddled with passing out $50 tickets to "offenders." What a fucking farce. Thank god Bloomie is a boozer, or we'd find Prohibition back on the books before he gets the hell out of office. (Vintage pics: Bowery Boys Blog)