6/13/2012
By Ivan Pereira
The mayor’s plan to ban soda has divided Gotham’s sexes and Manhattan with the other boroughs, a new poll shows.
Support for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s call to end the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces was split, with 51% of New Yorkers opposing it versus 46% who approve it, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
“The glass is half-full — or half-empty — for Mayor Mike,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
The city’s men were more disapproving of the proposal than women, as 55% of gents opposed the ban while only 47% of women were against it, according to the poll.
The ban seems to be OK with 55% of Manhattanites, but the outer boroughs are giving it the thumbs down in larger numbers.
Staten Island had the largest show of disapproval, with 65% opposing the ban versus the 32% who approve it, the poll showed.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the only potential mayoral candidate to vocally oppose the ban, seemed to be warming up to it, too.
During a news conference Wednesday, she deemed the ban punitive but said it would be effective in fighting obesity.
“I hope it works out. If it does not, it’s something the next mayor will change,” she said.
