This month, news that Mayor Bloomberg was out to slay Big Bad Obesity with his proposed soda ban was the proverbial shot heard around the world, with everyone from Michelle Obama to Jerry Seinfeld weighing in on the move against sugary drinks. But Bloomberg's newest critic might hit a little closer to home.
This week, Georgina Bloomberg, the Mayor's 29-year-old daughter and featured player in the 2003 HBO documentary Born Rich, bumped into NY Mag at a cocktail party and told them she wasn't a huge fan of her dad's newest venture. "His intentions are good. And, it's the kind of thing that the public will thank him for in twenty years," she said of the ban, which would prohibit restaurants, cafes and movie theaters from selling sugary drinks in quantities over 16 ounces. "However, people should be allowed to make their own bad choices."
The younger Bloomberg, who told NYMag that her favorite soft drink is sugar-free Fresca, offered her own solution to the city's growing obesity problem, suggesting her father make healthy food more accessible to New Yorkers rather than cutting out fattier options. "Ideally, he would lower the cost of healthy food instead of banning unhealthy food," she said. "If people were able to afford to eat nutritious food, I think they would make better choices."
Meanwhile, it looks like Georgina Bloomberg's soda ban take sides with the rest of the country—a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll noted that the majority of Americans disagree with the Mayor's proposed ban, with nearly 64 percent of those surveyed believing the ban was an unnecessary government intervention.
