Yesterday, New York City Council Members Letitia "Tish" James and District 8 representative Melissa Mark-Viverito spoke out against the proposed ban by Mayor Bloomberg on Huffington Post. Council Members James and Mark-Viverito make a number of important points, including the adverse economic impacts the ban would have on local small business and distributors and – as we’ve discussed before – the ban’s infringement on New Yorkers’ right to choose.

In addition, Mark-Viverito tweeted yesterday: “Real solutions needed. Not sound bite public policies” in order to create a healthier New York – such as subsidies for healthy food access and, importantly, rehabilitation of outdoor parks, playgrounds and recreational spaces. Their article concludes:

“A ban is easy, establishing real solutions in the long term is much more difficult. And frankly we believe moving towards any of these goals would have a greater impact on public health than a beverage ban that might hurt small businesses, would be arbitrarily applied, and may very well be illegal. When Mayor Bloomberg proposes more real solutions (like this) to our public health problems, we will be standing right behind him. But the soda ban is simply bad for New York.”

We hope you take a moment to read the full article and speak out against regressive bans by signing the New Yorkers for Beverage Choice petition or joining us on Facebook.