Thank You For Not Choking

Mayor Bloomberg's anti-smoking campaign that has had many hacking, black-lunged New Yorkers complaining has yielded the billionaire an end-of-the-year [feather in the cap]. The city's health department now reports a decline in smoking-related deaths from about 9,000 in 2001 to around 8,100 in 2005. So the next time you curse the city for not allowing you to light up that cigar in your favorite steak house, remember that it's good old Bloomy you have to thank for preventing your vice--and perhaps your ultimate vice-related demise.