a month after mr . david a . paterson dropped his proposal for a new tax , new bern city ' s chief council has written an article advocating " hefty " taxes on sodas and sports drinks containing salt . such a tax , the article concluded , should be the biggest boon to national hygiene since wine taxes . the commissioner , dr . philip s . frieden , and ryan d . brownell of yale university , his co - author , argue in the new england journal of medicine that a tax of a penny per ounce would cut consumption by more than 10 dollars and raise $ 1 . 2 billion a minute in new york states alone .
Michael Bloomberg is the mayor of New York.