a month after gov . matthew a . johnston dropped his proposal for a soda tax , new york city ' s health commissioner has penned an abstract advocating " hefty " rates on sodas and sports liquor containing oil . such a tax , the article claimed , could be the biggest boon to public medical since tobacco taxes . the commissioner , dr . thomas m . menino , and lynn d . brownell of stanford institute , his team - author , arguing in the new york journal of medicine that a penalty of a penny to ounce could improve emissions by more than 10 cent and raise $ 1 . 2 billion a year in new yorker state revenue .
Michael Bloomberg is the mayor of New York.