Bloomberg Again Blasts Court Ruling on Large Sugary Drinks

Damon Winter/The New York Times Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Tuesday spoke to reporters at Lucky’s Cafe in Manhattan, one day after a judge invalidated his plan to limit large sugary drinks. Lucky’s owner says he is adopting the limitations anyway.

A day after a judge struck down his administration’s impending limits on large sugary drinks, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appeared at a Manhattan cafe on Tuesday that was nevertheless adopting the limits, and he delivered a forceful defense of his policy and a rebuke of the judge’s decision.

Inside a room at Lucky’s Cafe packed with television cameras and appearing alongside elected officials and public health experts who have supported his plan, Mr. Bloomberg said that 100,000 Americans die every year from obesity-related causes and that the world would be watching the fate of New York City’s restrictions on sugary drinks.

“If it happens here, it will happen everywhere, and if it’s stopped here, it’s going to be a very big problem,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who said on Monday that the city would appeal the judge’s ruling.

“An awful lot of people are dying,” he added. “This is not a joke.”

Firing back at those who say that government should limit itself to educating people about nutrition, Mr. Bloomberg said, “You don’t wait until people are dead and then try to educate them, and that’s really the decision you have to m! ake here..”

He praised the owner of Lucky’s Cafe, on First Avenue, for voluntarily complying with the rules, and said other businesses should do the same.

“No. 1, it’s good business, people will appreciate it,” Mr. Bloomberg said, “and No. 2, they’ll live longer, so they’ll be clients longer.”

The owner, Greg Anagnostopoulos, who is tall and slim, said he was motivated by a belief that consuming excess amounts of soda was dangerous.

“If we offer you a 64-ounce and you drink it all, I think that’s the worst thing you can do - it’s like shoving a cake down your throat,” he said, adding, “Moderation, that’s what I believe.”

On Monday, Justice Milton A. Tingling Jr. of State Supreme Court in Manhattan issued his ruling invalidating Mr. Bloomberg’s plan, which was to take effect on Tuesday. Justice Tingling acted in response to a suit brought by the soft-drink industry against the restrictions, which would have banned the sale of sugary drinks largr than 16 ounces by restaurants, movie theaters and food carts.

Justice Tingling called the rules “arbitrary and capricious” and said the city’s Board of Health, which is appointed by the mayor, had overstepped its authority in approving the rules.

Mr. Bloomberg called the judge “totally wrong” and said he was confident that his decision would be reversed on appeal.

The ruling raises the possibility, however, that the case may not be decided by the time Mr. Bloomberg leaves office at the end of the year, putting the fate of the restrictions in the hands of his successor. The soda issue has shifted the usual political alliances among the Democrats vying to succeed Mr. Bloomberg, with one of his sharpest critics, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, supporting the restrictions, and a candidate who is usually his ally, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, opposing them.

Mr. de Blasio, who joined Mr. Bloomberg at Lucky’s on Tuesday morning, “The mayor is abs! olutely ri! ght on this, and it’s important for people to stand with him.”

Other politicians, including the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, and a councilman from Queens, James F. Gennaro, also appeared with the mayor and spoke on behalf of the rules, as did Geoffrey Canada, the president and chief executive of the Harlem Children’s Zone, and Dr. Steven Safyer, the chief executive of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, who called obesity a greater scourge in the Bronx than H.I.V./AIDS.

Mr. Bloomberg vowed to keep fighting for measures to stem the tide of obesity after he leaves office, and predicted that restrictions on the sale of large sodas would someday be as widespread as bans on smoking.

“That’s what scares some of the manufacturers so much,” he said, adding, “I am 100 percent confident that just like smoking, this is an issue that the public has finally come to understand.”

The judge’s decision threatens what Mr. Bloomberg had hoped would be a major pat of his legacy. But Mr. Bloomberg, at one point on Tuesday, bristled at the suggestion that the ruling was a “setback” for him as he enters the final months of his administration.

“It was not a setback for me - this is a setback for the people who are dying,” he said sharply. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I watch my diet. This is not for me.”