Bloomberg showed his lighter side during today’s Earth Day speech with comments that could have sparked massive public outcry and calls for his resignation— if he had really meant them.
Speaking about the childhood obesity rate in the city (it’s higher than the national average) and the need for more parks and athletic fields, the mayor said that banning trans fats was not enough.
“We also have to ban all desserts and sweets!” For a moment the standing room only audience at the Museum of Natural History went dead silent. Reporters looked at each other to judge if they had heard the mayor correctly.
He'll be here all week folks. (AP)
Then Bloomberg cried, “Just kidding! Just kidding! For all the reporters in the room, I’m just kidding.”
Did that really just happen?’ the reporters wondered. Then we saw that yes, yes it had. The joke about banning all desserts was included in the transcript of the speech we had received before the mayor had ever taken the stage.
-- Justin Rocket Silverman
