Michael Bloomberg wants New Yorkers to take the stairs. The bastard.
Politicker (“Bloomberg’s Latest ‘Nanny’ Move: Pushing People to Take the Stairs“):
First he came after the cigarettes. Then the trans-fats. Then the super-sized drinks. Now, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is coming after the elevators.
City officials announced a new initiative this afternoon aimed at encouraging office workers to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Under legislation proposed by the mayor, all new buildings and buildings undergoing major renovation would be required to give occupants access to at least one stairwell, as well as post signs near elevators pointing to nearby stairs.
Another bill would increase the visibility of stairwells by permitting the use of hold-open devices on doors that would close automatically in case of an emergency.
[…]
Mr. Bloomberg, who said he personally almost always uses the stairs-and doesn’t stand still when he’s on an escalator-said that part of the challenge was to make being active hipper for young people across the city.
“What we’ve got to do is just make it cool-if you will-or socially more the norm to exercise, and that’s what you see here,” he explained. “The whole idea is not to change what you have to do, but to give you the idea and the impetus to do something that is in your best interest.”
Now, I don’t know what all of this costs. Implementation might be more burdensome than it seems at first blush. If so, I might oppose it on those grounds. But, otherwise, this strikes me as a perfectly sensible move. And, unlike some of his previous moves, there’s no obvious infringement on the liberty of the citizenry here to put this into “nanny state” territory.
Personally, I would take the stairs much more frequently in buildings were they easier to locate. Most in DC, at least, seem designed to force people to take the elevator, even if they’re going up or down just one or two floors. It’s especially annoying going down, which is easy on the body and faster than waiting for the elevator.
