By Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking his war against smoking to a new battleground — the city's parks and beaches.
"We don’t think children, parents when they’re standing at soccer games should have to be breathing in smoke from the person next to them," Commissioner Thomas Farley told reporters today after unveiling the city’s new health initiative, Take Care New York 2012.
"We don’t think our children should have to be watching someone smoke."
Bloomberg took heat from city smokers when he unveiled his first ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in 2003. After an initial round of hostility, the ban has since been hailed as a widespread success.
His new plan would extend the ban to the city's 1,700 parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities and 14 miles of beaches. The city has not yet devised a specific plan, a spokeswoman for the city's Health Department told Bloomberg.com.
Bloomberg hopes the ban will slash smoking rates among adults down to 12 percent by 2012.That's down from 21 percent in 2002.
The 10-point plan also seeks to slash the consumption of sugary drinks, reduce the rate of alcoholism and curtail unprotected sex to halt the spread of HIV.
The city has not said how much the plan will cost or when they expect to begin.
