Assemblyman Felix Ortiz brought the ruckus last week when the media caught wind of his proposal to fully ban "the use of salt by restaurants in the preparation of food." The anti-salt assault prompted such a backlash (even nanny Bloombeg thought he went too far!) that Ortiz, a Democrat whose district includes Sunset Park, has now backed away from the bill, and is advocating a more moderate salt-reduction policy. "My intention for this legislation was to prohibit the use of salt as an additive to meals," Ortiz said in a statement. "If salt is a functional component of the recipe, by all means, it should be included." Nevertheless, there's a sharp contrast between Ortiz's stated intent and what he actually put in the bill. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg loves ladling out diet tips, but he's not about to give up his salty hot sausages. The Post reports that on his weekly radio show he called a recent proposal to ban salt in restaurants “ridiculous.” "You have to have salt when you cook," observed the mayor. "I do. I use too much salt already myself. But also it makes a lot of foods, the way you cook them and bake them—salt is a real ingredient. So I don't think that's the right thing to do." more ›

Back in January, health crusader Mayor Bloomberg launched a "voluntary" initiative encouraging fast food joints like Subway and supermarket chains like Food Emporium to cut the salt in hundreds of store brand products. The Salt Institute was outraged, Curtis Sliwa drank salt in protest, and panicked New Yorkers began hoarding salt in earnest (not really). But the initiative was voluntary, and lacked a certain, shall we say, despotism. Well, according to Reason's blog, NY Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) is kicking it up a notch by proposing a law fully banning "the use of salt by restaurants in the preparation of food." Now that's some hardcore legislating, or should we say legisalting? (Sorry.) more ›

That expensive cocktail may get more expensive: State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Bronx) is proposing a tax on alcohol. NY1 reports that Oritz argues "most of the funds generated through the new tax would be used for alcohol and drug abuse treatment and education programs around the state" (those programs face cuts with the proposed budget). Previously, Ortiz has suggested banning alcohol ads on MTA properties, taxing strip clubs, and grading kids' weights. more ›

State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Brooklyn Democrat, is still pushing hard for a special tax on strip clubs, which he says would raise money to help victims of human trafficking. When Ortiz first proposed the tax last year, he also floated the idea of requiring strippers to purchase licenses before they could legally dance erotically. There's no mention of licensing in today's AP article, which reports only that Ortiz would like to levy a statewide, $10 tax on patrons of nude and seminude dance clubs and strip bars. Ortiz argues that the tax would generate plenty of desperately-needed dollar bills for sex trafficking victims at a time when there's no money in the budget to assist them. The bill doesn't have a Senate sponsor yet, but if it passes, strip club owners will probably just dodge the tax by moving their operations to bicycles. more ›