The Bronx Is the Most Unhealthy Place in New York

Major League Baseball has its opening day today, and the Yankees might want to station some ambulances outside the stadium for their fans. It seems that the Bronx has maintained its title of least healthy borough, out of the 62 counties of New York state, for the second year in a row, via a study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the University of Wisconsin. The New York Daily News says that the factors it took into account were "the counties' access to healthy food, air pollution, smoking rates, obesity, teen births and other factors." Happy you don't live in the Bronx? Don't be sitting there so smugly -- especially if you're from Brooklyn.

The Bronx was the 62nd (and least) healthy county, but Brooklyn, ranked 58th for the second year in a row, was not ahead by much. Staten Island moved to 28th place, up six spots from last year. Manhattan was five spots healthier this year, going from number 30 to number 25. And Queens was the healthiest borough in all of New York City, at number 20.

The healthiest county in the state, for the record, was Putnam. Good for you! Now, let us drink our soda and smoke our cigarette in peace as we ponder our long, miserable lives, thanks.

[Mtanzer]