See, That’s What Happens When You Turn Your Back On Your Party

As teen smoking goes decreases across the five boroughs, the rate in Republican stronghold Staten Island stays double the city average:

Higher taxes, graphic advertisements, and a crackdown on delis and bodegas are responsible for the plummeting smoking rate among city teens — but Staten Island youngsters are still puffing away at a pace almost double that of the rest of the city, data released yesterday shows.

Borough teens have the highest smoking rate in the entire city, with 14.7 percent of adolescents here smoking cigarettes, according to a report released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials yesterday

Overall, only about 8.5 percent of city teens identified themselves as smokers in 2007.

“I’ve been smoking since I was 11; too much stress with the family,” said Hajredin Kari, 15, of the Park Hill section of Clifton, as he smoked a butt across the street from New Dorp High School yesterday afternoon. “This is the best thing. I just smoke two cigarettes one by one, and I’m money for the rest of the day.”

Michael Bloomberg, turning his back on Staten Island teens — wrong for Staten Island, wrong for America.