You want to live longer? Move to New York City.

In a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced New Yorkers are living longer than ever before. This is despite the many hazards of city living including crime, pollution and crazy taxi drivers.

Babies born in the Big Apple in 2009 have a life expectancy of 80.6 years, an increase of nearly three years since 2000 and nearly two and a half years more than the most recently reported national rate of 78.2 years. Life expectancy for 40-year-olds in New York City increased by 2.5 years from 79.5 to 82 years during the same time period. This is a significantly greater increase than that of the national average for the same age group. Life expectancy for 70 year-olds in New York City also went up by 1.5 years, compared with .7 years for the nation.

Bloomberg attributed the improved life expectancy to the city’s aggressive public health initiative, which included banning trans fats, requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts, forceful anti-smoking ads, and banning smoking in public areas.

HIV prevention and AIDS treatment programs has also helped drive down disease mortality rates by more than 50 percent in the past decade.

“If you want to live longer and healthier than the average American, then come to New York City,” said Bloomberg in a statement. “By investing in health care and continuing to encourage more New Yorkers to take charge of their own health, we’ve experienced dramatic improvements in life expectancy.”

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