The Lancet has provided a shot in the arm to the mayor’s efforts to control every aspect of his constituents’ lives. New research published in British medical journal indicates that New York City’s life expectancy rate is rising faster than anywhere else in the United States. Between 1987 and 2009, Manhattan’s life expectancy rose by 10 years, the largest increase of any county, and New York’s other four boroughs were all in the top percentile.

Manhattan’s city dwellers can now expect to live until 82, an age three years higher than the national average and the same average as Japan, the nation with the world’s highest life expectancy rate. …

“The health department mandated calorie labels for food sold in chain restaurants and banned trans fats,” researchers stated in the report. “It prohibited smoking in public spaces and ratcheted up taxes on cigarettes. It rolled out hundreds of miles of new bicycle lanes and papered subways with information campaigns about the risks of obesity and the benefits of preventive health services.”