February 18, 2010 - New Yorkers Big On Sugar Drink Tax, Calorie Counts, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Kelly Outscores Bloomberg As Voters Trust Crime Stats Word format To balance the city budget New York City voters support 76 - 22 percent a tax on sugary soft drinks, as even Republicans back the measure 60 - 36 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. In a February 4 New York State survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe- ack) University, New York City voters opposed such a tax 50 - 47 percent in a question that referred to an "obesity tax" or "fat tax," but did not mention budget implications. In the latest survey, support for the sugary drink tax as a budget measure is strong among black, white and Hispanic voters and in every borough. New York City voters say 84 - 16 percent the law requiring fast-food restaurants to post calorie information is useful, again with strong support from all groups. Voters also say 77 - 21 percent the Bloomberg administration is correct to encourage restaurants to use less salt. Women say hold the salt 81 - 18 percent, while men support the effort 72 - 25 percent. Government involvement in such food issues is useful rather than meddling, voters say 79 - 19 percent. And the Bloomberg administration's involvement in these issues is "about right," 55 percent of voters say, as 20 percent say City Hall is going "too far" and 17 percent say "not far enough." "There's been some grumbling about "nanny government" by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but voters are eating it up. Only a few think Mayor Mike is meddling. It's important, we agree overwhelmingly. And City Hall's menu of food initiatives gets three stars from the voters," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Making restaurants post calories? Combating salt in diets? We're with you, Mayor." Move the 9/11 terrorist trials out of Lower Manhattan, New York City voters say 68 - 25 percent, with no group opposed to moving the trials. The trials should be held somewhere in New York State, 42 percent of voters say, as 44 percent say get them out of New York State. The 9/11 terrorism suspects should be tried as enemy combatants in military courts, 56 percent of New York City voters say, while 36 percent say they should be tried as criminals in civilian courts. Manhattan voters tip 48 - 46 percent in favor of criminal courts, but feeling in the other boroughs is strong in favor of military courts. "The Bush administration approach to terrorist trials - military, not civilian - wins support in the city that would be the site of the civilian trials. Most New Yorkers, but just a split among Democrats, say alleged terrorists should be tried as enemy combatants, not criminals," Carroll said. Police Approval New York City voters approve 70 - 16 percent of the job Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is doing, matching his all-time 70 - 17 percent high in a March 9, 2006 Quinnipiac University poll. Approval ranges from 58 - 27 percent among black voters to 64 - 20 percent among Hispanic voters and 80 - 9 percent among white voters. Voters approve 69 - 23 percent of the job New York City police are doing and approve 74 - 21 percent of the police in their community. Both of these scores are among the highest ever recorded. For the police citywide, approval ranges from 54 - 36 percent among black voters to 67 - 25 percent among Hispanic voters to 82 - 12 percent among white voters. By a 54 - 39 percent margin, New York City voters trust police department statistics showing crime is down. Black voters distrust police statistics 52 - 42 percent, while white voters trust them 65 - 28 percent and Hispanic voters trust them by a narrow 48 - 44 percent. From February 11 - 15, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,195 New York City registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 70% 83% 67% 71% 80% 58% 64% Disapprove 16 5 18 17 9 27 20 DK/NA 14 12 15 11 10 15 17 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 68% 65% 69% 74% 82% 67% 72% Disapprove 17 19 14 16 13 20 14 DK/NA 15 16 17 10 5 13 15 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? (*High also 70% Mar 2006 & Feb 2006) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High Feb 18 Jul 28 Jun 17 Feb 24 Feb 18 Jan 16 Jan 16 2010 2009 2009 2009 2010* 2007 2007 Approve 70 67 63 64 70 52 52 Disapprove 16 20 22 20 16 34 34 DK/NA 14 13 14 16 14 14 14 9. As you may know the Obama administration is considering moving the trials of suspected 9/11 terrorists out of Lower Manhattan. Do you think the trials of the suspected 9/11 terrorists should be moved out of Lower Manhattan or stay in Lower Manhattan? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Moved 68% 91% 63% 67% 74% 64% 67% Stay 25 8 28 26 19 25 26 DK/NA 8 1 9 7 6 11 7 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Moved 55% 64% 69% 76% 78% 64% 70% Stay 35 27 24 16 17 26 24 DK/NA 10 9 7 7 5 10 6 10. If the trials of suspected 9/11 terrorists are moved out of Lower Manhattan, should the trials be held elsewhere in New York State or held outside of New York State? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp In NY State 42% 19% 45% 45% 38% 48% 39% Outside NY State 44 70 39 42 47 40 48 DK/NA 14 12 15 13 15 11 13 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom In NY State 42% 46% 43% 39% 30% 39% 44% Outside NY State 48 41 35 49 59 44 43 DK/NA 10 14 22 12 12 17 13 11. Do you think the suspected 9/11 terrorists should be tried as criminals in civilian court or as enemy combatants in military court? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Criminals 36% 11% 44% 32% 32% 37% 39% Enemy combatants 56 86 48 60 62 55 53 DK/NA 8 3 8 7 6 8 8 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Criminals 37% 35% 48% 28% 32% 34% 38% Enemy combatants 55 55 46 64 65 58 53 DK/NA 8 10 6 8 2 7 9 17. To balance the city budget, would you support or oppose a tax on sugary soft drinks? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 76% 60% 78% 77% 73% 77% 76% Oppose 22 36 19 22 26 20 20 DK/NA 3 4 3 1 1 3 4 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 74% 73% 81% 78% 61% 73% 77% Oppose 21 24 18 19 39 24 20 DK/NA 5 2 2 3 - 3 3 28. When it comes to trying to improve people's health habits, do you think the Bloomberg adminstration's policies have gone too far, not far enough, or they are about right? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Too far 20% 31% 17% 22% 24% 16% 22% Not far enough 17 12 19 16 13 22 19 About right 55 46 57 57 58 54 49 DK/NA 7 10 6 6 5 8 11 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Too far 22% 21% 17% 20% 28% 23% 18% Not far enough 15 23 15 16 16 18 17 About right 54 48 63 57 53 54 56 DK/NA 10 8 4 8 3 5 9 29. Do you think the New York City law requiring fast-food restaurants to post calorie information is useful or not useful? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Useful 84% 69% 88% 82% 81% 89% 83% Not useful 16 30 12 18 18 9 16 DK/NA 1 1 1 - - 1 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Useful 84% 84% 84% 83% 78% 82% 85% Not useful 15 15 15 15 22 18 14 DK/NA 1 - 1 1 - 1 1 30. Do you think the Bloomberg administration is correct to encourage New York City restaurants to use less salt in food preparation or don't you think so? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Yes/Correct 77% 55% 80% 76% 69% 83% 82% No/Not 21 44 18 22 28 15 17 DK/NA 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Yes/Correct 83% 77% 75% 78% 64% 72% 81% No/Not 15 21 23 21 34 25 18 DK/NA 2 3 1 2 2 3 1 31. Which comes closer to your point of view regarding the government getting involved with things like the salt content and calorie posting of restaurant food - it is important because it helps improve public health or it is just meddling? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Important 79% 50% 86% 75% 73% 89% 81% Meddling 19 48 12 22 25 9 15 DK/NA 3 3 1 3 2 3 3 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Important 86% 79% 77% 79% 69% 77% 80% Meddling 13 19 18 20 31 20 17 DK/NA 1 3 5 2 1 3 2 32. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the New York City police are doing their job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 69% 87% 66% 71% 82% 54% 67% Disapprove 23 12 25 23 12 36 25 DK/NA 8 1 9 6 6 10 8 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 58% 66% 73% 73% 86% 71% 67% Disapprove 33 26 17 22 12 22 24 DK/NA 10 8 10 5 2 6 9 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the New York City police are doing their job? APPROVE....... DIS... High Low High Feb 18 Jun 17 May 8 Mar 13 Feb 7 Apr 20 Apr 20 2010 2009 2008 2008 2002 2000 2000 Approve 69 64 51 60 76 43 43 Disapprove 23 31 43 33 18 48 48 DK/NA 8 5 6 7 6 9 9 33. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the police in your community are doing their job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 74% 84% 72% 75% 84% 57% 76% Disapprove 21 15 22 20 12 37 16 DK/NA 5 1 6 5 4 6 7 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 67% 69% 81% 74% 85% 75% 73% Disapprove 26 26 14 19 13 21 21 DK/NA 7 4 5 7 2 4 6 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the police in your community are doing their job? (*Low also 65% Oct 1997) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High Feb 18 Jun 17 May 8 Mar 15 Feb 7 Apr 20 May 8 2010 2009 2008 2007 2002 2000* 2008 Approve 74 71 66 68 79 65 66 Disapprove 21 24 30 27 18 28 30 DK/NA 5 4 4 5 3 6 4 34. Do you trust police department statistics showing crime in New York City is going down or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Yes 54% 65% 53% 56% 65% 42% 48% No 39 27 42 35 28 52 44 DK/NA 7 8 5 9 7 6 8 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Yes 39% 52% 62% 57% 62% 57% 51% No 55 41 31 35 34 36 41 DK/NA 5 7 8 8 3 6 8
