-In this Feb. 18, 2011 file photo, Katherin Burns, 19, left, smokes with Shannon Roy, 18, right, in the pedestrian plaza in Times Square in New York. New York City's Department of Health released data Monday, Sept. 15, 2014 showing that for the first time since 2007 there are more than 1 million smokers in the city. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)
For the first time in years, more than 1 million New Yorkers are smoking, marking a disturbing rise of tobacco use in the city that pioneered a number of anti-smoking initiatives that were emulated nationally.
New York City's Department of Health released data Monday showing that 16 percent of adult New Yorkers are smokers.
That's up 14 percent from 2010, which was the city's lowest recorded rate.
The findings came from answers to an annual health survey of thousands of residents in New York's five boroughs.
To combat the rise, the city is launching a new anti-smoking ad campaign, authorized by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
De Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, made anti-smoking a centerpiece of his public health agenda.
Bloomberg banned smoking in public places like bars and restaurants.
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