A new poll shows the Big Apple's denizens are divided over City Hall's efforts to correct their bad habits, which in recent years has included bans on trans fats and smoking in bars, as well as drives to cut consumption of salt and sugary soda.

While nearly six in 10 New York voters would prefer to live in a building where no one is allowed to smoke, more than half of those polled say City Hall should not pressure building owners to ban indoor smoking, a Quinnipiac University poll showed on Friday.

And asked whether the government should discourage unhealthy eating and drinking habits, 45 percent said it should while 48 percent said the government shouldn't get involved.

Overall, 58 percent of voters say Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to improve health habits are "about right" or have not gone far enough, while 33 percent say they have gone "too far," the poll found.

"New York City voters have a love-hate relationship with 'Nanny Government,'" said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac poll.

The Bloomberg administration's push for more bike riding has also left voters feeling conflicted. While nearly two-thirds think the city's new bike rental program is a good idea, fewer than half of voters would like to see more bike lanes in their neighbourhoods.

The telephone survey of 1,066 New York City voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Bloomberg is in the middle of this third four-year term as New York City mayor. A separate Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday found city voters approve of his job performance by a margin of 49 percent to 42 percent.

(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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