Mayor Bloomberg is going after New Yorkers who buy cigarettes online. He claims they are costing the city millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and he clearly aims to collect.

Andrew Hoffer, a resident of Queens, New York, received a letter from the city demanding $1,005 for 67 cartons of Bronco cigarettes he bought from a now defunct website called "cigaretteoutlet.com." The letter states that if he doesn't pay up in 30 days, he will be fined $200 a carton, which in his case adds up to $13,400. [...]

Silk has heard from a number of individuals who have received the letters. The letters are not only vague, she said, but they make demands with no proof. "The letters say that this is what you owe, and this is what you must pay -- period," said Silk. "Even if you get a parking ticket, at least you have the right to fight it. Here, there is no appeals process, no grace period."

Crime is skyrocketing in Bloomberg's New York. While he's out threatening to break people's thumbs and citing people for owning ashtrays, black marketers are killing each other over territory. And all of this mess was created by a single man on a neo-temperance crusade to force everyone to quit smoking.