Remember this, Mr. Commish, You said it, "I have 8 million patients. If any one of them dies prematurely in New York City, it's my fault!"

Thomas Frieden- DOHMH Commissioner

Who
Thomas Frieden is New York City's Commissioner of Health. He's part of the reason why you can't light up in a bar and why cigarettes cost $7.50 a pack. He's also the guy to thank for the city's free condoms program.

Backstory
The baby-faced Brooklynite earned his medical degree from Columbia and specialized in infectious diseases at Yale before starting a career in the city's Department of Health in 1990. Two years later, he became head of the city's Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, where he was charged with reducing the incidence of TB in the city. He later left the city's employ and in 1997 moved to India, under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, to work with the Indian government to help stop the spread of TB. He returned to New York in 2002 after Mayor Bloomberg gave him the city's top health post.

Of note
When Bloomberg offered Friedan the job, he agreed on the condition that he'd have the mayor's backing to make people "angry." True to his word, Frieden has infuriated plenty of citizens, most prominently by proposing an increase in cigarette taxes, and pushing for the citywide indoor smoking ban that went into effect in 2003 (which has been so successful it's become a model for similar bans in countries as smoker-friendly as France, Ireland and Italy). Friedan has also frequently butted heads with the city's restaurateurs, stumping for a ban on trans fats, putting restaurant inspection scores online, and stepping up the frequency and rigorousness of restaurant inspections in the wake of an embarrassing news report in 2007 that showed rats run amok in a KFC/Taco Bell in Greenwich Village. His push to expand the city's free condoms program, including a much-hyped redesign of the packages using the same fonts as the subway system, met with inevitable resistance from the city's Catholic leaders.

Keeping score
He made $181,719 from the city in 2007.

In person
Frieden's calling card is his in-your-face style, and although some say he lacks grace and charm, the basket of free condoms in his office with which he tempts visitors at least shows a sense of humor.

Soundbite
"I have 8 million patients. If any one of them dies prematurely in New York City, it's my fault!"

Personal
Frieden is married to Barbara Chang, whom he met at Oberlin. They live in Brooklyn Heights where the doc owns a collection of plastic sputum collectors, used to take samples from TB patients. He's the first to admit that it's weird.