April 23 (Bloomberg) -- New York City banned metal baseball bats in high school games when the City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto.

The vote was 41-4, seven more than required for an override, City Council spokesman Stephen Hamill said in a telephone interview. The law takes effect Sept. 1.

Bloomberg vetoed the bill this month, saying he didn't know if metal bats are more or less dangerous than those made of wood, and that people who run youth leagues should decide what bats to use.

``The mayor made his position clear when he vetoed it,'' mayoral spokesman Stuart Loeser said in a telephone interview.

At least six towns in northern New Jersey have banned bats for some age groups, according to NorthJersey.com.

The City Council approved the bill March 14, 40-6 with two abstentions. Sponsors said hard-hit balls from aluminum bats posed too much of a hazard compared with wooden bats. Children, parents and coaches testified at hearings about serious injuries players have suffered from line drives hit with metal bats.

``This is not about whether baseball should be the crack of the bat or the ping of the bat,'' Lewis Fidler, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. ``It's about eliminating unnecessary risk from high school competition before one of our kids gets hurt or killed for no reason.''

The law allows only wood bats that have been approved by Major League Baseball for major- or minor-league play. It runs counter to the position of USA Baseball, an association of the largest U.S. amateur organizations, including Little League Baseball, Inc., American Legion Baseball, T-Ball USA and Babe Ruth Baseball.

A 2002 National Consumer Product Safety Commission study found that there is ``no evidence to suggest that aluminum bats pose any greater risk than wood bats,'' according to a position paper posted on the Little League Web site.

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 23, 2007 17:30 EDT