TRIBUTE TO TEDDY
Teddy Roosevelt eyes his next prey from the newly restored murals in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda at the American Museum of Natural History. After two years of conservation treatment, the huge canvases were re-introduced to the public this week.

MTA TO RESUME BLASTING AT EXPLOSION SITE
After a routine detonation became out of control and erupted to the surface of Second Avenue on Aug. 21, the MTA stopped blasting at the site on East 72nd Street until an investigation could be completed. The agency announced last Thursday that it had concluded that investigation and would resume blasting at the site, with a number of safety measures in place.

“We have completed our review of the incident and have implemented a number of corrective actions. From this moment forward, blasting operations will be subject to additional management scrutiny and enhanced safety procedures to ensure that the community and workers are kept safe,” said Michael Horodniceanu, president of MTA Capital Construction, in a statement.

Some of the improvements include a superintendent sign-off on a pre-blast checklist and an additional layer of protective rubber blast mats over the explosives. The MTA has also hired an independent safety consultant, Thacher Associates/Total Safety Consulting, to provide outside monitoring of the contractor at the site.

NEW MEDICAL FACILITIES TO BRING HUNDREDS OF JOBS
Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced plans for a collaboration between City University of New York and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to construct two new state-of-the-art outpatient cancer care facilities on the Upper East Side.

The city will sell a 66,000-square-foot site at 525 E. 73rd St. for $215 million to the partnership, and MSK will construct a 750,000-square-foot facility designed for innovative outpatient treatment programs. The hospital plans to use the facility to treat lung, head, neck and hematological cancers.

CUNY Hunter College will build an up to 336,000-square-foot Science and Health Professions building on the site as well.

“Thanks to our innovative approach to economic development, today’s announcement is yet another step towards making New York City home to the world’s most talented workforce,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Not only will these two great institutions play a critical role in creating great jobs in one of the city’s growing industries, but they usher in the innovators and medical advancements of tomorrow.”

The projects are expected to create 3,200 construction jobs and 830 permanent jobs.

TURTLE BAY REJECTS MIDTOWN ANNEX IDEA
President of the Turtle Bay Association William B. Curtis released comments this week that will be presented at a City Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 27, rejecting a city proposal to annex an area of what is now considered Turtle Bay into East Midtown.

“What we cannot accept is any intrusion of Midtown beyond the current eastern boundary. City planning, however, is trying to annex an irregular area lying between Second and Third avenues, and East 43rd and East 45th streets and absorb it into the East Midtown study area. We strenuously object to this,” Curtis said in the statement.

Curtis cited the fact that that area has always been considered part of the East Side, not Midtown, and that the residential character of the area would make any type of Midtown upzoning inappropriate.

ANTIQUES AND ART AT THE ARMORY
Avenue magazine presents Antiques, Art & Design at the Park Avenue Armory this Friday, Sept. 21, through Monday, Sept. 24. The exhibit features over 60 dealers specializing in high quality art and antiques, including French, English, Italian, Swedish and Continental furniture from the 17th century through mid-century modern, fine silver, Russian antiquities and rugs, Tiffany lamps, French Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture and objects, and many other types of art. Public show hours are 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. each day. Admission is $20. 643 Park Ave. Visit avenueshows.com for more information.

HOYLMAN WINS SENATE PRIMARY
In the 27th district Senate race, attorney and former chair of Community Board 2 Brad Hoylman beat out opponents Tom Greco, a Chelsea bar owner, and Tanika Inlaw, a public school teacher, to win the Democratic nomination. Hoylman, who received a reported 69 percent of the votes, will likely succeed Sen. Tom Duane, who surprised many when he announced he would retire at the end of his current term.

SODA BAN PASSES LAST HURDLE
Last Thursday, the New York City Board of Health approved Mayor Bloomberg’s “soda ban,” which prohibits the sale of soda and other sweetened drinks in any container over 16 ounces.

Bloomberg’s desire to curb the city’s obesity epidemic fueled the measure, which also applies to energy drinks like Gatorade and sweet iced teas. Over half of the city’s adults—and almost half of the city’s public school students—are overweight or obese, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Not surprisingly, vendors of sugary drinks have united to challenge the ban, arguing that it infringes on consumer freedom.

Many nutritionists support the measure, like the eminent Yale University epidemiologist Dr. Kelly Brownell, who told the New York Times, “It completely makes more sense to make the environment healthier rather than to just do pure education.”

While a Times poll found that most New Yorkers were against the law, the Board of Health vote was almost unanimous, with one abstention. Then again, Bloomberg appointed each board member himself.

The ban will take effect March 12, but vendors who break the law will not be fined until mid-June.

CENTRAL PARK RAPE VICTIM STANDS STRONG
The 74-year-old victim of a vicious assault and rape in Central Park last week told the New York Post that she isn’t going to let the horrible incident ruin her park experience.
“I’m not scared. I don’t want to lose that pleasure. I won’t let anything keep me from enjoying the park,” she told the newspaper.

The woman, identified only as an Upper West Side resident, was attacked in broad daylight as she was bird-watching in the park. The alleged rapist snuck up to the woman and assaulted her a few days after she had taken his photo when she caught him masturbating in the Rambles area of the park.

Police caught the suspect, 42-year-old homeless man David Albert Mitchell, as he was walking on the Upper West Side last Thursday. Mitchell reportedly has a long history of violent offenses.

ESPAILLAT AND HOYLMAN WIN SENATE PRIMARIES
Incumbent state Sen. Adriano Espaillat easily won his Democratic primary race against challenger Assemblyman Guillermo Linares last week, taking an estimated 65 percent of the votes. Linares, who declared his intent to run for the position when Espaillat was still neck-and-neck in the race for Charlie Rangel’s congressional seat, had to give up his Washington Heights assembly seat to run. Espaillat’s district, the 31st, shifted after redistricting and now encompasses only Manhattan (he used to represent parts of the South Bronx), with a greater portion of the Upper West Side included.

In the 27th district Senate race, attorney and former chair of Community Board 2 Brad Hoylman beat out opponents Tom Greco, a Chelsea bar owner, and Tanika Inlaw, a public school teacher, to win the Democratic nomination. Hoylman will likely succeed outgoing Sen. Tom Duane, who surprised many when he announced his retirement at the end of his current term.

FALL FESTIVAL ON BROADWAY
The 20th annual Upper Broadway Fall Festival hits the boulevard on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival, which runs on Broadway between West 110th and 116th streets, will include games, food and tournaments. There will be a multitude of participants, including over 200 craft persons, antique dealers and artists. There will be exhibits of collectibles and Latin American crafts, including macramé, ceramics, jewelry, weaving and woodcarving. Sponsors include Broadway Presbyterian Church Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, the Broadway Mall Association and the Upper West Side Recycling Center.

The Broadway Mall Association works to improve the quality of life along Broadway and adjacent streets through cultivation and general care of the planted malls from 59th to 168th Streets. Broadway Presbyterian Church will use the proceeds from the Festival to further its community work. The festival is free and is open to all.

JAZZ GREAT  CELEBRATED UPTOWN
The Smoke Jazz & Supper Club, at 2751 Broadway, will be hosting the Pepper Adams Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and Wednesday, Sept. 26. The event features Gary Smulyan and the Mike LeDonne Quartet paying tribute to Adams, an important if not well known figure in jazz history who broke ground as a baritone saxophonist. Sets will be at 7 and 9 p.m. both nights, with a two-course prix fixe dinner available for $29.95, and another set at 10:30 p.m. with a $20 minimum. Call 212-864-6662 for reservations and information.

FINAL TOUCH UP
A museum worker cleans the marble columns in front of the newly restored murals in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda at the American Museum of Natural History.

SODA BAN PASSES LAST HURDLE
On Thursday, the New York City Board of Health approved Mayor Bloomberg’s “soda ban,” which prohibits the sale of soda and other sweetened drinks in any container over 16 ounces. The average soda bottle actually exceeds this size, according to the New York Times. Bloomberg’s desire to curb the city’s obesity epidemic fueled the measure, which also applies to energy drinks like Gatorade and sweet iced teas. Over half of the city’s adults—and almost half of the city’s public school students—are overweight or obese, according to the Wall Street Journal. Not surprisingly, vendors of sugary drinks have united to challenge the ban, arguing that it infringes on consumer freedom. Many nutritionists support the measure, like the eminent Yale University epidemiologist Dr. Kelly Brownell, who told the New York Times, “It completely makes more sense to make the environment healthier rather than to just do pure education.” While a Times poll found that most New Yorkers were against the law, the Board of Health vote was almost unanimous, with one abstention. Then again, Bloomberg appointed each board member himself. The ban will take effect March 12, but vendors who break the law will not be fined until mid-June.

‘JAY WALK’ OPENS AT JOHN JAY COLLEGE
Last week John Jay College, at 524 W. 59th St., celebrated the opening of their new 60,000-square-foot rooftop terrace, called the Jay Walk, a name students selected in a contest. The outdoor space houses a vegetable garden, benches, custom-engraved bricks and magnolia trees. Students also have a connection between two of the campus buildings. The Jay Walk is the centerpiece of the college’s expansion, which includes a 13-story, 625,000-square-foot building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

IRISH PLAY ON UWS
Irish playwright and performer Suzanna Geraghty will be performing her one-woman show Zoe’s Auditions, Part 2 this week at the Drilling Company Theater, 236 W. 78th St. The play is a comical send-up of an actor’s life in which aspiring actress Zoe gets sent on wildly inappropriate auditions by her senile agent. The play won acclaim during its run in Dublin last summer and is being presented in New York as part of the first Irish Festival. Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m., $18, through Sept. 22. Visit www.smarttix.com or call 212-868-4444 to reserve tickets.

CENTRAL PARK RAPE VICTIM STANDS STRONG
The 74-year-old victim of a vicious assault and rape in Central Park last week told the New York Post that she isn’t going to let the horrible incident ruin her park experience.
“I’m not scared. I don’t want to lose that pleasure. I won’t let anything keep me from enjoying the park,” she told the Post reporter.
The woman, identified only as an Upper West Side resident, was attacked in broad daylight as she was bird-watching in the park. The alleged rapist, now in police custody after he was spotted strolling around the neighborhood, snuck up to the woman and assaulted her, after she had taken his photo days earlier when she caught him masturbating in the Rambles area of the park.

Police caught a suspect, 42-year-old homeless man David Albert Mitchell, as he was walking on the Upper West Side on Thursday. Mitchell reportedly has a long history of violent offenses.

Council member Rosie Mendez hears business owners’ concerns over ‘arbitrary’ law

By Paul Bisceglio

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on sales of large sugary beverages has kept city politicians and soft-drink industry officials buzzing all summer. Last week, however, City Council Member Rosie Mendez took a walk downtown to talk to people whose opinions on the issue have been heard much less: business owners.

On a tour that spokesperson Eliot Hoff claimed was totally unscripted, New Yorkers for Beverage Choices—a coalition formed by the American Beverage Association (ABA) to combat Bloomberg’s ban—brought Mendez to the Dunkin’ Donuts at Union Square and Beyond Sushi on 14th Street. The goal of the tour was to break through the political jargon and various statistics surrounding the controversial proposal to hear firsthand what effects, if any, the removal of non-diet sugary drinks over the size of 16 ounces would have on the city’s businesses.

“If you’ve got a rule, you need one that makes sense,” said the Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee, who would not give his name to the press. As he walked Mendez through the store, he argued that the nuances of the proposed ban unfairly targeted some businesses while exempting others.

Take Starbucks, for instance. Bloomberg’s proposal defines sugary drinks as those which contain more than 25 calories per 8 fluid ounces and less than 51 percent milk or milk substitute by volume. Starbucks sells Frappuccinos made with more than 51 percent milk and lets customers sweeten coffee themselves, so it would still be allowed to sell large sizes of these products, according to the franchisee. Dunkin’ Donuts, meanwhile, sells Coffee Coolattas with less than 51 percent milk and sweetens coffees for customers, so it would not be able to sell these items over the 16 ounce limit.

“The point is the arbitrariness of what’s being applied,” the franchisee argued. “People can always get away with getting more sugar. Why should only particular businesses suffer?”

Guy Vaknin, Beyond Sushi’s executive chef, told Mendez that he found the arbitrary size limit particularly troubling. “Why 16 ounces?” he wondered. “The limit should just be based just on sugar content, not on size.”

Hoff pointed out that the ban would prevent the vegan sushi restaurant—and all restaurants in NYC—from selling popular flavors of Honest Tea, a brand of organic tea bottled just over the proposed 16 ounce limit. Honest Tea, which markets itself as promoting “great-tasting, truly healthy” beverages, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last month challenging the mayor to consider how his ban would impede entrepreneurs from offering low-calorie drinks.

“I definitely promote people having their own choice,” Vaknin said.

Hoff added that in the battle against the city’s obesity epidemic, New Yorkers need more choices, not fewer. “We need more public advocacy campaigns and more green markets to educate consumers and allow them to make informed decisions,” he argued.

New Yorkers for Beverage Choices has 1,570 members to date, he noted, from Coca-Cola bottling companies to around-the-corner pizza places. While ABA has a clear vested interest in rallying against the ban, Hoff asserted that members of the coalition are not solicited for funds and that membership is completely voluntary. The coalition gives businesses “an outlet to have their voices heard,” he claimed, by providing them with signage, ways to interact with local elected officials (such as the tour) and updates on the ban.

Hoff could not disclose the amount of money ABA is putting into the coalition, but acknowledged that “this is a significant effort.”

After the tour, Mendez told Our Town Downtown that she had a “visceral reaction” against the proposal from the start. “The problem is this arbitrariness, how the ban affects one business and not the next,” she said.

The real solution to the city’s growing waistline? “We need to focus our energies on better exercise and education programs,” Mendez argued. “There’s not one right or wrong amount of soda to drink—you adjust it based on your lifestyle.”

Bodegas, you see, are some of the New York City businesses that will clean up at the expense of the “little guys,” like pizza parlors and McDonald’s, if, as expected, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new soda policy goes into effect in September. That was just one of several hollow arguments opponents made at last week’s Board of Health public hearing.

The argument, advanced by Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Letitia James, among others, is that because the limit to large sugary drinks applies to restaurants but not many bodegas, supermarkets and candy stores, it sets up an unfair advantage.

Here’s the apparent theory. You go into a shop for a pizza slice. You’re desperate for more than 16 ounces of soda—not so desperate that you’ll buy two or three sodas at the parlor, which would still be permissible, but just thirsty enough to take the slice into the bodega next door and wait on line again to buy a large amount of soda in one container. Or you are so determined to have a Big Gulp that you’ll choose your meal based on the available drink size.

Jimmy Alix, who works at an East Harlem candy store barely wide enough to squeeze in two-liter bottles of soda, is not expecting a rush of business from the pizza shop across the street or the other two a block away from his shop on Lexington Avenue and 124th Street.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “People are going to buy whatever size they have there.”

At least three other nearby places would be permitted to sell large sodas: a small grocery, another candy store and a Pathmark. Large soda consumption would undoubtedly continue, but some people would clearly drink less and, perhaps as important, the debate has likely made many people more aware of how many empty calories they drink.

Former Gov. David Paterson tried to talk truth to powerful bodegas and others a few years ago with a soda tax, but Big Sugar beat him. An industry ad back then showed a small grocery owner saying his customers calculate their food bills down to the penny. It was meant to trigger outrage that working-class people would pay more, but it really showed that the tax would lead to healthier choices.

Another of the absurd arguments by lobbyists and opponents is that it limits free choice. Although not a goal of the Bloomberg plan, it would actually expand choice in places like movie theaters.

The misnamed group leading the opposition backed in part by movie theater chains, New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, didn’t have anything to say about their effort to keep limits on consumer choice.

At least one opponent “expert” said there’s no proof that people will take in fewer calories. It shouldn’t take an Ivy League professor to point out the obvious—people tend to drink all that they are served—but it did.

“The science on this is quite clear:  As people are served larger portions, they generally consume more food,” said Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.

The Council members do care about the problem—James said she sees obesity in her Central Brooklyn district every day and it sends her to too many funerals. They’re right that the policy is not a complete solution, and other measures, like youth fitness programs, may be more helpful. But it seems they’re saying that if you don’t do everything you can to battle obesity, don’t do anything.

David Jones, a plan supporter and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York, said he has spent too much of his career trying to improve social services to wait for the perfect idea.

“I have to do something now,” he said at the hearing, “because this is really ripping through poor communities.”

Josh Rogers, contributing editor at Manhattan Media, is a lifelong New Yorker.

photo by Gerard Stolk

The debate over Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban raged on Tuesday, having started at 1 p.m. but lasting over 80 minutes past its initial expected ending time, the New York Times reports.

Representatives from the board of health, union advocates, consumer advocates, health experts politicians, even a speaker from Auntie Annie’s pretzel chain, flocked Long Island City to discuss how restricting the sale of sugar-based drinks over 16 oz. would affect both consumers and suppliers. Sodas this size would be legal in grocery stores, but illegal at street vendors, movie theaters, and restaurants.

But the Times says the expected approval is still likely, and that the next time the two sides met, it could possibly be in a courtroom.

According to the Times’ live blog of the event, as of 4:24 p.m., most representatives left the meeting, with only a handful of speakers left.

Mayor Bloomberg initially proposed the ban to reduce obesity in New York City which, according to Bloomberg’s numbers, affects 60% of the city’s population. Opponents cite there not being a proven connection between sugar and obesity and diabetes.

The meeting wasn’t expected to produce any sudden changes.

-Nick Gallinelli

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

“The humor kind of escapes [him],” Mayor Bloomberg says of the “Million Big Gulp March” in protest of his proposed soda ban. This weekend New Yorkers for Beverage Choices took to the streets to urge Bloomberg to let them put what they want into their bodies.

Bloomberg referenced obesity and obesity-related deaths in the City, saying those who opt to drink that much sugar are merely killing themselves. He also pointed to an article in the Financial Times regarding whether the Olympics should be sponsored by McDonalds and Coca Cola, neither of which are exactly the image of health.

Bloomberg also cited statistics about hospitals having to accommodate larger individuals, reports Capital New York, to make a point about our nation’s obesity trajectory. The Mayor said obesity is going to be “worse than smoking ever was.”

Pictures of the protest in the Daily Mail show tons of children taking part in the demonstration, Big Gulp cups full of sugary liquid in hand. It’s what economists call “the law of unintended consequences,” or in layman’s terms: I’m going to do the exact opposite of what you tell me to do.

Bloomberg’s exasperated reaction to the protest of his downsizing campaign is a straightforward “let them kill themselves.”

—Alissa Fleck

Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

Brooklyn flooded with picketers voicing opposition against Bloomberg proposal

More contention against Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed soda ban bloomed again this weekend, as the New Yorkers for Beverage Choices hit the sands of Brooklyn this weekend in effort to voice their opinion.

Members of the coalition, along with supports of the coalition’s efforts, canvassed along Coney Island on Saturday and Rockaway Beach on Sunday, encouraging the New York population to join them and fight Bloomberg’s new sugar-sweetened beverage ban, which restricts the sale of 16 oz. sodas (or larger, no loopholes in this bill) in movie theaters, restaurants, delis, and more.

One of the coalitions spokespersons said that this weekend’s omphalos was not to only to publicize the coalition and its efforts, (according to its radio advertisement, it’s about “protecting our freedom of choice) but to “encourage people to voice their opinion”.

On the plane-led banner flying above Brooklyn canvassers, the NYBC’s Facebook page was promoted alongside a Seinfeld-inspired “No Drink 4 U!” The coalition also uses Twitter, @NYCBevChoices.

Furthermore, this Wednesday, some coalition members, there are 479 in total, and city council members will lead a walking tour of East Harlem, stopping at local stores, delis, and restaurants, to gain those establishments’ opinions on the soda ban.

According to the NYBC’s official website, there are 38399 signed petitioners as of Monday, compared to  12784 reported in one of our articles from Tuesday, so it seems like the movement is gaining momentum, but it would seem it’ll take a lot more momentum than that to stop Bloomberg’s momentous ban.

-Nick Gallinelli

Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last month his plan to institute a citywide ban on the sale of sugary beverages over 16 ounces, health experts, politicians, vendors and consumers have weighed in passionately on both sides. Manhattan’s Upper West Siders are no exception.

Some praised the mayor’s fight against obesity.

“It’s like the smoking bans,” said Patricia, a resident who declined to give her last name. “Sugary soda contributes to the obesity problem in this country, and the government has an obligation to take care of the citizens.”

The ban would apply to servings 16 ounces or larger of beverages containing more than 25 calories in 8 ounces and would be enforced at restaurants, food carts, movie theaters, delis and other eateries. Exceptions include drinks with 50 percent or more dairy or dairy substitute, diet sodas and beverages containing more than 70 percent juice. Convenience stores, like 7-Eleven, and supermarkets will still be allowed to sell larger bottles, and refills will be allowed. The proposal includes a $200 fine for vendors not in compliance.

Some Upper West Siders argued that the ban, although promoting a positive goal, would be largely ineffective at curbing obesity. One teenage resident, Gautam Bhagat, said he supports the thought behind the ban but doesn’t believe it will solve the greater problem.
“It’s not about cutting off access to sugary drinks. It’s about changing habits. That’s the core of the issue,” he said. “While it’s a good idea, I don’t think it’s fair of the government to tell people what they can and cannot eat.”

Some nutritionists, including Dr. Jamie Kane of Park Avenue Medical Weight & Wellness, agree that the restriction on large sodas will be ineffective at reducing obesity rates in the city.

“People are still going to be addicted to sugary drinks, and there’s nothing stopping people from going back for seconds,” said Kane, a weight loss specialist who focuses on obesity. “I’m skeptical that this alone will have a major impact in the short term.”

“Even if you’re not having the large beverages, there are other ways to get the calories,” said dietician and nutritionist Amy Fleishman. “I’ve applauded [Bloomberg’s] efforts in trying to make this a healthier neighborhood, but it’s a very specific way to fix the problem and I don’t think it’s going to solve the bigger picture.”

Still, Kane and other nutrition experts noted that the ban could serve to spark conversation and perhaps increase awareness of the city’s obesity problem.

“If it can help train people to expect smaller amounts, maybe that would be helpful,” he said.

Despite debate over the merits of the ban, if implemented, the restriction would have little impact on the daily lives of Upper West Siders. A 2008 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report found that only 10 percent of the nearly quarter of a million residents on the Upper West Side were obese, compared to the CDC-reported rate of countrywide obesity, 35.7 percent.

Bloomberg’s proposal was submitted last week to the New York City Board of Health, which will vote on its passage after a three-month deliberation period that will include public hearings. If approved, the ban would take effect early next year.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons.

We have all heard about Mayor Bloomberg’s administration’s latest plan in their ongoing battle against obesity. The new law, which might into effect as early as March 2013 after a series of public hearings, will effectively prohibit restaurants, delis, food carts and movie theaters from selling sodas in quantities exceeding 16oz. The ban will not apply to diet drinks or dairy-based beverages.

(By Laurent Berstecher)

The Bloomberg administration backed up this proposal by referring to the obesity epidemic in the country. According to public health statistics, New York City is not spared by the phenomenon, and 58% of adult New Yorkers are thought to be obese or overweight. Mayor Bloomberg declared Thursday on MSNBC that he felt “an obligation to warn [you] when things are not good for your health.” Bloomberg acknowledged that this plan would not be enough not solve the problem, but believes that it is a step in the right direction.

While the law has generated much controversy these past few days, the extent to which it will affect daily consumer habits, obesity rates, and businesses remains uncertain.

We also wonder do New Yorkers really drink that much soda? And to find out the answer, in a completely unofficial, unscientific capacity, we took to the streets and asked “average” New Yorker’s about their soda-inbibing habits.

“I never buy those big bottles,” says Alberto Cruz, a deli customer. “The soda goes flat before I can drink it all.” Cruz says that when he does buy soda, he usually gets a can. Steve Durkin, 31, is of the same opinion. “I can’t see anybody drinking that much soda at once,” he says.

Ace Deli owner Jenny Kim is equally skeptical about the impact of the ban. “We don’t sell a lot of 2 liter bottles. Most people get a can with their sandwich. The only time people buy these are for parties,” she says. Kim says the deli sells about six crates of large soda bottles a week, compared to forty cases of cans. “City people don’t buy that much soda,” says Kim. “They don’t have cars so they need a drink they can carry.”

Durgesh Gurund, an employee at Bono’s Café, shares similar impressions. “I have never sold one of these large bottles with a sandwich,” he says. “The only times we sell them is when the supermarket is closed and people are throwing a party.”

Gurund thinks that the ban may be bad for business, but doesn’t seem too worried. Although delis may lose some customers, large soda consumers do not represent a significant enough share of their revenues to pose any kind of threat to their business model.

While many have praised Mayor Bloomberg’s ongoing struggle for bringing healthier lifestyles to New York (such as the 2002 and 2011 smoking bans and the 2006 trans fat ban), his latest idea may very well be at risk of falling flat. While the plan is certainly prone to controversy, it may not be that successful at effectively reducing obesity rates.