Big Apple bans Big soda


On Thursday the Big Apple became the first state in the USA to ban the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16 oz. at restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters. 
The ban would not apply to fruit juices, alcoholic beverages (!), diet sodas or dairy-based drinks like milkshakes.  Oddly, convenience stores, including 7-Eleven, which sells the jumbo-sized Big Gulp, would be exempt from the law. 
Good time to invest in 7-Eleven stock. And is there something about 64 oz milkshakes that I dont know? Are they the secret to staying slender, hence beating the ban? And thank god, alcoholic beverages are safe, cause nothing beats a 64 of Colt-45 on a hot summer day. 
damn, I've got to zip up
 these skinny jeans!
Side note: SHOUT-OUT to BROOKLYN for another first! Did you know that diet soda was created right here in Williamsburg, unknowingly anticipated by a good 50 years the arrival of waif-like hipsters who cling to low-cal drinks to get those skinny jeans on every day.  Hyman Kirsch and his son Morris, both Russian immigrants living in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, began selling sodas in 1904.  
Working to meet the needs of diabetic patients at the the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Disease (now Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center), they developed a line of carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks called "No-Cal", in enticing flavors like Black Cherry and Chocolate. It began selling in 1952 and the rest is history. Well, not exactly. Coke and pepsi liked the idea, developed their own diet sodas and No-Cal was No-More. In 2005, retro value paid off and Kirsch brought back No-Cal to select stores like Fairway and Eli's.
Now it makes sense why NY State declared that the new World Trade Center building (1 WTC) will not be officially known as the Freedom Tower. Here I was thinking it was to play it safe and not antagonize those who don't agree with our interpretation of freedom. 
Are we truly the land of the free if I'm prohibited by law to order a bucket of cola? Food for thought. but wait, Bloomberg may ban food one day. or thought.