"city" news and stories

Chicago's ban against the sale of foie gras has been in effect for just one week, and one chef has already been given a warning for a violation of the ban. Chef Rick Spiros, from the restaurant Block 44, served eight orders of foie gras on Friday night simply to use up several "leftover" pieces of the expensive stuff. The violation was discovered when an anonymous caller tipped off city officials, but Spiros says that it was a "one-time thing" - unless the injunction seeking to stop enforcement of the law takes effect and restaurants are permitted to serve the delicacy again.

If the restaurant receives a second violation, they will be forced to pay a fine.

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New York City Councilman Joel Rivera is proposing a radical solution to the "obesity epidemic." Specifically, he wants to enact new zoning laws that limit the number of fast food venues that can be built in a specific area. Low-income neighborhoods, which Rivera said have the greatest concentration of fast food restaurants, could be particularly affected under Rivera's plan, which he plans to hold hearings on. He seems to feel that the easy availability of fast food due to the sheer number of restaurants was the biggest contributing factor to the fact that roughly half of all New Yorkers are overweight.

A professor of urban policy and planning at NYU offered a reassuring voice of reason, noting that such laws could not be applied or enforced because they couldn't distinguish between different types of fast food. In New York, a city that is perpetually on the go, far more than pizza and burgers can be considered fast food.

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