The New York Times, ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS, April 4, 2010
New York State’s health commissioner would be the first to admit he has soft drinks on the brain.
The commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, was recently driving down Interstate 15 in Utah, his home state, when he came across four billboards in a row that beamed a subliminal message at him, and not the one the advertisers intended.
The first billboard said, “44 Ounce Soda, 99 Cents.” (“This is a carbonated beverage, meant to be consumed in your car,” he said, marveling …

More than 62 percent of Bronx residents are overweight or obese, higher than the rate in any of New York City’s other four boroughs, while the comparable figure for Manhattan was just over 42 percent — the lowest of any of New York State’s 62 counties.
The city’s other boroughs had overweight and obesity rates more closely in line with the statewide average of nearly 60 percent: 58.6 percent in Brooklyn, 57.7 percent on Staten Island and 57.6 percent in Queens.
These figures — contained in a report released on Tuesday by …

THE Great Downturn may have its first real status symbol.
NEW AMSTERDAM — Can the arrival of Dutch bicycles in New York free men to pedal to work in a Gucci suit?
It has plenty in common with recent extravagances. Like the Range Rover or the Sub-Zero fridge, it has a solid frame designed for function. Like a Louis Vuitton trunk, it has a chic design and a patina of history stretching back to the 19th century. And like a bottle of San Pellegrino, it evokes that genteel way of life that …