Quite Frankly, I Refuse To Believe This

[♥ COVID-19♥]

New Yorkers Actually Drink Less Than the Nationwide Average

There's a new New York City drinking survey out, and chances are, you're a drinker, because more than half of New Yorkers of legal drinking age are (congrats!). We were surprised and vindicated to find, however, that New Yorkers on average (53%) actually drank less than the nationwide average (56%) -- so we're not quite the alcoholic sluts you think we are (commenter, we're talking to you).

The report categorizes some important "types" of drinking, just in case you haven't ever seen an episode of Oprah: "Any drinking" is drinking anything alcoholic in the last month. "Heavy drinking" is drinking more than two drinks per day if you're a guy and more than one per day if you're a woman. And our old friend "binge drinking" is drinking five or more drinks in a single occasion in the past 30 days, also known as, "being a certain age and living in New York" and/or "going out."

[Chicago Jake]

I'll drink to that.

[Merlot Joe]

Set up another round barkeep.

[Chicago Jake]

I'll stick up for my New York friends. In my experience, they do like their drinks, but they also enjoy other forms of entertainment. I suspect that, unlike people from less sophisticated venues, New Yorkers tend to moderate their booze consumption so that they have sufficient brain cells left over to attend art galleries, literary discussions, Woody Allen seminars, and other highbrow functions.

This is in contrast to the rubes from backwoods Kentucky and other backwater venues who will swill moonshine until the cows come home (and what they do when the cows DO come home is best left to the imagination), because they don't have the Guggenheim or the Lincoln Center to save their sobriety for. They might as well get blasted and impregnate their cousins for fun and profit before the ice in their drinks melt!

[♥ COVID-19♥]

NOW I've found an article that contradicts (or "refutiates", as ex-Gov. Palin might say) the article I mentioned at the outset ...

New Yorkers more boozy than ever; drinking kills 1,500 yearly

Here’s sobering news: New Yorkers are imbibing booze in increasingly deadlier doses.

About 1,500 residents die annually as a result of alcohol-related deaths — from car crashes to poisoning to chronic liver disease — according to the city Health Department, which yesterday released its first comprehensive study on drinking.

“Alcohol misuse can also disrupt one’s well-being by jeopardizing work, finances and relationships,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner. “Cutting down or quitting is possible.”

Alcohol also contributes to 1 in 10 hospital cases with emergency room visits, vaulting to almost 74,000 in 2009 from 22,000 in 2003 among New Yorkers aged 21 to 64.

...

***

By the numbers

1,537: City adults who suffered alcohol-related deaths in 2008.
100,000: Hospitalizations linked to alcohol in the city each year.
4,000: Alcohol-related emergency department visits by underage New Yorkers in 2009.
47: Percent of adult New Yorkers who say they don't drink.

Source: city health department

Now *that* article I tend to believe!

[Merlot Joe]

Here’s sobering news: New Yorkers are imbibing booze in increasingly deadlier doses.

I really don't think they are any worse than any other large city on a per captia bases. A city of 8 plus millions the number have to be high.

You should see the drunks running around this town on a Saturday night for a population of 11,000.

Joe

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Nov 16, 2010 17:41:13 GMT -6 Merlot Joe said:

You should see the drunks running around this town on a Saturday night for a population of 11,000.

Tell the Giants to stop winning the World Series and you won't have that problem any longer.

[Merlot Joe]

What do you expect for winning one every 56 years.