When Banning Becomes Banal

Last December, The Post compiled a list of things (some tangible, some inanimate) that a city councilmember had proposed banning during 2006:

• pit bulls
• trans-fats
• aluminum baseball bats
• the purchase of tobacco by 18- to 20-year-olds
• foie gras
• pedicabs in parks
• new fast-food restaurants (but only in poor neighborhoods)
• lobbyists from the floor of council chambers
• lobbying city agencies after working at the same agency
• vehicles in Central and Prospect parks
• cell phones in upscale restaurants
• the sale of pork products made in a processing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., because of a unionization dispute
• mail-order pharmaceutical plans
• candy-flavored cigarettes
• gas-station operators adjusting prices more than once daily
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• Wal-Mart

But it seems we forgot a few things. Councilmembers also recommended banning:

• the process that makes steaks pink
• subway ads poking fun at outer boroughs

This year, the City Council is off to another fantastic start. So far, Leroy Comrie (D-Jamaica) has proposed banning the "n-word" (what, and crosses and gasoline get off scot-free?). And the City Council plans to ban pedicabs with electric-assist motors!

At this rate, councilmembers will have proposed banning 34 things by the end of the year, easily topping last year's impressive 19.