New York City residents are big fat drunks, a new poll says.
But while a majority of New Yorkers readily admit they drink, the Siena Research Institute survey found, a significant portion of the population is in denial about being overweight.
Fifty-eight percent of city residents said they had at least one drink in the past year, according to the Siena poll.
And of those New Yorkers who said they drink, 45 percent said they have one or two drinks in a week; 27 percent said they drink between two and seven alcoholic beverages; 12 percent said they pound down seven to 15 drinks; and 12 percent admitted they down more than 15 drinks in a week.
Those percentages were roughly equivalent across city, suburban and upstate respondents, although more suburbanites overall said they drink – 63 percent – and even more upstaters said they imbibe, at 68 percent.
Meanwhile, just 41 percent of people in the city – and 44 percent of upstaters – said they were “overweight” or “very overweight,” while 2007 federal statistics show that 56 percent of city folk and 61.9 percent of New Yorkers statewide are overweight or obese.
Poll organizer Dr. Don Levy said that people apparently don’t want to admit the truth.
“It’s one thing to lie to me,” he said. “It’s another thing to lie to yourself.”
One Manhattan bartender was shocked to hear that the rural crowd might drink a bit more than Big Apple residents but found a plausible excuse.
“I find that surprising,” said bartender Stacia Bedford, 33, who mixes cocktails at the Mercury Lounge. “People in New York work hard and play harder, so I thought that would be the opposite.
In addition to the amount of drinking, attitudes about drinking differ between upstate and the city.
Fifty-two percent of city residents agreed with the statement, “There is nothing wrong with having one or two drinks at the end of the day.” But the poll found that 63 percent of people from upstate agreed with that, and 53 percent in the suburbs.
David Dutkanicz, 33, of the Upper East Side, thinks the drinking results may have something to do with the city’s ambience.
“I agree with those numbers,” he said. “People have more to do here than drink. Whenever I’m in upstate New York, I see more drunken and sloppy behavior.”