Bruce Ratner may have happily agreed to comply with the city's new soda ban restrictions six months ahead of schedule, but advocates better hold their breaths before declaring Barclays Center a beacon for public health.
Food critic Ryan Sutton captured a snapshot of the stadium's menu below:
That's right. A bottle of Dasani water costs $4.50 at the new stadium, while soda costs $4. As if it weren't crazy enough that a single bottle of water costs $4.50, customers are given extra incentive to buy soda because it's cheaper. Granted, you get 20 oz. of water and only 16 oz. of soda, but still. It's water.
As recently as September, Ratner said he was just "thrilled" to work with Bloomberg and added, "New York City has set a standard for the country and the world when it comes to public health and we are very proud to be the first to adopt the standards for sugary beverages in our new venue."
The stadium opened Friday and The New York Times spoke to several concertgoers with one annoyed customer bluntly asking, "Is this a Bloomberg thing?" Another called their soda a "French-sized" beverage and said they "wouldn’t have minded if it was a little bit cheaper, too.”
It all makes us wonder what happened to selling Original Brooklyn Water produced in sunny Florida?
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