In One Of His Last Acts As Mayor Of New York City, Michael Bloomberg Bans E-Cigarettes

REUTERS/Supri"No large sodas, either."

Today is Mayor Bloomberg's final day in office, but that didn't make him quit work early and go to an early happy hour.

Yesterday the mayor signed some new legislation into law, we learn via Mashable - the new laws will require "an annual report on poverty in the city, a new database built to track money spent on Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts, [and] measures to bolster emergency preparedness and other measures to reduce toxic emissions from vehicles that deliver trade waste."

But the real head-turner here is that he signed "a bill that lumps e-cigarettes into the Smoke Free Air Act, meaning the devices are banned everywhere smoking is banned."

Here's why e-cigarette fans are sure to hate this - because the "smoke" coming out of an electronic cigarette is actually nothing more than water vapor.

Smokers turn to them to get their nicotine fix in bars and restaurants and funeral homes and operas and anywhere else that smoking is banned. Now that they will be legally identified in New York City as "actually cigarettes," e-cig smokers will no longer enjoy the loophole/exception that lets them get their smoke on anywhere they please.