Why Stop There?

Wouldn’t you also love to know how many calories are in that Foie Gras Stuffed Scottish Grouse at Daniel? I would:

Without a doubt not all diners who order a Burger King Whopper or a Domino’s pepperoni pizza or a Taco Bell chalupa really want to know exactly how many calories they are consuming. Whatever the amount, it is probably more than they should be eating.

But the New York City Board of Health, the city’s powerful arbiter of public health rules, is considering a plan to make it much harder to avoid the cold, hard numbers by requiring some of New York’s 20,000 restaurants, including outlets of the nation’s fast-food chains, to list calories on menus and on clearly displayed menu boards.

The idea is to give diners a dose of reality along with their fries.

The proposal was lost amid the other much splashier recommendation the board is considering to prohibit the city’s restaurants from serving food containing more than a tiny amount of trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients considered by doctors and nutritionists to increase the risk of heart disease.

But the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is also intent on creating the nation’s most rigorous system of calorie disclosure in restaurants. It is intended to combat what is widely regarded as an epidemic of obesity, aggravated for the city’s 8 million residents by their reliance on restaurant meals and take-out food.

“Presenting nutrition information on restaurant menus empowers consumers and influences food choices,” the department says in a description of the proposal on its Web site at NYC.gov/health.

A public hearing on both proposals is scheduled for today before the Board of Health.

The two initiatives have thrust New York City to the forefront of a national debate over the extent to which public policy should be used to improve people’s diets. While health advocates say the proposal for menu labeling is overdue, restaurant executives call it unfair and impractical, and some civil libertarians argue that it intrudes into the rights of free speech and private enterprise.

The rules would apply only to restaurants with highly standardized menu items and portions that already make their caloric content available on the Internet, in brochures or in some other format.

Health officials say that only about 10 percent of the city’s restaurants would be affected. But those include many popular chains, like McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin’ Donuts, that have mechanized American fast food, designing systems ensuring that each component of every serving is the same.

It’s That Time Of Year Again

October is high season for tourists and . . . drag queens:

At a busy wigmaking studio in Hell’s Kitchen on Tuesday, half a dozen craftspeople could be found hunched over synthetic mesh scalps, tying individual human hairs into them as fast as they could. Hair was everywhere: draped across tabletops in horsetail lengths, clinging to the fabric of chairs, scattered across the floor in unruly clumps.

The artisans had seen and even built wigs of all descriptions, from flowing brown manes for classical operas to buoyant white up-dos for fantastical Broadway musicals. But even the veterans looked up from their needles when Maurice Neuhaus, a 28-year-old German-born wigmaker, actor and sometime drag queen, pulled out a neon-blue extravaganza that looked at first glance like an otherworldly wild animal being released from its cage.

. . .

During Halloween season, the demand for professional drag performers rises, so Mr. Neuhaus has been busy doing performances booked by a talent agency called Screaming Queens Entertainment. Yesterday, Mr. Neuhaus expected to wear a black, Asian-style wig with bangs while entertaining guests at a bar mitzvah reception in Midtown. On Friday, he planned to wear his over-the-top blue wig for a Halloween gig at a game arcade in Englewood, N.J.

For all its high camp and artifice, his wig possesses an exceptional degree of realism — when he wears it, it looks as if “real” blue hair is growing from his head.

Such artistry is much admired by those in the know.

“Only certain very meticulous and experienced drag performers have custom-made wigs,” said Alex Heimberg, chief executive officer of Screaming Queens, who performs as Miss Understood, a character for whom Mr. Neuhaus built oversize wigs in both bright pink and bright green. “You have to reach the point where you know you’re serious about what you’re doing.”

Who has a drag queen at a bar mitzvah?

Line, Line, Everywhere A Line

The halo effect claims another victim:

An early-morning argument over cutting into line at a popular Midtown falafel cart turned deadly yesterday when a man stabbed a teenager in the chest, cops said.

Tyrone Gibbons, 19, of Short Hills, N.J., was standing in line at a falafel cart at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue at around 4 a.m., when he and his friends got into an argument with Ziad Tayeh, 23 about cutting the line, police said.

After a heated exchange, Gibbons and his pals hopped in their car, and Tayeh got in his. But when they stopped at a light on 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, they started arguing again.

“They were not happy with each other,” a police official said.

When the light changed, they turned south onto Seventh Avenue, but again stopped at a light at 52nd Street, and the fight erupted all over again.

Then Tayeh jumped out of his white Lexus and allegedly plunged a blade into Gibbons’ chest, cops said.

Tayeh hopped back into his car and sped off, and Gibbons was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m., police said.

Next Stop, 50th Street-Rockefeller Center, Transfer Available To Top Of The Rock

Is the MTA getting paid to have its subway conductors advertise Rockefeller Center’s new observation deck? Officials are mum:

A Transit Authority bulletin directs train crews to mention the “Top of the Rock” observatory when pulling into the 47th-50th St./Rockefeller Center station. Veteran motormen and conductors said they believe the order is unprecedented — and some riders are less than thrilled.

Scott Gocherman, 30, a retail manager waiting for an uptown F-train yesterday had this message for transit managers: “Get me from here to there. I want to get to work. I don’t need you to be trying to sell me anything.”

Some riders said they didn’t even notice the pitches. Others thought the new plugs could be a good way to generate extra money for system maintenance or upgrades.

But Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Tom Kelly said the spiels are a free “courtesy” to let riders know of the tourist attraction. He couldn’t immediately say who requested the “Top of the Rock” mention.

A spokeswoman for Tishman Speyer, co-owners of Rockefeller Center, was tight lipped. “We are declining to comment,” the spokeswoman said.

Riders have been asking conductors what the heck is “Top of the Rock,” conductor Ronald Brockington said.

But nobody bothered to explain to train crews what their announcements were about, he added.

“It’s making us look like buffoons,” Brockington said.

Sure, Pick On Sunset Park

The Health Department reveals the fattest, skinniest and drinkiest neighborhooods in a new study:

If you live in Sunset Park, it might be time to get off the couch.

A new city report found people who live in the Brooklyn neighborhood are least likely to exercise of all New Yorkers. In fact, 57% admitted they are sedentary, while residents of Greenwich Village and SoHo hit the gym on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, Staten Island is still the smoking capital of the city, especially the South Shore and Mid Island sections, where 33% of residents smoke,

The updated Community Health Profiles released by the Department of Health use yearly phone surveys and other data to measure health indicators such as depression, asthma, diabetes and smoking in 42 neighborhoods.

Some conclusions:

East Harlem residents may exercise a bit more than those in Sunset Park, but they should lay off the fried foods — 31% say they are obese.

Binge drinking — defined as having five or more drinks in a night — is highest in Chelsea.