The Big Apple has become unfriendly to unhealthy lifestyles as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced a new ordinance what would outlaw the serving of large-size soda drinks on select public venues.

In order to combat what he calls the alarming incidence of obesity in one of the world's premier metropolis, Mr Bloomberg is working to banish the super-sized carbonised drink from the city's entertainment zones and restaurants.

"There's an epidemic in this country of people being overweight, bordering on obesity ... the percentage of people who are obese is skyrocketing," the city chief executive was reported by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying on Thursday.

His campaign would cap sales of the popular drink to about 16-ounce per serving and beyond that would attract a clear violation of New York's increasingly strict regulations that crack down on vices and habits that compromise that city dwellers well-being, health-wise.

Like in Australia, cigarette smoking in the city has become a difficult situation for many New Yorkers since the Bloomberg government banned smokers from lighting a stick on public places, with the regulation driving them away from parks and eating joints.

The measure, AFP said, was followed by campaigns to remind the public that smoking, as determined by medical experts, has been proven a health hazard, with city officials running posters in public places that were festooned with graphic representations of what await smokers.

The healthy onslaught did not stop there as Mr Bloomberg presided over the city's prohibition of artificial trans-fat, pinpointed by doctors as cause of strokes and heart ailments, which was coupled with a higher level of sanitary standard on New York bars and restaurants.

The city's health commissioner, Tom Farley, has given his full backing on Mr Bloomberg's efforts, declaring in an interview that New York's "default choice should be healthier."

"We have a crisis of obesity and the people often go with the default choice, and if the default choice is something which is very unhealthy, that's feeding into that health crisis," Mr Farley told AFP.

But not everyone agrees with the billionaire mayor, with a city councillor, who leads on the poll and is touted to unseat Mr Bloomberg in the upcoming election, issuing a reminder that the city government may be courting a public backlash with its heavy-handed 'anti-vice campaign'.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is doubtful that New York will get the positive results that it aims for in implementing the soda ban regulation, hinting in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the next top man in the city government should do away with the Bloomberg legacy.

The policy, as expected, hurts the operations of business owners closely-linked with the selling of soft drink products.

The New York City Beverage Association scored Mr Bloomberg's seemingly "unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks," actions that the group called as "zealous proposals (that) distract from the hard work that needs to be done."

"The city is not going to address the obesity issue by attacking soda, because soda is not driving the obesity rates," the group called on the city chief executive.

Supporters of the mayor, however, believe that the regulation makes a lot sense as soda drinks will not be totally outlawed in New York City and the limit contained in the order represents the amount that a normal individual should gulp down.