New York Times Calls For Ice Pick Control

No, this is not The Onion.

“There is no prohibition right now against carrying an ice pick in New York City,” said City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee, “which is interesting because I don’t know of any legitimate use for an ice pick.” 

“I think the ice pick went the way of the milkman,” he added. 

Not so. Plenty of hardware stores around the city still sell ice picks. 

At NHS Hardware on Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx, a worker, Jose Santana, strode toward the back of the store and grabbed a $3.89 model, whose wrapper said that it was of “professional quality” and “high carbon steel,” from a display of ice picks hanging from a peg. 

“There are some weird people looking for this,” Mr. Santana said with a hint of a smile. “It’s weird, no?” 

The demand is greater than the store chooses to meet: because the store has a policy restricting the sale of ice picks to anyone under the age of 21, it has sold only two in the past six months or so.