UPDATE: NYC Happy Hour Ban Isn't Happening

New Yorkers in need of a drink after work, don't fret — the widely reported happy hour ban in New York City isn't happening, reports Gothamist and other media outlets.

After the New York Post reported this weekend that the Department of Health was mulling a campaign to ban discount alcohol sales, several within the administration are denying the rumors. The start of the rumor mill may be traced back to the DOH's "Take Care New York" initiative to reduce risky drinking.

Mayor Bloomberg responded with harsh words for the Post: "It's good that — what one paper's done because, as you remember, this year the committee did not award a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Now we have one — with irresponsible journalism — for next year. The Health Department has no plans. We told them we have no plans. It is a totally fictitious, made-up story, and it's just not what I would call responsible journalism."

If such a ban does happen, it wouldn't be the first; 19 states have happy hour bans in the books. However, a lot of booze-hungry New Yorkers might have something to say about it.