Banned: Fine Food and Fun

When Chicago’s ban on the sale of foie gras came into force last week, liver lovers revolted. One pizzeria began serving pies topped with the fatty delicacy to protest a law that even Mayor Richard Daley called silly. Chicago isn’t the only place with rules drafted by the Ministry of Loopy Laws. Here are four others.

• NO BAD HABITS If you’re in Alabama, don’t dress up as a nun, priest or rabbi for Halloween. Impersonating “a minister of any religion” is punishable by fine or jail.

• NO BIKE BAGGAGE If you’re biking in Palm Bay, Fla., you’d better go it alone. City law says bikers may not drag anything behind them, including a “sled, person on roller skates, wagon [or] toy vehicle.”

• NO LAPSES OF STYLE Fashion police alert! Check the mirror before going out in Carmel, N.Y. A decades-old ordinance prohibits men from donning a mismatched jacket-and-pants combo.

• NO PLAYING IN THE STREET Hopscotch in front of the house? Street hockey? Not in Chico, Calif. “Baseball or any other game” is banned from any “sidewalk, lane or alley.”