The City of New York proudly announced on Thursday that the portion of its population that smokes had dropped to 14 percent -- the lowest in the city's history. It has high tobacco prices, strict anti-smoking laws, and an aggressively graphic ad campaign to thank for that. But it will probably be very difficult to stub out the habits of the remaining hold-outs. Despite some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the country, New Yorkers will go to great lengths to avoid the city's tax rate. We've rounded up a few, below.

• Buy Not in Bulk: A hefty bundle of taxes means a pack of cigarettes costs about $14.50 in New York City. But smokers who can't afford that kind of bite and still want to light up often go for individual smokes, called loosies, which can be found on a lot of city street corners. Back in April, the New York Times reported that the single-cigarette trade was booming, as smokers on a budget felt a lot more comfortable parting with 75 cents for a cigarette than $14 for 20.

• Roll it Yourself: A lot of New York smokers buy loose tobacco and a cheap hand-held cigarette roller in order to squeeze more cigarettes out of their purchase. A pack of loose tobacco costs about the same as pre-rolled, but comes with a book of 50 papers, which you can use most of if you're conservative.

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.