The Only Thing Cooler Than Being A 12 Year-Old Stuck In A 48 Year-Old’s Body Would Be To Only Have To Bother Buying Roses Every Four Years On Your Anniversary*

The “bemusement” they “engendered”? What, is this Tokio Hotel or something? No matter:

Happy birthday, Stapleton natives and identical twin brothers Randy and Ronnie Zavattieri, and enjoy it — the next one is four years away.

The Zavattieris are either going to be 48 years old or 12 today, depending on whether you count non-leap years. The brothers are the only twins in the country born on Feb. 29, 1960, and have been soaking up the attention as this year’s leap year approached — Randy Zavattieri got to read the seventh item on David Letterman’s “Top 10” list the last leap year, and was invited with other “leaplings” to attend Martha Stewart’s show, which will air today (1 p.m., Ch. 4).

The bemusement the young twins engendered in strangers at the Stapleton Houses seems to have subsided.

“It was different then, people didn’t pay much attention to it (leap years),” said Randy, who now lives in South Brunswick, N.J., in a phone interview this week. “People didn’t understand why me and my brother were so happy to see our birthday on the calendar, but I’m not going to see my birthday again for another four years!”

By some estimates there are 4 million leaplings in the world, about 200,000 of them in the United States. The leap year occurs to correct a drift between the astronomical start of the seasons, or equinox, and regular calendar years, called common years, by inserting an extra day into the month of February once every four years.

For most of his life, Randy Zavattieri celebrated his birthday during common years on March 1, but he changed to Feb. 28 after appearing on David Letterman’s show, when he realized that much of the country’s other leaplings celebrated on that day.

*Hey, assignment desk, run down to the City Clerk’s Office to see if this is happening today . . .

If You Need Some Advice On How To Blow A Double-Digit Lead Over The Closest Of Your Half-Dozen Competitors, He’s Brilliant . . .

. . . the rest, not so much. So now that it’s no longer necessary to keep up appearances of “successful security consultant,” they realize it’s safe to start to wrap things up at the home office:

Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm has laid off staffers as the business is reshaped after his failed presidential campaign, The Post has learned.

The layoffs last week involved administrative staffers working for Giuliani Partners, several sources told The Post.

It was unclear exactly how many departed last week, but the sources said it was at least five staffers.

First employees to go were those assigned to the Qatar account . . .

That’s How You Run The Old Nurse-And-Dash

Gypsy cab as impromptu safe haven:

A man carrying a 6-month-old girl flagged down a black car for hire in Queens on Thursday and left the baby behind after asking the driver to stop, the police said.

The driver immediately took the infant to a firehouse in Corona, the police arrived and the baby was taken to St. John’s Queens Hospital, where she was in good condition.

. . .

About 10 a.m., the driver, whose name the police did not release, was flagged down at Northern Boulevard and 106th Street by a man holding the infant. When the driver and his passengers reached Northern Boulevard and 83rd Street, the man asked the driver to stop so he could make a phone call.

The man then walked across the street to a pay phone and fled, the police said. The driver took the child to Engine Company 289 at 97-28 43rd Avenue.

The driver is an independent contractor affiliated with Tel-a-Car of New York, said the company’s manager, Rocco Sacramone.

“It was a great thing he did,” said Mr. Sacramone, who would not disclose the driver’s name. “He went out, he went to work, he did a great thing, and then he went home and went to sleep.”

Generally, only taxis are allowed to pick up passengers in the street; Mr. Sacramone said he did not know why the driver had picked up the man.

Of Course Congestion Pricing Is Worth It — Who Can Argue With 6.3% Less Traffic* And 15% More Transportation Funding!

But really, doesn’t the concept of a dedicated funding stream take the state off the hook for transit improvments? That’s a good thing when New York City is trying to recoup more of the money it sends to Albany? And then there’s the question of how much of an impact 15% would even have:

Supporters of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to charge people who drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan have promoted it as a way to provide a steady flow of money to pay for improvements to public transportation for decades to come.

Trains would be less crowded. Stations would be spruced up. A new subway line would be built.

But under a new spending plan released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, so-called congestion pricing would cover a relatively small portion — 15 percent — of money needed for transit improvements. That would leave the authority still scrambling for money.

The authority said that it would need $29.5 billion from 2008 through 2013 for system improvements (like thousands of new buses and modernized subway signals) and expansion (like work on the Second Avenue subway).

It tentatively identified $20 billion in potential sources of funds, including $4.5 billion that could be raised by borrowing against congestion pricing revenue. But officials were unable to say where the remaining $9.5 billion would come from at a time of city and state budget tightening. They planned to ask the governor’s office and the State Legislature to come up with a financing formula to make up the shortfall.

Elliot G. Sander, the authority’s chief executive, said that unless its plan is financed in full, the transit system risked sliding back into the disrepair of the 1970s and 1980s.

. . .

Under the plan, the $4.5 billion in borrowing that would be made possible by congestion pricing accounts for just 15 percent of the authority’s infrastructure needs through 2013.

. . .

Mr. Bloomberg, who first proposed congestion pricing in April, said in a statement that it provided “one of the only reliable sources of funding” for the authority’s capital program “and without it, the projects in this plan will not happen.”

But the spending plan also exposed lines of tension between the authority and City Hall over how congestion revenues would be used.

Aides to Mr. Bloomberg said revenue from the system should allow for a total of $6 billion in borrowing — $1.5 billion more than the authority proposed.

The authority said it came up with a lower number because some congestion revenue should be set aside to cover operating costs, which would rise as it adds service to accommodate people who switch from cars to public transit once the system goes into effect.

The mayor has said that all congestion revenue should go to support capital spending.

The majority of money under the plan would go for the upkeep and modernization of the current system. It calls for the purchase of 590 subway cars, 2,976 buses and 440 commuter rail cars. It includes rehabilitation plans for 44 subway stations and the modernization of signals in parts of the subway system.

*As per PlaNYC 2030 Transportation Report (.pdf)

You Know The Housing Market Is Bad When . . .

. . . the City Council sees a need to limit the size of for sale signs:

The slumping housing market is presenting a new wrinkle in the city — oversized “for sale” lawn signs that one Staten Island city councilman has made his latest quality-of-life target.

Michael McMahon (D-North Shore) yesterday introduced a bill that would limit the size of such signs throughout the city.

Claiming the signs have a “detrimental effect on the aesthetic value of New York City’s residential neighborhoods,” the proposed legislation limits “for sale” signs on residential properties to a maximum size of 4 square feet.

“While traveling in my district, I have noticed what seems to be an explosion in the size of real estate signs on front lawns to a degree that is practically obnoxious,” McMahon said in a prepared statement. “Real estate companies have the right to advertise, but let’s keep it tasteful.”

. . .

The measure is also catching flak from one Realtor, who said his signs must be large enough to attract buyers.

“If you have a property, you have to bring it to the public’s eye,” said George Wonica Sr., president of Wonica Realtors. He said the 2-by-2 foot signs McMahon is proposing are not large enough to lure business. “You might as well not have anything there. I agree with bringing it down, but I don’t think 2-by-2 is the proper dimension.”