Some Things I Learned Today . . .

1) A Vallone is making it that much more difficult for me to spray paint.

2) Cops walk around with fake badges, or “dupes” so that this way, when they’re “going to go get boxed” on a Friday or Saturday night, they don’t have to say they lost their shield while out drinking.

3) Few people apparently trust a 36-year-old with a $1 billion-a-year city agency, even ones busy “tending to the people’s business” (but why so much Benjamin Button hatred?).

I Got Dreidel Skillz

In the new economy, we will barter in chocolate and braggadocio:

The four-sided, Hebrew-letter-covered spinning top typically plays a minor role in the annual Festival of Light, but Williamsburg bar owner Eric Harris Pavony wants to change all that through Major League Dreidel, the first “professional” sports “league” for the nation’s top dreidelers.

On Dec. 12, the second night of Hanukkah, MLD Knishioner Pavony will bring his pros — and also the arena, the “Spinagogue” — to the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg for an evening of competition the likes of which the world hasn’t seen since the days of the Second Temple.

“MLD validates the dreidel as a bona-fide sport — and its elite are recognized and respected like professional athletes,” Pavony said. “However, they are paid in chocolate money.”

$102 Million (And Counting*)

If “[i]t costs a lot of money to get a message out and I’m trying to show what we’ve done and tell people,” then he shouldn’t have to be shy about releasing those final numbers. So of course you do that on one of the slowest news dump days of the year — the Friday after Thanksgiving:

To eke out an election victory over the city’s low-key comptroller, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg spent $102 million of his own fortune — or about $174 per vote — according to data released Friday, making his bid for a third term the most expensive campaign in the city’s history.

. . .

Throughout the campaign, the mayor’s aides sought to project an air of inevitability, but data released on Friday revealed just how anxious they had become in the final weeks.

From Oct. 20 to Nov. 26, his campaign burned through $18.6 million, much of it on last-minute television and radio advertising.

The Daily News notes what $18.7 million can buy:

That outlay would cover first-semester tuition for about 8,000 students at Borough of Manhattan Community College (or for 319 freshmen at Bloomberg’s alma mater, Johns Hopkins).

The reports show visits to some upscale joints, but pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts fare were definitely Team Bloomberg staples.

The total paid to pizza places during that period was more than $17,000 — enough to pay a minimum-wage worker for 310 days or buy 5,556 gallons of milk.

. . .

The mayor “is one of the world’s leading philanthropists and is honored to have assisted organizations in need here [and] around the nation and the globe,” said spokesman Howard Wolfson.

Baruch College Prof. Doug Muzzio jokingly said that with all the money being thrown around, the City Council — which altered the term-limits law to let Bloomberg run a third time — “should pass legislation to force this guy to run every year. We could solve the recession,” he kidded.

*On account of the mayor still has to pay out bonuses to campaign staffers — since under Bloomberg, campaigns are treated like flush years at Goldman Sachs — in 2005, these totaled more than $1.5 million.

See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.

Now You Know Why You Can No Longer Eat At Houston’s

Calorie counts:

Launched in July 2008, the rules require calorie listings at any chain with substantially similar menus and more than 15 locations nationwide.

That largely affects fast-food outlets such as McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts — but it also covers some high-priced steakhouses and other top-end eateries with just a handful of New York locations.

. . .

“These laws started in McDonald’s, and I think they should stay in McDonald’s,” said tourist Michelle Dedriazia, 49, of Pittsburgh, who likes visiting fancy steakhouses when she comes to New York.

“If you are going to a nice place, you should not be told this type of information. I don’t know why they do this in New York City. It doesn’t make sense.”

None of the upscale eateries contacted by the Daily News responded to requests for comment. But one California-based chain was so opposed to the requirement that it changed its name and menu just to get around the rules.

Houston’s renamed its two Manhattan locations “Hillstone” late last year and changed the recipes of several items after the rules took effect. When Health Department officials charged the chain with violating the law, Houston’s successfully brought in cooks and executives to prove the offerings at its Park Ave. South and E. 53rd St. locations are different.

“We, after meeting with them, withdrew the violation,” said Tom Merrill, general counsel for the Health Department.

Your Front Lawn Is Useful Not Only For Parking Buses But Issuing Sanitation Tickets, Too

Everybody’s busy finding solutions to people’s bad behavior:

Gennarelli has lived on E. Tremont Avenue between Philip and Randall avenues since 1996. In 2000 or 2001, the city extended a bus stop from the corner of E. Tremont and Randall avenues, in front of Pete’s Donut Shop & Restaurant, up further, in front of five private homes, the widow said. The bus stop is designed to hold two tandem buses, Gennarelli added.

Prior to the change, the city consulted Community Board 10, but Gennarelli, who returns home from work in Manhattan at around 7 p.m., wasn’t able to attend the meeting, she explained. Not only are Gennarelli and her neighbors ticketed for trash, buses and bus passengers often block her driveway, she said.

Some two years ago, Gennarelli purchased a trashcan for the bus stop. She locked it to a pole but when the city Department of Sanitation stopped by to take the trash, the trashcan was unlocked and stolen, Gennarelli said. When Klein interceded, she spoke to a DSNY supervisor who told her that trashcans are only allowed on corners.

The supervisor had Gennarelli’s property observed and found her guilty of no violations. But the ticket barrage didn’t end. Gennarelli thinks that the city uses ECB tickets to raise revenue; her tickets have all been excused.

Gennarelli thinks that a single DSNY agent wrote her tickets on November 14 and November 19. Her November 19 ticket reads: “I observed a large accumulation of scattered bottles, cigarette packs, paper bags, pieces of paper, tissue wrappers and other debris in the front yard,” Gennarelli said. It was issued between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes!” Gennarelli groused. “I get to work at 8:30 a.m.”