For the past 10 years, Jesus Leonardo has been cleaning up at an OTB parlor in Midtown Manhattan, cashing in, by his own count, nearly half a million dollars’ worth of winning tickets from wagers on thoroughbred races across the country.

During his glorious run, Mr. Leonardo, 57, has not placed a single bet.

“It is literally found money,” he said on a recent night from his private winner’s circle. He spends more than 10 hours a day there, feeding thousands of discarded betting slips through a ticket scanner in a never-ending search for someone else’s lost treasure.

“This has become my job, my life,” he said. “This is how I feed my family.”

Leonardo, who favors track suits and wears his graying hair and bushy beard in long ponytails, is what’s known in horse racing parlance as a stooper — a person who hangs around racetracks and betting parlors picking up tickets thrown away by others. Most tickets are losers, but enough are winners to make it worth his while.

To his stable of OTB buddies, Mr. Leonardo is the Secretariat of stoopers.

. . .

Mr. Leonardo, who is married with two teenagers, is hardly living on the fringes. He said that stooping brings him $100 to $300 a day, and more than $45,000 a year. Last month, he cashed in a winning ticket from bets made on races at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., for $8,040. His largest purse came in 2006, when he received $9,500 from a Pick 4 wager (choosing the winners of four consecutive races) at Retama Park Race Track in Selma, Tex.

. . .

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Mr. Leonardo, who had been supporting his family and his dream of writing songs by working odd jobs, including painting homes and cleaning windows. “I started thinking, there’s probably winning tickets thrown in the garbage every day.”

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter suited up in Yankee pinstripes yesterday after his team was routed by the Bronx Bombers in the World Series — although it was for a good cause.

Nutter’s shirt bore No. 55 — in honor of Series MVP Hideki Matsui — when he painted some hallways at IS 131 in The Bronx. The paint job at the Soundview school was the price Nutter paid for losing his World Series bet with Mayor Bloomberg.

. . .

Mayor Bloomberg was also wearing a Yankee jersey — No. 27, signifying the Bombers’ 27th world championship.

“I’m looking forward to having Mayor Nutter here next year, painting another school,” he said.

Assemblymember Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) wants city Traffic Enforcement Agents to warn operators of vehicles first before they can be issued parking summonses.

DenDekker has introduced Assembly Bill A9135. This bill requires traffic agents or other law enforcement authority to verbally direct the operator to move immediately or be given a parking violation summons.

“This legislation has become necessary ever since Traffic Agents have become armed with these hand-held scanning devices. These Agents walk up to vehicles while the drivers are waiting for someone to pull out of a parking spot, scan the registration sticker, and issue them violations for double parking,” DenDekker declared. “Other agents have acted more like Starsky and Hutch; they pull in front of the vehicles blocking them in, jump out, scan the sticker and issue a summons, leaving many motorists scared as well as frustrated.["]

The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations has a lovely new apartment. According to two deeds filed Friday, the group spent $4,235,000 on a 2,840-square-foot apartment at Trump World Tower, plus a $5.4 million commercial space at 633 Third Avenue.

H.E. Zahir Tanin, whose title is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, is listed in the deeds. “We did purchase a residence for the ambassador,” his assistant said. She said the office space is “going to be used both for the Consulate and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations. We are two separate things, but they’re both part of the government of Afghanistan, and it was the government of Afghanistan that’s making these purchases.”

“I was not happy that the mayor wanted to run for a third term. So, I do like Thompson a lot. And we’ll see what happens.”

Hey, Bloomberg can have Shilpa Shetty as far as I’m concerned — Ghost World’s Seymour is just that much more authentic.

At CityView Racquet Club, high above Long Island City, members can play a few games of tennis or squash, then relax in the sauna or grab a bite prepared by the in-house chef. They can bump into pros like Andy Roddick and have their racquet strung by the same master. And they can use the urinal — not just any urinal, but one that sports stunning eye-level views of that other borough beyond the East River.

“I never understood why we don’t let you drink in the park.”

The brown-bag phase of the mayor’s campaign . . . Avella, you sure you still want to ban foie gras?

A capybara, the world’s largest rodent, is the victim of a daily assault of noise, cramped conditions and inhumane treatment — and spectators can witness it all for less than the price of a cup of coffee.

. . .

On a hot Saturday night in Coney Island last week, one young spectator was hardly impressed. “That’s not a rat. That just looks like a guinea pig,” the girl said, disappearing into a thick crowd.

A bill introduced today in the state Legislature would, if passed, profoundly change the way alcohol is sold in New York. Among its provisions:

• Allow stores that currently sell beer (supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.) to also sell wine and liquor.
• Replace the State Liquor Authority’s licensing system with medallions that could be sold to another operator if a business closes.
• Allow liquor stores to sell “complementary” items including snacks, mixers, etc.
• Permit liquor stores to open as early as 8 a.m. and close as late as 3 a.m. (9 p.m on Sundays).

The Naked Cowboy, in a statement announcing the official launch of his candidacy tomorrow, said his platform would include a stimulus plan for small businesses.

“No one knows how to do more with less than yours truly, and that’s the kind of thinking I plan on sharing with my fellow New Yorkers when you elect me,” he said, promising new ideas on tax breaks, tourism, gay marriage, transit and homeland security.