Police said that they are investigating the strange Nazi-runic graffiti in the hopes of tracking down who’s leaving the coded messages — most recently on the pedestrian foot bridge on East 14th Street and Shore Parkway back on May 13.

While many residents ignored the iron crosses, the number 88 — a code number among neo−Nazis for “Heil Hitler” — and the phrase “Triumph of Will” on the pedestrian bridge, a few concerned citizens in Sheepshead Bay called authorities — especially since the graffiti was found a short distance from Holocaust Memorial Park on Emmons and West End avenues, the only city park dedicated to victims of the Holocaust.

Members of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force are on the case, although sources said that the graffiti could not be considered “bias” because it wasn’t solely directed to any ethnic group.

The graffiti was more pro-Nazi than anti-Jew, officials said.

Even ardent neo-Nazis would have a hard time figuring out the bizarre graffiti cops are investigating in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (above). It seems to be written in an obscure alphabet by someone interested in obscure occult ideas that inspired some of Adolf Hitler’s followers.

The characters in the peculiar graffiti tags look like runes, the ancient alphabets of pre-Roman tribes in central and northern Europe. Some people associate runes with magical powers.

One tag says: “Das Geheinns der Runen,” German for “The Secret of the Runes,” a book by Guido von List, an Austrian occultist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

And are taxi riders really paying for “upstate” highways? How far upstate exactly?

Questions:

• Excluding uniformed personnel, there are 185,908 City employees, 10,000 of which you expect to leave through attrition, either to retire or work for Goldman Sachs or whatever. Will 5.4 percent of the workforce really do this in a down economy? And if so, when — by June 30, 2009? And then will there be wider layoffs?
• Comment on this point, please: “Aren’t taxes worth it, because of the valuable and equitably distributed services they pay for? No, it is clear to all. Those taxes aren’t going to services, they are going to privileges, and for burdens from the past shifted to the present and future by Generation Greed. In the end we will pay more and more and get next to nothing. Want proof? New York City’s personal service budget is proposed to rise from $34.7 billion to $36 billion, and in exchange services will be cut and the infrastructure will degrade.”
• Please square the concept of eliminating the clothing tax exemption within the city with the state’s reluctance to eliminate the same tax exemption in its executive budget
• How exactly will you save $200 million in FY 2010 with a “Tier V” pension when you’re presumably not hiring new employees?

More later . . .

But now that the Yankees are forced to lower ticket prices in half (”That new lower amount is in line with prices for the same tickets being sold on StubHub for next week’s home stand against the arch rival Boston Red Sox, but twice as much as they’re going for against most opponents at the new Stadium”) you start wondering whether Yankees tickets are the most expensive tickets ever.

A recent piece in the Times hinted at this but skirted the issue — yes, I understand I could nearly get a degree at LaGuardia Community College for the cost of taking my family of four to the park. But what hasn’t been reported — at least not that I know of — is just how out of line $2600 is compared to other sporting events. It seems that 2009 Centre Court tickets for the last day of Wimbeldon are 100 pounds. Face value tickets for the 2008 Super Bowl — thought to be one of the most expensive so far — were only $700-$900, and scalped tickets on the low end were still only around $2,500 — less than the cost of watching that 22-4 drubbing at the hands of the Indians, the one in which Chien Ming-Wang only lasted an inning and a third.

But since Yankees management has turned a ballgame into a “Dance, Monkey, Dance” sort of performance it also seems useful to compare Yankees ticket prices to performances in general. Like any performance. Led Zeppelin reunion (some auction prices were actually lower than Yankees tickets)! Celine Dion (in general the Las Vegas Shows don’t even come close — even the VIPest seats at Hard Rock are $1000 max)! Barbra Streisand (VIP packages for her 2006 concerts were $1800)! And keep in mind that at least with Streisand you have some reasonable expectation that she will kick ass.

You can go down the road of non-spectator events and tickets are similarly out of wack: Skiing ($600 seems to the the max), a hot air balloon ride (doesn’t even come close) or sky diving (ditto) — all significantly cheaper.

In short, how expensive are tickets for this (to use a cliche) Taj Mahal of baseball stadia? Consider this: Go to Expedia and book a short trip to Agra, where you can see the actual Taj Mahal. It’s basically around $1000 . . .

Location Scout: New Yankee Stadium.

Just as Michigan is scrambling to retrain laid-off auto workers, New York City officials have come up with a plan to find new work for the unemployed from one of its core industries: financial services.

Under a program unveiled on Wednesday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the city wants to invest $45 million in government money to retrain investment bankers, traders and others who have lost jobs on Wall Street, as well as provide seed capital and office space for new businesses those laid-off bankers might create.

The plan is intended to stem a potential exodus of banking professionals from the city during the restructuring of the financial services industry, which has been the city’s economic engine for decades, and to speed the industry’s recovery, which will take at least several years, officials said.

. . .

The mayor announced the 11-part program at a building at 160 Varick Street that will house an incubator for start-up companies that might employ laid-off professionals. Trinity Real Estate donated the space for three years and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University will select the entrepreneurs who will occupy the space, beginning in April. A second business incubator is scheduled to open in Lower Manhattan later in the year, said Seth W. Pinsky, the president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

The agency plans to put $3 million into funds to make small investments in start-up companies, Mr. Pinsky said. He said that he hoped to attract twice as much money from private investors and that $9 million would be enough to help start hundreds of new businesses.

All told, city officials plan to spend about $15 million on the program, in addition to the $30 million of federal money. They estimate that over 10 years, it could stimulate the creation of at least 25,000 jobs and contribute $750 million to the local economy, but Mr. Bloomberg referred to those projections as a “guess.”

*And think of how many housing project roofs or elevators that could be fixed with $45 million . . .

Chao Fu, 52, was driving the van for the China Chalet restaurant and catering service and double-parked the vehicle on the east side of E. Broadway near Catherine St., police said.

Fu thought the van was in park when he stepped out to make a delivery, he told cops, but it was actually in reverse and began to creep backwards on the busy street lined with shops and restaurants, police said.

The children, gathered on the sidewalk with two chaperones outside the Chatham Square branch of the New York Public Library, were about to walk back to the nearby Red Apple Day Care on Market St.

They were lined up against the wall, their arms linked, when the 9,400-pound van hit them, surveillance video shows.

Fu, who had a clean driving record and valid license, was not charged, police said.

A Web site that was created to promote Coney Island’s rebirth has become the home page for “the best porn on the Net.” The site, created by developer Joe Sitt two years ago to publicize his $1.5 billion plan to build a Vegas-style amusement complex in Coney Island, has been taken over by a Belgian porn producer.

. . .

Sitt spokesman Stefan Friedman said the developer opted not to renew the domain name.

Location Scout: Coney Island Amusement Core.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning a hefty fare increase, but it thinks that some environmentally conscious riders might want to voluntarily pay even more for the privilege of riding on a crowded train or bus.

The authority said on Thursday that it was considering a “green MetroCard” program that would let riders make donations to help pay for making its operations more environmentally sustainable. The program would also apply to commuter rail tickets and E-ZPasses.

The idea was among dozens of proposals in a $1 million report by a commission appointed by the authority to recommend ways to lessen the adverse environmental impact of its operations.

Under the program, whose details are still being developed, riders buying MetroCards or commuter rail tickets at station vending machines could tack on an extra charge in the form of a tax-deductible contribution for green projects, said Ernest Tollerson, the authority’s policy director.

Facing unexpected resistance in the City Council over his midyear budget changes, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday that he’ll order more drastic agency cuts in two weeks if a deal isn’t reached quickly.

“If we decide to — or have to — send out the [$400 property-tax] rebate or the City Council doesn’t act, the $1.4 billion cut is not adequate, and we will send out another letter next week,” the mayor said.

That letter would be directed at agency heads, who were told on Wednesday to come up with another $1.4 billion in savings starting July 1.

Sources said the chief sticking point in the negotiations is the 7 percent property tax increase that the mayor has asked the council to approve as of Jan. 1 to generate an extra $600 million.

The sources said Bloomberg is willing to accede to the council’s demand that he send out the $400 property-tax rebate to small-home owners this year — but only after it approves the property-tax hike.