What Bloomberg Lost

$354 million, now safely on its way to Los Angeles, where I hear they actually have a pretty bad traffic problem:

Los Angeles snagged a $213 million federal grant to help speed traffic along its clogged highways — winning a big chunk of the $354 million New York had to give up when the Legislature killed congestion pricing.

“It’s safe to say they’re loving New York in L.A. today,” U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail said Friday after announcing the award.

New York had been guaranteed the pot of cash to set up a congestion pricing system but lost it when Albany killed the plan behind closed doors without voting this month.

Turmail said DOT has not yet decided what cities will split the remaining $141 million.

Chicago is one of them, Mayor Bloomberg said.

“Like Los Angeles, Chicago has also benefitted from New York’s loss and last week Mayor [Richard] Daley thanked Mayor Bloomberg,” said spokesman John Gallagher.

Oh well . . . at least we’ll always have those 18,000 trees . . .

So If 300 Calories Costs X, 1,400 Calories Of Y Must Be A Great Value Then . . .

As Health Department-mandated chain restaurant calorie counts seem to be surviving last-minute legal maneuvers, some customers yawn:

In an unused corner of a Burger King on Hylan Boulevard, an official-looking sign goes unremarked.

Its tiny print, disclosing the nutritional facts of the fast food on offer, resembles nothing so much as the legal mumbo-jumbo that no one really wants to acknowledge.

But if the city Health Department gets its way, the information soon will be front and center.

Health Code 81.50 mandates that all New York restaurants that are part of a nationwide chain of 15 or more locations must post a calorie count on their menu.

The Restaurant Association, which claims that the proposed law goes against the First Amendment, has until Friday to seek a stay from an appellate court.

While some eateries, such as Starbucks, Quiznos, Jamba Juice and Chevy’s, have accepted the new regulations and posted nutritional information in restaurants, others, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Taco Bell, have refused.

. . .

Freida Dibartolo, who admits to not being a regular customer of Burger King, agrees that information should be readily accessible, but doesn’t believe it will affect how people order.

“If you don’t eat it often, you don’t pay attention the few times you eat it. If you eat it everyday, you don’t give a (expletive),” said the Dongan Hills resident.

Loose Lips Sink . . .

. . . superfunny curses aimed at sticking it to legions of obnoxious Yankees fans and rapacious team ownership:

Were it not for the tale one loyal Yankee fan overheard while downing pints of Guinness at a Bay Ridge bar, that Red Sox jersey would still be embedded in the concrete under the new Stadium.

Billy DiCristina, 27, a carpenter from Bensonhurst, had just watched the Rangers playoff game at the Bean Post Pub early last Thursday morning, when a fellow patron with whom he was vaguely acquainted told the story of a Red Sox jersey that had been buried in an effort to curse the Stadium.

“I asked him about it, and at first I thought he was breaking my chops,” DiCristina told The Post. “But when he said he was ‘dead serious,’ I went crazy. I was furious. I said, ‘We have to get that Boston garbage out of our Stadium’ ”

“Give me The Post,” DiCristina shouted to the bartender, and began dialing every number he could find on Page 2, including the circulation and customer service departments.

He ended up leaving a series of slurred, rambling, giggling messages on the voice mail of one reporter who had recently written about the stadium, calling it an “anonymous tip.”

“I had had a few too many I guess, and I forgot to leave my phone number,” he said yesterday.

The Post was able to find construction workers to confirm the tip, and by Sunday the insidious David Ortiz jersey had been unearthed and would no longer be poisoning the new ballpark.

Apples In Stereo

The Beatles seem to be absent in all this hubbub:

Apple Computer is taking on The Big Apple — or at least its eco-friendly logo.

New York officials are biting into a trademarked Apple with their logo for the GreeNYC campaign — or so claims the technology giant run by billionaire Steve Jobs.

California-based Apple Inc. is taking on the Big Apple over a federal application by NYC & Company for its own apple logo. But city officials say the design resemblance is only skin deep.

“We believe the ‘infinity apple’ design and its mission to create environmental awareness are unique and distinctive and do not infringe upon the Apple computer brand,” said Kimberly Spell, of NYC & Company, the city’s tourism and marketing arm.

NYC & Company developed the bisected apple topped by a small stalk and leaf for its campaign to promote environmentalism. It sent the new logo to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May 2007.

The GreeNYC apple was to start appearing on bus shelters, hybrid gasoline-electric taxis and cotton shopping bags, all part of the city’s efforts to get greener.

The Apple folks challenged the application early this year, insisting their internationally known logo was the one true corporate representation of tree-borne fruit.

Not only that, the company said, the New York logo was “likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception in the minds of consumers.”

Silver Comes To Take His Toys Away

Mayor Bloomberg is a man who loves all kinds of gadgets. So disturbing hobby time is a risky proposition, done at your own peril:

A defeat of congestion pricing in the Assembly may irrevocably rupture the relationship between Speaker Sheldon Silver and Mayor Bloomberg and provoke an open conflict between the two city leaders.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has said repeatedly that he supports politicians who back his policies, might be tempted to do the opposite if his plan to charge motorists a fee to drive into the busy parts of Manhattan collapses in the Assembly, on which Mr. Silver wields tremendous influence.

“The danger could be that it does get personalized,” a former top aide to Mr. Bloomberg, William Cunningham, said. “Could there be a time when the mayor gets fed up with the games? Yes, I suppose so. He’s human.”

The mayor may use his political influence and fortune against Mr. Silver, political insiders say. This year, Mr. Silver, 64, is expected to face at least two Democratic primary opponents in September. Mr. Bloomberg could go as far as to endorse and provide financial support for one of the challengers.