The Most Backhanded Mob Name Ever

For a guy with ties to such culinary masterwork it seems odd that his nickname was something so pedestrian:

You’d want to believe that the schemers who kept New York City’s school-bus industry under the Mafia’s thumb for more than 30 years would be a pretty tough bunch. Who else could keep mayors, bureaucrats, and prosecutors at bay for decades while feeding like voracious bedbugs off the city’s most vital enterprise?

But consider Salvatore “Hot Dogs” Battaglia, the hapless ex–union official who must face a federal judge later this month for sentencing, having admitted his own role in the extortion schemes that have long plagued the bus business. Prosecutors argue convincingly that Battaglia, a former school-bus driver, was groomed for his position by the powerful Genovese crime family. The mob was so satisfied with his performance, the government says, that it even made him a soldier — a rank supposedly reserved for those with criminal talent.

The government is a lot less convincing when it describes this sad sack as “organizer, leader, and manager” of the school-bus rackets. The life and career of Sal Battaglia, 61, suggest more Ralph Kramden than John Gotti. He was a go-along-to-get-along guy lucky enough to find himself in the right place at the right time, a schnook with a swollen ego that his Mafia pals were happy to massage as long as he kept the money flowing and a sometimes restless rank-and-file union membership under control.

Annotation: Tom Robbins’ “shocking” Rao’s article makes “Hot Dogs” seem a lot worse than Battaglia sounds here; keep this in mind when reading Tom Robbins articles.

Sure, The Cubs Are In First And The Red Sox Are 5 Games In Front Of The Yankees But For The Time Being At Least, The Mets Are Still Outpacing The Nationals

Less quality than Boston, DC or Chicago but still far and away above Baghdad:

New York City is losing ground to other cities around the world according to a new annual ranking based on quality of living standards.

The city came in 49th place in the survey conducted by a global consulting and investment firm, Mercer, dropping from 48th in 2007 and 46th in 2006.

Zurich was listed as the international city with the highest quality of living, followed by Vienna, Geneva, and Vancouver. The top-ranking American city is Honolulu, which came in at 28th place, followed by San Francisco, in 29th place. Boston is ranked 37th, and Chicago and Washington, D.C., tied for 44th place.

Baghdad was listed as the city with the lowest quality of living.

West Side . . . War Of Words!

The Mayor is sounding a little defensive:

A war of words erupted yesterday as Mayor Bloomberg reacted angrily to comments made by Sen. Charles Schumer suggesting the city has its priorities wrong in turning Manhattan’s far West Side into a business district.

“The city’s priorities are clear,” the mayor said. “We set the city’s priorities. They don’t come out of Washington, and the city’s priorities are the West Side, getting it going and getting the rail line going there.”

He was reacting to a speech Schumer gave earlier in the day, when he said the city should shift its focus from building office and apartment towers above the MTA rail yards west of 10th Avenue and instead concentrate on constructing a new train station named after the late Sen. Daniel Moynihan.

“I appreciate all the senator’s views on Moynihan Station. His part of the job is to bring us the money,” Bloomberg snipped.

Bloomberg also rejected Schumer’s call to put the Port Authority in charge of building Moynihan Station inside the Farley Post Office building, calling it a “terrible idea” based on the agency’s difficulty rebuilding Ground Zero.

Schumer said he has every right to make suggestions about West Side development, since he’s helped secure more than $100 million from Washington for Moynihan Station.

“It is equally important for a responsible senator to watchdog how that money is spent,” he said.

Cipriani To Become BYOB?

As in, come for the bellinis, stay for the $18.95 bowl of minestrone*:

A Cipriani restaurant without a liquor license: aphorisms about dogs without bones spring to mind. How could it go on? And would it even be possible?

On Wednesday, the State Liquor Authority charged several affiliated Manhattan restaurants run by Giuseppe Cipriani and his father, Arrigo, with multiple violations of state laws, and threatened the maximum penalty: revocation of their liquor licenses.

Interviews with people in the restaurant business on Friday suggest that it would not be easy or even practical for the Ciprianis to continue to operate as a dry minichain, but that resourcefulness might go a long way. “They should look at it as an opportunity to get creative,” said Karine Bakhoum, a restaurant publicist.

The Ciprianis run the Rainbow Room, Harry Cipriani and several other restaurants and catering halls in Manhattan. The famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, opened in 1931 by Arrigo Cipriani’s father, is the flagship property of the empire. Ernest Hemingway was its best-known patron, and the bellini — Champagne with peach purée, juice or schnapps — its primary contribution to civilization.

Ms. Bakhoum said that in 2006, she represented Novo, a restaurant that had just opened on Hudson Street before being granted its liquor license. “It had a wonderful Latino menu, so we did a campaign with a water bar and fresh juices,” she said. “You could design your own water, with fruits and extracts. We made it a differentiation point rather than a detraction point. We found that many people weren’t interested in drinking alcohol because of the caloric content.”

Still, restaurateurs say that alcohol sales can account for more than half their revenue — with much higher profit margins than from food sales. The Cipriani chain’s logo depicts a bartender mixing drinks. Can you imagine a bellini built on fortified water?

Another point of inspiration might be called the Club Kalua strategy. Club Kalua is the nightspot in Queens where Sean Bell was shot to death by police officers in November 2006. The subsequent loss of the club’s liquor license became an opportunity to unburden the dancers of bikini tops, and it became a topless club (serving virgin passion-fruit mojitos and Red Bull cocktails).

“You lose a lot of business,” said Roger Duran, Club Kalua’s owner. Still, he said, “It’s working very well for me at the moment.” The patrons who stayed? “They go for the girls, basically.”

*Or the much vaunted $36.95 lasagna:

Over the years the Cipriani restaurant family and its employees have faced charges of sexual harassment, insurance fraud and tax evasion, the last leading to guilty pleas by two family members in July.

But the crime that comes to mind first when I think of the Ciprianis is highway robbery. Based on my recent experience, that’s what happens almost any time Harry Cipriani on Fifth Avenue serves lunch or dinner.

Tough Week

(Perhaps) driving your taxpayer-funded car, you get pulled over for drunk driving, only to be bailed out by your Baby Mama, subsequently exposing a secret double life:

Rep. Vito Fossella today admitted he fathered a love child in a longtime secret affair with the woman who rescued him from the drunk tank.

Fossella, who is married and has three children in New York, did not say if he would step down or seek re-election.

“I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a 3-year-old daughter,” Fossella said in a four paragraph statement.

“My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry.

“While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind.

“Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to do my job and I will work hard to heal the deep wounds I have caused.”

His relationship with retired Col. Laura Fay came to light after cops busted him for drunken driving in Arlington, Va., just after midnight on Thursday May 1. He was released to Fay’s custody seven hours later.

Fossella, who smelled of alcohol and had wine-stained lips, told a cop that he was going to the home of his sick daughter on Grimm St. about three miles away, records show.