It May Be Finally Time To Retire “God Bless America” During The Seventh Inning Stretch

God Bless Ronan Tynan? No — God Damn Ronan Tynan:

The famous Irish tenor — who has become a iconic staple of New York Yankees playoff games for much of this decade — admitted to making the slur Thursday to a Jewish woman who was looking to buy an a apartment in his East Side building, a team spokeswoman said.

His gig singing for last night game was then cancelled. It was a move that even Yankees fans who loved the singer agreed with.

. . .

The alleged slur came while Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson, an NYU Medical center pediatrician, was inspecting the building with a real estate agent and they bumped into the golden-throated team singer.

The agent joked to Tynan: “Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans.”

And for some reason Tynan responded by saying: “I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish.”

The burst of bigotry stunned Gold-von Simson, who said “Why is that?”

According to the team, Tynan said that a lot of “scary” Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before.

This comes after the Yankees were forced to settle with a fan for trying to use the bathroom during the song.

How Much Would He Have To Pay For A Carbon Offset That Would Mitigate His Damage To The Democratic Ecosystem?

U2, the masters of the generous gesture bound to look good on videotape, provide Mayor Bloomberg with another generous gesture that looked good on videotape (or YouTube, as the case may be), but the real question is how much that carbon offset is worth:

CBS 2 caught Bloomberg’s chopper buzzing the Meadowlands as he searched in vain for the right place to land the chopper so the mayor could go to the U2 concert. It was a test run, and the pilot botched it, so when he came back with the mayor, he had to land farther away.

But it left the oh-so-green mayor’s face oh-so-red on Friday. CBS 2’s Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reminded Bloomberg that it takes a lot more energy to fly a chopper than a car, wasting a lot of energy.

“I suppose you could say that, but there’s other ways to get around,” he said. “Some are more energy efficient, I could have walked or swam across the river as well, that would have used less.”

It was a “gotcha” moment for an avowed environmentalist. He regularly takes the subway and appeared Thursday with former Vice President Al Gore to say painting rooftops white saves energy. On Friday, he talked about teaching building supers energy-saving practices.

“I believe government should lead by example,” Bloomberg added.

The mayor was anxious to get to the U2 concert for a meeting with Bono, who later praised the mayor’s philanthropy.

. . .

The mayor is so green that five different environmental groups refused to comment about the story.

Voters, Like Sniveling Little Adolescents, Most Hate Hypocrites

A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips*:

As a billionaire in one of the dining capitals of the world, he can eat anything he wants. But he is obsessed with his weight — so much so that the sight of an unflattering photo of himself can trigger weeks of intense dieting and crankiness, according to friends and aides.

His food issues have become New York City’s. Although he has described his battle against unhealthy foods as common-sense public policy that will shed pounds (and save lives), many of his targets overlap with his own cravings.

“I like a Big Mac like everybody else,” he confessed the other day, explaining the city’s warts-and-all approach to fast food. “I just want to know how many calories are in it.”

Under his watch, the city has declared sodium an enemy, asking restaurants and food manufacturers to voluntarily cut the salt in their dishes by 20 percent or more, and encouraging diners to “shake the habit” by asking waiters for food without added salt.

But Mr. Bloomberg, 67, likes his popcorn so salty that it burns others’ lips. (At Gracie Mansion, the cooks deliver it to him with a salt shaker.) He sprinkles so much salt on his morning bagel “that it’s like a pretzel,” said the manager at Viand, a Greek diner near Mr. Bloomberg’s Upper East Side town house.

Not even pizza is spared a coat of sodium. When the mayor sat down to eat a slice at Denino’s Pizzeria Tavern on Staten Island recently, this reporter spotted him applying six dashes of salt to it.

And then there’s the concept of Asshole-In-Chief:

When he does not like the food, he rarely holds back. After dining at Blue Smoke, Mr. Meyer’s barbecue restaurant on East 27th Street, the mayor told Mr. Meyer, “I just don’t like it.”

Mr. Meyer tried inviting him back, but the mayor would not budge. “It never feels good when somebody tells you they don’t like your restaurant, but it’s nice when a politician does not pander,” he said, adding that the mayor has heaped praise on Union Square Cafe.

*In fact, Thompson should consider making this a slogan of sorts, e.g., you think it’s OK to suspend term limits just this once, but consider the deleterious long-term effects . . .

Leading Economic Indicators: Inappropriate Thievery

Pensioners steal the Salvation Army’s red kettle from a Staten Island cafe:

Workers at the Corporate Grind Cafe in Bloomfield kept the Salvation Army’s red kettle campaign going long after the holidays, with staff agreeing to direct any tips from customers into the familiar collection bucket on the counter.

Every few weeks, just as the kettle fills to capacity, store owner Darren Smith delivers its contents to the Christian charity he’s had a relationship with for several years. Smith’s father, Realtor J. Delbert Smith, is on the board of directors for the Staten Island chapter of the Salvation Army.

The bucket was almost full Tuesday when a couple — a man and woman who look more like grandparents than thieves — ordered a salad and a sandwich wrap and ate before walking out the door with the bucket and an estimated $200 in donations.

Countless Hovers Under Cover Of The Street, Or, The Gift Down Below

Amid all the endorsements, the mayor’s real strategy to bring the city back revolves around sneaky-as-shit ticket agents:

Law enforcement sources told the Gazette the traffic agents hide behind the pillars to catch motorists who get trapped at red lights in the busy intersection.

“It’s crazy,” the sources said. “The agents curl up behind the pillars and wait until a car gets jammed up. Then they pounce, scan the registration and toss the summons at the motorist before they skulk back behind the pillars.”

Sources acknowledge that it is illegal to block the intersection, where signs clearly indicate, “Don’t Block The Box”. The signs also warn that motorists who get caught blocking the intersection face a fine and points on their driver’s license.

“It’s the way they’re doing it,” the sources said. “Instead of directing traffic at the intersection or standing as a deterrent, they’re jumping from behind the pillars and scaring everybody.”

. . .

High-ranking police sources said the NYPD is looking into the actions of traffic agents who “jump and scan” vehicles at Hoyt Avenue. “Drivers know they have to be careful when they see traffic agents at a location,” the sources said. “The agents on Hoyt aren’t concerned with traffic control or enforcing the law. It’s clear, by their actions, that they have only one thing in mind — to write as many summonses as possible.”

NB: I think they’ve started using unmarked cars, too . . .