And Now That I Think About It, Do The Less Fortunate Really Need Their Own Nativity Scene?

A) Who steals a nativity scene? B) Would they really then hold it for ransom? Many questions, few answers:

The Bayside Business Association’s Bell Boulevard Nativity display was stolen Dec. 28, marking the first theft of the organization’s creche in the five years it has been available for public viewing.

BBA President Judy Limpert said she noticed it had disappeared Saturday after seeing it at 41-16 Bell Blvd. just the day before. The small building sits across from a small Northfork Bank office and alongside the Bayside Long Island Railroad station

. . .

Limpert said the all-white resin figures were not particularly heavy, but had cost about $250.

Although she said the association would buy another display if necessary, the BBA head said she still held out hope the perpetrators would simply return the item.

“If the reason for taking it was some kind of political statement, then we’re willing to talk,” she said.

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) renewed efforts last month to convince the DOE to permit nativity displays alongside the menorah and star and crescent in schools for holiday displays; current DOE policy bars the appearance of deities in schools.

Limpert also said that if the theft was a matter of need, accommodation could be reached. “If they took it for their own use, we will donate one to them.”

Leading Economic Indicators Portend Lump Of Coal For 2008

All you all are cheap-asses:

The Christmas season was no bell-ringing bonanza for Salvation Army volunteers — who reported smaller donations and emptier kettles compared with previous years.

“This year is the worst year,” said Salvation Army bell-ringer Emma Quinones, 56, of Astoria, Queens. “I guess it’s because of cutbacks, rent going up, the economy.”

On Christmas Eve, Quinones took in just $40 in three hours at Rockefeller Plaza, down from the normal $100.

The Salvation Army doesn’t keep a national count of kettle donations. But “the overall sense is that people are more cautious about their giving this year,” said Melissa Temme, a national spokeswoman for the Salvation Army.

Those who depend on handouts and tips have also had a rough time of it.

“This is my worst year ever,” said panhandler Jack Mitchell, 67, who plies his trade in his wheelchair on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street with the help of his dog, Lucky.

Normally during the holidays, Mitchell said he takes in $150 to $200 a day, but he’s been averaging about $60 — more like an ordinary day the rest of the year.

Who Needs A Fare Hike When The MTA Is There To Nickel And Dime You Into Solvency?

The MTA takes a page from the decrepit bottler/distributor industry by cleaning up on riders who can’t be bothered to use up every last cent on their MetroCards:

Beginning in March, many subway and bus riders will have to learn a new math — and it could leave them scratching their heads. Or gnashing their teeth.

On Wednesday, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted to reduce the bonus that riders receive on pay-per-ride MetroCards, from 20 to 15 percent. The board also decided to increase some other fares.

The change in the bonus means many riders will see odd amounts of spare change — as little as a nickel or a dime — left over on their MetroCards. And if large numbers of exasperated riders throw away cards with balances of just 5 or 10 cents, the result could add up to a windfall to the authority in unclaimed fares.

The current 20 percent bonus system makes for simple math: Buy five rides and you get one ride free. In other words, if you feed $10 into a MetroCard vending machine, the card will come out showing a balance of $12.

Under the new plan, the minimum that riders must spend to qualify for a bonus will be reduced to $7, from $10, in an effort to put a fare discount within the reach of more people with lower incomes. But in that case, when someone puts $7 on a card, an additional $1.05 will appear on the card, for a total of $8.05.

If they take four subway trips, at $2 each, that will leave a balance on the card of five cents. If they refill the card with another $7, it will then show a total value of $8.10, enough for four rides, with a dime left over. The real challenge is figuring out how much to put on the card to bring it up to a round sum.

Accepting Credit When Credit Is Due . . .

But if you are going to jerk around your fares, at least make sure you first check the name on the card:

Cabdrivers are flouting a new law by throwing up roadblocks to frustrated riders who try to pay with plastic, the Taxi and Limousine Commission chairman said yesterday.

The problem is so widespread, one dishonest hack even tried to refuse the TLC chairman’s credit card.

“It is going to give the industry a black eye,” chairman Matthew Daus told cab-company owners at a monthly TLC meeting.

Daus said that during his ride, a cabby hit a button on the meter from the front seat that selected cash for him. When the commissioner complained that he wanted to pay with his credit card, the driver said it was too late.

The TLC has since changed the meters so that taxi drivers cannot make a selection between cash and credit from the front seat, but drivers continue to insist their credit-card machines are broken.

“It’s just plain wrong,” Daus said yesterday. “This is just breaking the law.”

So then there must be something to those accusations . . .

And He Got . . . License Plates, Wedding Gifts, Tax Returns, Checks To Politicians From Real Estate Firms, Money, Bills And Cancelled Checks, Pretty Funny Pictures Of Your Kids

Think of it as “Operation Lucky Mailbag”:

A postal carrier pocketed dozens of greeting cards he was supposed to deliver to get at the cash inside, postal inspectors said.

He was found with more than 130 pieces of other people’s mail in his car, according to a court complaint.

Michael Olivio was released on his own recognizance Thursday following his arrest the previous day, court records show. The exact charges against him were not listed in court records available early Saturday, and a spokesman for prosecutors did not immediately return a telephone call.

. . .

Postal authorities started getting complaints in June about greeting cards getting lost en route to residents of a Brooklyn ZIP code, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Special Agent Stephen Dolloff said in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

He set up stings involving decoy cards in September and again this week. The latest one included cash — and a hidden electronic transmitter. The transmitter showed that Olivio kept the card after finishing his mail route Wednesday, Dolloff said.