Yes

“‘If I were a guy, would I have had the pounding that I did?’ Black asked in an interview with Fortune magazine posted on its Web site, a day after her buddy Mayor Bloomberg effectively canned her.”

Just Because You Rob A Bank Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Polite About It

Sometimes you violate the social contract and sometimes you uphold it. And sometimes both at once:

Like a scene from Allen’s classic film “Take the Money and Run,” a nebbishy knucklehead in a black yarmulke allegedly tried to rob a Bank of America in Queens only to give up after the teller refused to comply with his demand note.

. . .

“I am gonna rob the bank,” he allegedly yelled. “I have a gun, but I’m gonna wait on line.”

True to his word, [the suspect] patiently waited for his turn at the teller window. Once there, he allegedly said, “I’m gonna rob the bank.”

He added, “First, I’m gonna pass you a note . . .”, police sources said.

The note didn’t read, “I have a gub,” as in the famous robbery scene from the Allen flick, but it had just as little impact.

When [the teller] balked at giving him money, [the suspect] asked for the balance in his own account, police sources said.

You Know Things Are Bad When A “City Hall Insider” Seems Like Such A Breath Of Fresh Air

. . . And in the morning, I’m making waffles:

At the news conference Thursday where Dennis M. Walcott was announced as the nominee to become New York City schools chancellor, he spoke about his luck, his personal history and his goals for the city’s schools. Then, he turned to 16 elementary school students gathered in the room.

He asked them about a promise he had made on a recent visit to their school, Public School 10 in Park Slope. “What am I going to make you?” Mr. Walcott asked.

“Waffles!” the children screamed, as excitedly as the man who would cook for them.

It was a colorful exchange in a choreographed announcement meant to convince the public that Mr. Walcott, 59, had credentials that Cathleen P. Black, who resigned on Thursday, did not. He is a former teacher, with an easy rapport with children; a graduate of the city’s public schools; “a guy from Queens,” he said, whose parents were raised in Harlem and whose grandparents were immigrants, like many of the city’s 1.1 million students.

Unless nearly every media report is full of disinformation being fed by her detractors, she comes off like the worst possible candidate for the job . . . and I still can’t believe he’ll get credit for this.

We Have To Put The Focus Back On The Kids . . . As Backdrops!

This day in irony:

Ms. Black appears to have been among the last to find out. At about 8 a.m. Thursday, an aide to Mr. Walcott called Laura Scott, the principal of Public School 10 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and asked her to arrange for a group of fifth graders to attend a press conference at City Hall, where they would serve as the backdrop for an announcement. The aide did not tell Ms. Scott the topic of the event — Ms. Black’s resignation.

About an hour later, the mayor met with Ms. Black at City Hall. In his private office, on the first floor, Mr. Bloomberg told her that her position was no longer tenable. She had become the story, not the schools, he said, distracting her staff and the public. “We have to put the focus back on the kids,” he said.

Passenger Inconvenienced By Sudden Stop, Punches City Bus Driver . . .

. . . and says: “You should have f- -king killed the dog.”