Plant First, Ask Questions About Pruning Later

Because what are you going to do, uproot them afterward? Bloomberg apparently has adopted another Robert Moses tactic. And Tony Avella has a knack for this kind of story:

Mayor Bloomberg bristled when asked about the tree pruning issues.

“We could cut all of the services and devote 100% of our resources to tree pruning — I’m not sure that that’s the smartest thing to do,” he said.

You Say “Hackathon,” I Say “Consult For Free”

“Doing more with less” in municipal government:

The city is inviting techies to a weekend competition to reinvent its nyc.gov Web site.

“We want them to show off and show us the best they can do,” said Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.

The “hackathon” takes place on July 30-31 at tech company General Assembly in the Flatiron Building.

The press release says “prizes” will be distributed . . . maybe they get free trash pickup for a year or something?

When 3,000 Equals 1099

Add this to the inflated cost of nearly everything related to the Yankees:

[The fan who caught the home run ball that was Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit and did the decent thing by promptly returning it] will probably be on the hook for $5,000 to $13,000 because of the luxury seats the grateful Yankees gave him, the accountants said.

. . .

[The fan], a Verizon customer sales rep, caught the home run ball on Saturday and gifted it, no strings attached, to Jeter.

In return, the Yankees gave him luxury suite tix for every remaining home game as well as any postseason games the Yankees may play in — a gift valued in the neighborhood of $32,000.

He also received some autographed bats, balls and jerseys.

The IRS declined to comment, but accountants say the agency will view Lopez’s reward from the team as income.

And then Jeter bags out on the All-Star game . . .

No Problem — We’ll Just Catch A Showing Of Sixteen Candles Or Karate Kid Somewhere Else

Mickey Rooney’s buck-toothed Asian character Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of the most embarrassing things about the 1960s. Good riddance. Or not:

” ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ is a beloved movie, with one irredeemable, superfluous scene from an era in Hollywood when more overt racism was acceptable in movies than it is today,” a [Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy] spokeswoman wrote.

Nancy Webster, executive director of the conservancy, said that she hopes to address people’s concerns, but hasn’t decided how just yet.

“We appreciate hearing people’s views about our programming, whether they are critical or supportive,” she said. “We trust our audience to use their own judgment about what is appropriate for their families.”

Or they could scrap it and screen a bunch of old Jerry Lewis shows . . .

Today In Hyperbole

Click link for alleged life-threatening situation:

“For them to have to fear for their lives is just ridiculous.”