Beware When You Hear That Someone Is “Literally” Anything, Especially “Batman”

And then it just brings up silly thoughts like, “OK, then who is ‘literally’ Robin?” But setting aside the irony of a front-page story about a “purposefully inconspicuous” aide, it is good to see squeegee men get beat up on again. That always makes you feel good:

Driving through the South Bronx last summer, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler spotted a man illegally washing car windshields at a stoplight.

Enraged, he called the police desk at City Hall from his cellphone (it’s on speed dial), ordered that the man be arrested on the spot and requested a copy of his rap sheet, which, as it happened, was voluminous. It listed 50 prior arrests.

Thus began a classic Skyler crusade: Over the next few months, he had two more squeegee men arrested by speed dial. He instructed aides to study their lengthy journeys through the legal system. And he helped draft a law cracking down on repeat offenders, which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled in his State of the City address this year.

“Ed is literally Batman,” said Kevin Sheekey, a fellow deputy mayor. “But most of Gotham doesn’t know how much he does as Bruce Wayne because he’s so purposefully inconspicuous.”