At Some Point We Need To Ask Ourselves, “Why Do They Hate Us?”

Either that or someone is sure upset about bike share:

[A man], 27, of Newark, a gang member with 12 arrests in the Garden State, showed up at the security entrance of the government building while the mayor held an outdoor press conference on the city’s new bike share program on Monday.

“I want to take on the mayor in a fight. Man vs. man, and knock him out,” he told cops at the Broadway and Murray St. entrance around 11:30 and to attend the event.

We Are All Mr. Met Now

Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey on the dirty little secret about Mr. Met, which is that he doesn’t seem to do much of anything:

The longtime Flushing favorite was chosen as the nation’s No. 1 sports mascot based on his likeability, familiarity and several other factors.

. . .

[. . .] Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was a bit surprised by the choice.

“There’s no scooter he rides,” Dickey said Tuesday. “He’s not breaking the other team’s helmet into pieces. Maybe the appeal is that he’s like everybody else. He walks around just like they do.”

See also: Mr. Met.

Car-Free Fridays Do So Much Good: They Get Neighbors Out To Meet One Another, They Allow Children To Roam Unfettered Without Fear Of A Truck Running Them Down . . .

. . . but as for confounding popular stereotypes, that’s probably a stretch:

A Bay Ridge civic panel approved a controversial proposal for the Third Avenue “Summer Stroll” on Monday, but not because it would have been a boon for area businesses — it did it to show up the back-stabbing broads in “Brooklyn 11223” a show residents believe will give Bay Ridge a bad name.

“We’re going to show them this isn’t ‘Brooklyn 11223,'” said […] a member of the Third Avenue Merchants Association and longtime proponent for the Stroll, where Third Avenue between 81st and 89th streets will be transformed into an open air “piazza” four Fridays in a row starting July 20.

TLC To Finally Operationalize Meaning Of “Cab Light On,” Matching Literal With Metaphorical And Unconfusing Single Ladies

And now your friends won’t have the murky middle ground excuse of “I have my cab light on, but I want to make it clear that I’m headed directly to the garage”:

Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman David Yassky said Tuesday medallion owners will be directed this fall to start removing the signs and adopting a simpler way of indicating whether a cab is available.

Under the current scheme, the cab-top signs have four different potential meanings depending on whether either or both the off-duty lights and the medallion number light are illuminated.

“It’s far too confusing for the average rider,” Yassky told the Daily News.

Under the new system, the cab-top signs will have only two potential meanings: available if the medallion number is lit, or unavailable if it’s dark.

. . .

For those [. . .] who don’t know what the current system means, here’s a primer:

* Off-duty sign on/medallion number off: Off duty.

* Off-duty sign off/medallion number on: Available.

* Off-duty sign on/medallion number on: Available for trips in the direction of the garage cabbie is heading.

* Off-duty sign off/medallion number off: Cab is occupied and not available.

I tell you what though, I had no idea there was a separate category for “available for rides in the direction of the garage” . . . I wonder how many drivers I got mad at for no reason! And does this mean that “I can’t take you to the airport because I’m only going to the garage” is no longer a valid excuse?

See also: Taxis.

Who Said Carlos Beltran Was A Bad Guy?

He’ll pay for your nose job:

“They were talking in the clubhouse and somebody asked him, and he said it wasn’t a priority for him to do it,” said Beltran. “And I just said, ‘What about if it’s paid (for)? Would you do it?’ And he said, ‘Of course, I’d do it.'”

“He came to me the day after the conversation and he said ‘Are you sure you’re going to pay for it?'” he added. “I said, ‘Well, I’ll pay for it if you’re going to do it.’ I guess he was happy that he didn’t have to pay $10,000 for his nose.”

I do think Niese missed an opportunity to do a little cosmetic fix as well while they were at it, but that’s his decision . . .