The Associated Press
Monday, January 19, 2004; 3:24 PM
NEW YORK - "Oy vey" was too meshugga for the city Transportation Department. The department said Monday it rejected a request from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for a sign on the Williamsburg Bridge reading "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey!"
The agency felt the sign - featuring the Yiddish phrase for "oh, woe" - would be more distracting than helpful to Manhattan-bound motorists.
"'Oy vey' was originally a Jewish phrase, but everyone knows what it means and it's now a common Brooklyn expression - part of that Brooklyn attitude," said Markowitz, a Brooklyn native. "All I'm trying to do is put a smile on people's faces. I'm sorry if the DOT has no sense of humor."
The city earlier nixed a sign reading "Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboudit!" at the Verazzano Narrows Bridge for what agency spokesman Tom Cocola said was the same reason: "a lack of directional information."
While the "Fuhgeddaboudit!" sign was criticized by some as an anti-Italian slur, Cocola said any concern that the "Oy Vey" sign might offend Brooklyn's large Jewish community was not part of the agency's decision.
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