New York rejects 'Oy Vey' sign

[turlough]

NEW YORK (AP) -- "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.

[Scott]

People have no sense of humor.

[Cotuit]

I can see where the DOT is coming from on this. Drivers have enough distractions, the DOT really shouldn't be in the business of adding to the distractions. *But* NYC is the home of the "Don't even THINK about parking here" sign.

[Newnan]

Oye ve! Those people need to pull that stick out of their tuchas!

[lammius]

I can see where the DOT is coming from on this. Drivers have enough distractions, the DOT really shouldn't be in the business of adding to the distractions. *But* NYC is the home of the "Don't even THINK about parking here" sign.

Yeah there are a lot of wayfinding and other signs drivers need to be paying attention to, but you've gotta admit these signs would immediately become fun landmarks.

BTW, I LOVE Sitges!

[Cotuit]

BTW, I LOVE Sitges!

I was all ready to move there, but my boyfriend convinced me that we needed to go home.