Mea Culpa Tuesday: Greenpoint Writer Apologizes & Teen Hitler Protests Self

It's just a coincidence that it's Election Day, but David Langlieb, the Parks Department employee who touched off a small tempest with an essay on Greenpoint that some believed contained ethnic slurs, has apologized. Meanwhile, the high school student who dressed up as Hitler for Halloween, didn't apologize, but joined in a protest against his costume.

First, Mr. Langlieb, who released a statement apologizing for using words like "morons" and "vermin" to describe Greenpoint residents. "I would like to apologize to anyone offended by my essay, which I wrote as a private citizen, not as a city employee ...," Langlieb said in a statement quoted in the Daily News. He said he was trying to write satirical piece in the vein of Jonathan Swift, the 18th century author of "Gulliver's Travels" known for his biting social commentary. (Uh, not exactly.) "In doing so, I was not sufficiently sensitive to the power of historical stereotypes, even when invoked for the purpose of satire," Langlieb said.

"I ask for your forgiveness," Mr. Langlieb said, sounding very much like a certain candidate for public office in New York State on this Election Day.

Meantime, Brooklyn's Goose Step Kid, the student at Leon M. Goldstein HS who dressed as Hitler (twice) joined a protest against the costume yesterday by parents and students. Says the Post:

Walter Petryk, 16, and his parents strolled with about 50 people from the Leon M. Goldstein HS community to the nearby Holocaust Memorial Park.

"They called it a walk of tolerance and respect, so I figured I would go and show my tolerance and respect for other people's views of my costume," Petryk said.

Assuming he gives up dressing like Der Fuhrer, Mr. Petryk may have a future in politics.