“Don’t worry, they’re not Red Sox fans!”

The real estate agent showing the NYU doctor an apartment for sale recognized the tenor in the lobby. Ronan Tynan has a familiar face and an even more familiar voice. He has been singing "God Bless America" in the seventh-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium since the first game following September 11, 2001. Real estate agents keep up a steady patter of chatter doing their job, and this one was no exception. "Don't worry, they're not Red Sox fans!" the agent joked. "I don't care about that," Tynan replied, "as long as they are not Jews." Dr. Gabrielle Gold-Von Simson, the prospective buyer, phoned the Yankees to express her outrage. According to the report in today's New York Times, the tenor won't be singing "God Bless America" at the Stadium during the rest of the American League Championship Series (and in the World Series if the Yankees make it that far). What the article didn't say was that Tynan's signature song was written, music and words, by a Jew, Irving Berlin. It also didn't indicate whether Dr. Gold-Von Simson decided to make a purchase offer on the apartment in Tynan's building. — DL