Also on the petitions: D.A. Robert Morgenthau.

Technically speaking, they're doing this independently of the old Liberal Party, which lost its ballot line in 2002 when Andrew Cuomo failed to get 50,000 votes for Governor. But the move has the blessing of Liberal Party chairman Henry Stern.

The campaign plans to begin petitioning later this week, and needs to file 7,500 signatures between August 16 and 23.

A side-note: If Bloomberg remains on the Republican and Independence Party lines and adds the Liberal Party, he will still appear on the fall ballot only twice: "Republican/Liberal" (That has a nice ring to it...); and Independence. If he loses the Independence line, he'll appear on two separate lines, Republican and Liberal.

Shades of John Lindsay indeed.