“Weekday afternoons. So New York! So Fox Five!” was her line. After saying it, Pirro told the director, “I don’t like that one. I don’t like it. The line doesn’t do it.”

Which reminded me a little of this. And also, for whoever loses tomorrow, that there's life after elected office.

And yes, Pirro was wearing her trademark high heels.

“I don’t think people want to watch a show of a woman involved in putting innocent people in jail,” said Sam Zherka, perhaps optimistically. Zherka, owner of the libertarian-leaning Westchester Guardian and the Flatiron's V.I.P. Club, helped organize the protest. 

The anti-Pirro poster boy and leader of the group is Jeffrey Deskovic, who was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder three years before Pirro became the Westchester D.A. She denied numerous appeals, and in 2006, Deskovic was exonerated, after spending 16 years in prison.

“She kept the ball rolling against me,” Mr. Deskovic said of Pirro.

Now, he would like the WB network to suffer for putting Pirro back in the limelight with Judge Jeanine Pirro, a syndicated afternoon show that sounds a lot like Judge Judy.

Most of the other protesters were Westchester civil rights activists familiar with Deskovic, who is now an activist and reporter for Zherka’s newspaper, but others had more general complaints.

“It was a little bit of everything,” said Teodoro Chavez, explaining why he took the train down from Westchester with his friend Richard Guzman. They were concerned with prosecutors in general (two people Pirro put in jail, Richard Deguglielmo and Anthony DiSimone, have since been cleared upon findings of prosecutorial misconduct) and Pirro in particular. 

“Prosecutors are overzealous,” said a New York City man named Steven who raised his poster over his face when I raised the camera. “They’re horrors!”

Judge Jeanine Pirro is the latest act in Pirro's post-Westchester career. In 2005 she launched, then aborted a bid for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. A year later she lost the attorney general's race to Andrew Cuomo. She is currently under investigation for wire-tapping her husband, and in February she broke her tooth during a guest spot on Fox News.

“Pirro had a future,” said Chris Guerrero, a messenger walking by the protest. “I don’t know what the heck is wrong with her now.”

A federal grand jury now wants to hear recordings Pirro made of her telephone conversations while she was the D.A. in Westchester.

According to the story, “One of the reasons this is of interest is that that Ms. Pirro's successor now is in possession of a tape suggesting Ms. Pirro failed to disclose evidence that could have helped a man whom Ms. Pirro subsequently charged with murder. But the existence of any tapes immediately raises the question of whom Ms. Pirro was talking to over her years in office and what conversations, whether of a political or legal nature, might be recorded in the surviving tapes.”

UPDATE: The Journal News also has details on the story over here.

For those of you who don't know her -- but really, who doesn't? -- Liz is an authoritative and fantastically prolific blogger and reporter. She also has the distinction of having performed two of the toughest roles in the last year's LCA's annual roast of lawmakers, appearing as Jeanine Pirro and Ada Smith.

She has a long good-bye post on the Times Union blog here.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

-- Azi Paybarah

"Sources familiar with the investigation say federal and state prosecutors want to know if Pirro improperly put resources available to her as Westchester District Attorney toward campaign work. One key question: whether Pirro or her staffers conducted background checks on campaign donors using computers and databases inside the District Attorney's office."

Pirro's lawyer said the checks were done on campaign computers.

California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey might have earlier primaries than in past years.

Rudy Giuiliani, who had one of the first major fund-raisers in the 2008 race, doesn't have to disclose financial information because he's still not an official candidate. No explanation from his campaign.

Hillary Clinton will go to Iowa, where a poll shows her in fourth place.

Do blacks support Barack Obama?

Ceasar Borja, Jr. tells his own story.

High performing schools could get more money from the city if they accept kids who transfer there from failing schools.

Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project are bringing out the race card and attacking the bank that won naming rights to the proposed stadium.

It's still unclear precisely how the legislature will vote for a new comptroller.

State workers may be cheated into paying higher insurance premiums.

And here is more on the passing of S.I. Assemblyman John Lavelle.

-- Azi Paybarah

-- Azi Paybarah

Jeanine Pirro may be the subject of an FBI probe. Again.

Pat Healy reports on the effects of Barack Obama on Hillary Clinton's scheduling.

Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders announce budget reforms, but don't go as far as to create an Independent Budget Office or abolish the three-person Public Authorities Control Board.

Roberto Ramirez hired "one of the Legislature's most knowledgeable experts on thoroughbred horse racing."

Blair Horner discusses the race for comptroller.

The mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability has a bunch of public meetings coming up.

Metro-North is on time about 97 percent of the time.

While campaigning for Craig Johnson, a canvasser bumped into Johnson's opponent, who appeared to be calling it an early night.

Barack Obama may be in the exploratory stage of his presidential run, but he's already getting endorsed by one congressman.

Republicans say they'll retain the senate seat being vacated by Wayne Allard.

Mystery Pollster and Doug Shoen continue arguing about a poll that says Americans are skeptical about the federal government negotiating with drug companies for lower-cost prescription drugs.

The New York Sun appears to be test-driving 51st State.

Colorful City Hall reporter Rafael Martinez is online with his own blog.

And pictured above is Rafael conducting an exclusive interview with a City Hall insider.

-- Azi Paybarah

It seemed, at least, to show that the Cuomo people were taking Jeanine Pirro more seriously than the media was during the late stages of the campaign. It also seemed to be a big number to have outstanding, given the FCC requirement that candidates pay for their ads as they go in order to prevent media outlets from essentially making in-kind loans to campaigns.

I asked media consultant Joe Mercurio about it and he said it was "a lot of money for media reconciliation."

Cuomo spokeswoman Wendy Katz emailed this explanation: "There is always a process of an accounting reconciliation for millions of dollars of media time purchased in the final stage of the campaign. Those adjustments await the final disposition."

Not incidentally, the campaign has $963,477.60 left on hand -- more than enough to pay off all their bills, which total $291,811.75.

-- Azi Paybarah

As if Chuck Schumer isn't already everywhere, he may take the lead on the effort to bring the Democratic National Convention to New York.

Roslynn Mauskopf got an unenthusiastic endorsement from the ABA for a federal judgeship.

George Pataki and Jeanine Pirro are not attending the state GOP meeting in Albany where Joe Mondello is expected to be named the party's new state chairman.

Eliot Spitzer said it's not hypocritical to raise campaign money under the old rules and then introduce a new set of rules after winning.

Rudy Blogger uses a familiar anti-Rudy argument and asks how conservatives will react when they learn that Mitt Romeny supported abortion and gay rights before 2002.

Mystery Pollster has more on the accuracy of the polls of this year's House races.

The head of the Municipal Arts Society sounds off on the Atlantic Yards project.

Daily Gotham says that poverty is back in New York.

And pictured above is Dirk McCall, the head of the Stonewall Democrats who organized the Jim McGreevey event last night and has a holiday party coming up next week.

-- Azi Paybarah

The man in blue pictured here standing next to Councilman James Sanders yesterday is new mayoral spokesman (and former Jeanine Pirro aide) John Gallagher.

What a day start a new job.

-- Azi Paybarah