The gossip going around is that Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez and his actress-girlfriend, Kate Hudson, are hanging out more and more in Westchester to escape the NYC paparazzi.

My spy tells me they’ve been frequenting the skyscraping 42 in White Plains. Plus they’ve rented a house in Purchase.

Certain words fall into the popular daily lexicon and they just keep turning up wherever you look. Take for example the word “sustainable” and it’s many variants.

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

sus·tain·able
Pronunciation: \s?-?st?-n?-b?l\
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1727
1 : capable of being sustained
2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods
— sus·tain·abil·i·ty  \-?st?n??bi-l?-t?\ noun
— sus·tain·ably  \-?st?-n?-bl?\ adverb

Scan a newspaper on any given day and you will find this word a dozen times. President Obama loves to say sustainable -this and sustainable-that when discoursing ad nauseum on health care, green technology, the economy and any other wonkish subject.  That’s probably why everybody else is saying it, too. I suspect it’s used so that the speaker, or writer, can project an air of authority and circumspection that is often unwarranted.

Personally, I’m tired of this buzzword.  In fact, if it pleaseth the court of public opinion, I object to it.

I know what you’re going to say: Objection sustained!

Fritz Peterson was a decent pitcher for the New York Yankees who had the misfortune to play during the team’s period of  prolonged mediocrity, well before Derek Jeter and, for that matter, Reggie Jackson. This was the late 1960s and early ‘70s  when Mickey Mantle was literally on his last legs and no one went to the Stadium except for the diehard fans. It was  the so-called “Horace Clarke Era,” named after a bespectacled  second baseman from the island of St. Croix, who probably deserved a better fate in life than to be forever associated with futility.

Peterson also will be remembered mostly for one thing: He swapped wives with his friend and teammate, Mike Kekich.  It was a sensational story at the time, and it embarrassed management—not that Peterson was ever destined to be the subject of  one of  the Yes Network’s gooey Yankeeographies.

Still, he had some success on the field. One year  he won 20 games, which is a rarity for starting pitchers these days.

Today, Peterson is 68-year-olds, and fighting a battle against cancer. He is the author of a book, “Mickey Mantle Is Going  To Heaven” in which he talks about his illness, his new-found relationship with God, his old teammates, and—of course—the wife swapping. (He’s still married to Kekich’s former wife.)

Peterson will talk about all this and more on my next “High Noon” program on WVOX radio. That’s Thursday (Oct. 1) at 12 noon, 1460 AM, or log  onto wvox.com.

I took Westchesteer County Executive Andy Spano and Rob Astorino, his Republican challenger, to task for not coming up with any fresh ideas for tax-weary voters to sink their teeth into. (See yesterday’s column.)

Astorino, at least, must’ve read my mind because today he came up with a four-point proposal to plug the money drain we all know as Playland.

The candidate announced his plan at the amusement park in Rye this morning, Here’s an excerpt from his press statement:

“Rye Playland-and the taxpayers funding it-reportedly lost $5 million this summer, despite promises in the spring from 12-year incumbent County Executive Andy Spano that “From this day forward there will be zero tax dollars going to the amusement section of Playland Park.”
Playland has lost approximately $37 million in the past 10 years, under Mr. Spano’s management, and attendance plummeted from more than one million visitors in 1999 to 779,000 visitors in 2007.  Only 540,000 visitors were expected this year.

And here’s the four ideas:

1. Reverse the takeover of private business entities within the Park by selling and/or leasing Westchester’s stock of rides to qualified and insured concessionaires;
2. Charge concessionaires a rental fee and a percentage of their profits;
3. Require concessionaries to indemnify the county for claims relating to rides and concessions, and
4. Eliminate the park entrance fee.

I would add a fifth smaller proposal: Elininate the park rangers. I know the ranger program is a source of summer jobs, but aren’t the county police sufficent to patrol the amusement park?

Brace yourself.

This came over the transom today:  Westchester County has paid through the nose for legal representation in the anti-discrimination case that resulted in an out-of-court settlement.

According to a memo from the county’s law department, the county has paid the Epstein & Becker law firm, $2,677,316 in outside counsel fees on the case.

But that $2.7 million may be just for starters. More bills may be coming.

On Monday, the county Board of Legislators voted 12-to-5 to accept the settlement deal which calls for the county to spend $51.6 million to build, lease or purchase 750 units of affordable housing in 31 mostly white communities. The case has been a political bomb shell and has become a major issue in the race for county executive.

Cleverly disguised as SNL’s Fred Armisen, the embattled New York governor  was on NBC’s Thursday Update last night.  He comes on at the end to answer questions about President Obama’s call for him to back out of the 2010 election. Click here.

This is a brutally spot-on impression, and I know the real Paterson has objected to it. But the governor has a great sense of humor. If he wants his poor poll numbers to go up, he should appear on SNL himself,  just as Sarah Palin did in a good-sport gesture.

As they say in Brooklyn, “It couldn’t hoit.”

A left, a right. Another left. Ooh, a blow to the mid-section.

Ding, ding….that’s the end of the second round. That is to say, the end of the second debate between the two candidates for Westchester County Executive. More and more this contest is looking like a bare-knuckle prize fight.

In this corner,  the reigning incumbent, Andy “What Me Worry?” Spano! And in this corner, the challenger, Rob “The Kid” Astorino!

The two political pugilists  took off the gloves and went at it when they squared off Wednesday night at a debate hosted by the Westchester Business Council.  Here are some of the punches that landed, including a couple that missed.

Astorino: (A left-right combination on Westchester County’s $1.9 billion budget) “That’s more than 87 nations spend.”

Spano: (A left hook to the chin) “This is your choice—your choice is me, with all of my experience and the establishment of this really great government or, him. This is no time for a novice.”

Astorino: (An uppercut to the champ’s shnozz, highlighting Spano’s bodyguard-driver.) “He has doubled his staff and quadrupled spending in his own office. So he’s not setting an example. I would drive myself to work and save the county a few hundred thousand dollars right off the bat.”

Spano: (A glancing blow to the brow). “My detail that he’s talking about has been in place for 35 years with every county executive, but feeling that everybody has to to take a hit, I’ve cut it by one-third or 33 percent out of the detail which is adding up right now to about $135,000.”

Spano: (A wild roundhouse that missed, referring to his opponent’s plan to slash the budget by 10 percent) “Where are you going to get that from? TELL ME!”

Astorino: (A sharp jab to the gizzard. drawing first blood.) “Its amazing that his body guards are being cut by one-third. That still means two-thirds of the time they’re driving around to golf courses, supermarkets and things like Yankee games.  That’s not what they should be doing. They should be protecting the public.”

Astorino: (Right cross to the jaw on the controversial affordable housing agreement) “It’s an awful settlement. It’s an unachievable settlement. It puts a federal monitor over our heads for decades to come…We all want affordable housing, workforce housing. But doing it this way, with a gun to our head., this turned out to be the Andy Spano Bailout Tax.’

Spano: (An angry windmill combo, all misses) “Listen, don’t impugn my record. There was no finding of intent. There was no finding of fraud….What your problem.? You come from a town that didn’t build anything!”

Astorino: (A rabbit punch on the incumbent’s trips to China) “I dont feel the need, especially during a bus strike to go out to China. I think more importantly, I should be going up the thruway to Albany and start working the halls there and fighting for Westchester County.”

Spano: (Rope a dope) “You can work the halls of Albany and pull your hair out…”

Astorino: (A taunt) “Don’t you see your own tax bill and go ‘What’s going on here?’ It’s out of control.”

Spano: ( A taunt and a bitch-slap in reply) “These are the complications of government that a novice really doesn’t understand. You certainly don’t understand the tax situation. Eighty-five percent of the taxes in Westchester do not come from the county government. And they come from places like the locality. They come from the schools. I told you the last time, you really want to affect the taxes in Westchester  run for the school board.”

Spano: (walking into a right cross) “You should know, we run buses up north. This is the problem—he wants to save taxes but he doesn’t have any knowledge of this stuff. We run buses  up north. Those buses cost us $2,500 a year per rider. Per rider.  I could buy them Lexuses. But if I did that, he’s complain about that too.”

Astorino: “I would complain about a Lexus and you run this government like you have a Lexus.”

Astorino: (And a followup pummeling to the face and body): “We  have the highest taxed county in America. What is it that you don’t understand?…My experience is living in this county under you and your government, trying as all my neighbors are to get by. it is impossible. And I don’t think you understand anymore how difficult it has become to live in this county. Sixty percent tax increase in seven years is quite frankly unacceptable. and if you think that’s a good record to run on and if if you think in years ‘13 through ‘16 in a fourth term that you will continue down that path and voters will sit here and say, ‘That’s OK, that’s pretty good Nice job.’ They’re not. People are angry, they’re  worried, and they’re anxious with the economy, And they’ve had it with this tax situation.”

Spano: (A sock to the challenger’s jaw):  “You notice that he very carefully says seven years. Don’t cherry pick my record. I am in office 11 years. The reason he does that is he leaves out the three years we lowered taxes eight percent. And he adds the two year safter 9-11 when we had significant problems. This is that same campaign he ran on last time and the voters rejected him by almost 20 percent.”

Spano: (Knocks the kid to the mat for an eight-count by reading aloud his property tax bill) “”The county taxes on his house are $2,000. His local taxes are $3,000 and his school taxes are $8,500. If we have the highest taxes county in the United States, it ain’t from me! In fact, the county government taxes are 41st in the state of New York in terms of tax rate. He’s staying on message because his polls told him taxes are a big issue. Rhetoric is not going to change anything.”

Astorino: (A kick in the keester) “People are hurting…I will get this tax situation, this tax madness, under control.”

Spano: (Throws a sidewinder punch at Entergy) “This is a company that can’t get $20 million on sirens to work and says, ‘Hey, but we can run a nuclear plant.’ I have concerns. I have real concerns. It’s in the most densely populated area in the entire country. I don’ trust them, I’ve never trusted them.”

Spano: (Walking into another punch) “I don’t Know what he’s talking about…Do you think he really is going to be able to tackle all this.? Do you really think that? I mean my grandfather used to say, ‘You watch the hands.You don’t listen to the mouth.’ And that’s what you gotta do.”

Astorino: (And the punch) Unfortunately, his grandfather watched his hands go into everyone’s wallet too often and for too many years.”

Spano: (A jab, causing a cut over the eye) “He’s a radio show person. That what he is. That’s the kind of experience you’re going to get. Don’t listen to all this gobbledy-gook.”

Astorino: (Ear-chewing sound bite of the night on business leaving the county). “Why do they choose to go to Connecticut? Why do they choose Texas? It seems the only one who wants to pitch their tent here is Moommar Gadhafi. And even he’s leaving soon.”

The Westchester County Board of  Legislators on Wednesday approved a landmark housing settlement with the federl government to build hundreds of affordable units in wealthy, mostly white suburbs.

That was the lead sentence in staff writer Gerald McKinstry’s report out of the board—and it’s the subject of my “High Noon” radio program on WVOX, 1460 AM, today at 12 noon. (Or, wvox.com)

Helping us understand what the controversial settlement means will be  County Legislator John Nonna, D-Pleasantville, who was on the affirmative side of the 12-5 board vote.

That’s for the first half-hour of the show.

In the second half, we’ll be talking to a family member of one of the PA AM Flight 103 victims of the Lockerbie bombing.

He talked like a Democrat and walked like a Democrat.

In fact, he repeatedly called himself “the real Democrat,” and put that slogan on his campaign signs when he tried to take the Democratic Party nomination for Westchester County DA away from Janet DiFiore. Castro made much political hay out of former Republican DiFiore’s defection to the Democratic side.

Castro’s real-Democrat strategy failed miserably. He lost in a landslide to DiFiore in the Sept. 15 primary. Nevertheless, he still had the Working Families and Independence party lines on the November ballot.

For the last couple of weeks, rumors were flying that Castro was going to work out some sort of deal with the GOP, that he would skip the DA’s race and go for a judgeship. Given all of Castro’s chest-thumping about being the true Democrat in a race against a pretender, the rumors seemed unbelievable.

I discussed that possibility with Dan Schorr, the Republican DA candidate on my “High Noon” radio program last week.

And now it’s come true, as confirmed today by staff writer Jonathan Bandler’s story.

Like a couch that magically unfolds into a bed, Castro converted. He’s a Castro convertible, alright. This is nothing short of an embarrassment to the genuine Democrats who supported him and believed he meant all that stuff  about party loyalty.

One can only conclude that a faustian deal was made. Without a major party endorsement, Castro obviously figured he couldn’t beat DiFiore in the general election. And neither did Castro’s sponsors, Independence Party chief Giulio  Cavallo and Sam Zherka, the wealthy strip club owner and publisher of the Westchester Guardian.

Zherka and Cavallo despise DiFiore—that’s a well-documented fact. Cavallo has the greatly diminished GOP party in Westchester by the short hairs and the Republicans can’t risk alienating him. So the deal was struck. This way, Schorr will get the coveted Independence Party endorsement, thus becoming a much stronger candidate against DiFiore.

That’s how much the Cavallo-Zherka alliance want DiFiore out. Castro became their willing stooge. (Schorr told me on “High Noon” that, unlike Castro, he would not accept campaign donations from the controversial Zherka.)

There was a time, long ago, when Castro looked like an up-and-comer in the ranks of Westchester politics. Now he just looks like another desperate character looking for a job.

What a shame. He ought to take those signs down right away.

Here’s my take:

President Obama has done New Yorkers a disservice.

With one intrusive stroke, he has made our badly limping governor look like an even lamer lame duck, and in doing so he has tampered with our democratic right to choose our own leaders.

But that’s not all.

In the messy process of asking Gov. David Paterson to forgo an election run in 2010, Obama also has inadvertently made himself look like a grasping puppeteer who is driven to manipulate the politics of the greatest state in the union.

For the rest of today’s column click on Reisman.