FOR THE RECORD

Mayor Bloomberg last week once again reminded us that unless it's a controversy he feels passionately about, he likes to keep his opinions to himself on hot-button issues.

A published report about his meeting with city Republican leaders about getting the party's ballot line for his re-election bid stated that Mr. Bloomberg told the gathering that he had supported John McCain for President, notwithstanding his having remained publicly neutral.

But the Mayor told reporters when asked about that claim, "I didn't say that at all. I've never said who I voted for." Hinting at why he never made public his choice, which could have alienated the other candidate, he added, "I have to work with everybody in this city and work with whoever got elected." All he told the GOP leaders, Mr. Bloomberg maintained, was that "John McCain is a friend of mine."

That sort of straddling was reminiscent of what he did a week earlier when asked about a New York Post cartoon that many believed portrayed President Obama as a chimpanzee.

"The question is, should the Post apologize?" the Mayor said a day after the cartoon. "I think that is up to them. I'm not going to tell them how to run their business, but I do think that it would be constructive if they had a dialogue with the community."

Five days after the Mayor's equivocation, Post publisher Rupert Murdoch published an apology for the cartoon, even while insisting the chimp was not meant to represent Mr. Obama.

Over a lengthy career as "that guy who sings softly" in the Inner Circle, Marty Steadman roasted more than a few politicians during the annual charity spoof performed by past and present City Hall reporters.

Playing then-Vice President Dan Quayle he sang, to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Some say I'm just an airhead… " As Special Prosecutor Ken Starr, to the tune of the theme from "Titanic," he vowed to pursue President Clinton "near, far, wherever you are." And he mocked Mayors from Lindsay to Giuliani for their problems with snowstorms, simply updating his reworked lyrics to "Winter Wonderland."

Now it's his turn to be the guy on the spit.

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association is roasting Mr. Steadman for 40 years of serving as a spokesman and lobbyist at a dinner April 22 at the Garden City Country Club. We presume he was on leave for that part of the time when he served as a top adviser to Gov. Mario Cuomo, who is an honorary chairman of the roast along with his son Andrew, the State Attorney General, although with Mr. Steadman, nothing should be taken for granted.

That much can be deduced from the fact that before serving a man considered one of the state's most liberal Governors, he was press secretary in the 1969 mayoral campaign of Mario Procaccino, the conservative Democrat whose bid to unseat John Lindsay ran aground because the third man in the race was a fellow conservative, Republican nominee John Marchi.

Before that, Mr. Steadman was a hard-nosed reporter for the old Herald Tribune. His union work also included a stint as chief spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Tickets for the roast, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7, are $125, and those interested in attending should contact the UFOA by March 30 at (212) 293-9300.

Police Officer Douglas Crawford, who is currently assigned to the Medical Division, is in great need of a kidney transplant. The 8½-year veteran, who is undergoing kidney dialysis, requires help locating a compatible donor.

Retired Police Officer Angelo Grande, who has been serving as the PBA's disability retirement consultant, is also currently undergoing kidney dialysis.

All members of the service who are interested in learning more about the possibility of becoming a kidney donor are urged to contact Case Management Nurse Nilsa McNamara at the Medical Division at 718- 760-7623.

Donors must be in good health, have either Type O or Type A2 blood (other blood types may qualify as well) and cannot be on blood pressure medication or have taken it. Donors also cannot be diabetic or have parents who were diabetic.

Alfred O. Milton has been elected president of the Civil Service Merit Council, the watchdog group that advocates for the merit system in city hiring and promotions. He replaced Neal Tepel.