Never mind that city managers delayed the rollout of emergency planning until it was too late, never mind that it was a huge snowfall that required streets to be replowed several times, Republican New York City Councilman David Halloran tells Rupert Murdoch's NY Post that anonymous informants have told him the problems in New York were all a plot by public unions to hold the city hostage.

"They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot. Halloran said he met with three plow workers from the Sanitation Department -- and two Department of Transportation supervisors who were on loan -- at his office after he was flooded with irate calls from constituents.

So who are these people? Halloran won't identify them. They are "afraid of retaliation" he says. But given that two of the five alleged "informants" don't even work for the Sanitation Department, from whom exactly do they fear reprisal? Halloran doesn't say. Moreover, if sanitation really was staging a slowdown, why did it bother to get staffing from other agencies? And if the "informants" he met with really are feeling so guilty about this supposed slowdown, why did they take time away from plowing to visit his office? Again, he doesn't say.

Halloran's claim seems just a bit too convenient, especially given that it started with a Murdoch publication. But even if it's totally false, it's obviously difficult to disprove. Mayor Bloomberg is saying the claim should be investigated, and it's easy to see why he'd want the spotlight shifted from his own behind, but if that investigation shows that Halloran was full of crap, then it's Halloran who should be investigated -- for lying to the public.