February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“It’s a great honor to put this on,” he said. “I know you know my record from the other side, but whether you wear pinstripes or red socks, you sing a song about a great country, and that’s what it’s really about.”
Tynan, who had sung “God Bless America” for years at Yankee Stadium, recently moved to Boston from New York following a controversy involving allegations that he had made an anti-Semitic slur to a realtor who was showing an adjacent apartment to a Jewish physician, Gabrielle Gold-von Simson.
The realtor reportedly told Tynan that he need not worry because the physician and the prospective tenants were not Red Sox fans, prompting Tynan to reply, “As long as they’re not those Jewish ladies,” referring to a couple who had previously turned down the unit after Tynan told them that he liked to sing in his apartment.
Taking strong exception to those words and evidently unaware of their context, the physician subsequently notified the Yankees and the local media. Since then, Tynan has been the recipient of hate mail and negative feedback from New Yorkers.
Tynan seemed to be relieved to be in Boston.
“I’m very proud that I adopted this great country as my country, and thank you Boston for accepting me,” he told the breakfast revelers.
Although there is no word yet from Red Sox officials about whether Tynan will be performing at Fenway Park, the home opener for the Sox is on April 4, and it’s against the New York Yankees.