New York, New York...New York?

If the front-runners win nomination for ’08, New York will have its first Presidential Subway Series in history.

But a weirder scenario may be in the works--a three-way contest of New Yorkers for the White House, with Mike Bloomberg running as an Independent.

In that case, how will the shy inhabitants of the city that the Rev. Jesse Jackson once fondly called “Hymietown” react to all the national attention?

Bloomberg, positioned as a leading moderate, may see an opening between Rudy Giuliani, who Mayored his way into America’s heart after 9/11 but is now cheerleading for Bush in Iraq, and Hillary Clinton, the polarizing Chappaqua matron from Illinois, Yale and Arkansas.

New York’s current Mayor, a billionaire, is financially positioned to make a late entry early next year if voters seem to be lukewarm about his neighbors.

At the very least, this three-way race should be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.