Mayor Bloomberg acknowledges he now wears hearing aid

You have to admit that for being a nearly 68-year-old guy running the biggest city in the country, Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn't showing his age much.

He runs just about every day and is as trim as anyone who exercises, watches trans fats and salt in his diet and doesn't smoke. Of course, having a few billion dollars in the bank doesn't hurt his stress level either.

But time and age do seem to be catching up with Hizzoner. For at least a few days now, Bloomberg has been wearing a hearing aid. Newsday spotted him on Wednesday with one of the tiny, flesh colored devices. Other reporters said he sported one Tuesday when he was observing Groundhog Day on Staten Island.

"I couldn't hear what you said," a facetious Bloomberg told reporters Thursday when asked about his hearing aid, which he didn't appear to be wearing.

But when pressed, Bloomberg took a more serious and philosophical turn.

"Everybody's got to deal with getting older, the way they get older. I've said this a thousand times" Bloomberg said.

He then held forth about the need to help older people - particularly those who can't see or hear as well - with red-light cameras to stop speeders. But as useful as the cameras are, Bloomberg said the city hasn't been able to get approval from Albany to get more.

"It's seniors that keep getting killed at our street corners because Albany won't let us put red-light cameras," Bloomberg said.

A mayoral aide later explained that for years the city has been capped by Albany at 150 red-light cameras. That isn't enough and the city loses out on the revenue more cameras could generate, the aide said.

Back to the hearing aid issue, Bloomberg said one of his few concessions to aging up until now is the wearing of contact lenses.

"I don't know why anybody would be surprised," said Bloomberg, particularly since he used to wear glasses.