Tynan erased from 9/11 history after stray comment
However, 10 years on and he’s no longer being asked to sing at Yankee Stadium or to take part in the 10-year commemoration and was also omitted from a page in the team’s media guide devoted to the 2001 memorial ceremonies.
And it’s all because of a comment he made about two Jewish women who were considering moving into his apartment complex.
According to Tynan, the comment was misinterpreted. “I felt desperately isolated. I got death threats. I got powder sent through the mail. I was abandoned. It was very frightening.”
Tynan had sung at the interfaith ceremony on September 23, 2001, and at the Yankees’ first home game two days later and many times since then.
This all ended in October two years ago when a Dr Gabrielle Gold-von Simson was being shown around an apartment near Tynan’s.
A few weeks earlier, two Jewish ladies were shown the apartment and Tynan spoke to them, telling them he was a tenor.
“Their response was hilarious,” he said. They said, ‘Huh!’ and just left.”
Tynan asked the estate agent about Gold-von Simson. The realtor told him not to worry, as she wasn’t a Red Sox fan, and Tynan said he replied, “As long as it’s not those Jewish ladies. That would be scary.”
Gold-von Simson was so insulted she contacted the Yankees, who severed ties with Tynan the next day. He apologised to her and made a donation to the charity of her choice. However, the tabloids ran with the story and Tynan was branded an anti-Semite.
