A new word entered the Big Apple lexicon this week, and its not a happy one.Tertiary, despite managing to simultaneously sound like both euphemistic bureaucratese and ripping flesh, is a Latinate word that means, simply, third. In a classification system with only three levels, tertiary, alas, means last.And in New York City, tertiary means it takes three days for the city to plow your street.Thats not its literal meaning, of course. In plowmans parlance, tertiary streets are the ones that feed into (and get plowed after) secondary streets, which are streets that feed into (and get plowed after) arterial streets, also known as thoroughfares and main drags.But the effect is undeniable: New Yorkers ended up feeling like third-class residents of a third-rate burg, left to clutch their bronze medals in the race for basic city services.

However, at the bottom of Pandora's box lurks ... :

And those of you who blame Mr. Bloomberg for this whole mess, remember: his mayoralty is in its tertiary stage.

Enjoy the rest with the Veuve Clicquot (even its tertiary label is "mmorable")!