Live from New York, it’s Jim and Katie!

Jim Carney, Katie Byard, Patrick Carney

Jim Carney only left the BJ on Thursday but already he’s enjoying his retirement – by prowling New York City with wife Katie Byard, still a BJ reporter, while they get ready to watch Jim’s son, Patrick Carney, perform on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” tonight.

Wrote Katie: “I walked like 18,000 steps today.”

Jim’s Facebook post: “For all my newsroom buddies. Love you all. Time it was and what a time it was.”

Jim joined Jewell Cardell, Bill Lilley, Olga Reswow, Laura Ofobike and Dave Scott in taking the BJ buyout, which included a year’s pay, to reduce the newstaff staff number into the 50s.

Since 2001, the BJ has lost nearly 1,200 years of BJ experience with its draconian people throwaways. Based on my example (26 years at the BJ, 43 on newspapers, for 60% of that at the BJ) that would be 2,000 years of total newspaper experience.

I feel for Managing Editor Doug Oplinger, who came to the BJ as a baby-faced teenager from Green Township. He must feel like the First Mate on the Titanic