NEW YORK OVERNIGHT : It’s Crystal Clear Italians Don’t Like Billy’s Joke

BILLY CRYSTAL’S OSCAR joke angers Italians: Comedian Billy Crystal wasn’t very funny when he “took a cheap shot” at Italians during Monday night’s 62nd Annual Academy Awards telecast, two major Italian-American organizations charged today.

In separate wires, the Coalition of Italo-American Organizations here and the National Italian American Foundation in Washington, D.C., charged that Billy insulted them when he joked that the proposed purchase of MGM by an Italian businessman would mean the famous lion would no longer roar but take the Fifth instead.

“It was a cheap shot joke against Italian Americans,” the Washington-based group wired Crystal. “There is a fine line between ethnic humor and negative stereotyping. We feel (you) crossed that line.”

Meanwhile, Coalition Chairman William Fugazy said he’d been “inundated” with calls from his organization’s membership.

NUMBER ONE: Barbara Walters doesn’t know it yet but she’s the first woman to be named recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award from Marist College in Poughkeepsie. She’s on vacation in the Middle East until April 11. Previous winners include Walter Cronkite, Eric Severeid, David Brinkley and Howard K. Smith. The award will be presented at a luncheon on April 19 at the Helmsley Palace.

NIXON ON TAPE: Richard M. Nixon now says that he doesn’t think he should have accepted a pardon from Gerald R. Ford because it was seen by many as an admission of guilt, the former President asserts in the three-hour recorded version of his new memoir “In the Arena.”

Nixon states: “In retrospect, I would say that Watergate was one part wrongdoing, one part blundering and one part political vendetta. By far, the hardest blow was the pardon. My primary reason for resigning was to avoid having a President of the United States in the dock for alleged illegal activities.”

‘GYPSY’ TO GET new leading lady? There may be some “Gypsy” in Linda Lavin’s soul. The Tony Award winner is at the front of the line to replace Tyne Daly in the starring role of the hit musical revival at the St. James. Daly is signed up until the end of July.