A couple weeks ago, Taylor Swift was named New York City’s Global Welcome Ambassador. The announcement caused much of the city to grumble endlessly into their egg creams. “She just moved here! Fuhgeddaboudit! I bet she couldn’t even tell a fried knish from a baked one if given a blind taste-test!†shouted a New Yorker who moved to the city three months before Taylor did. Finally, someone is coming to her defense: Billy Joel. “I see the New York press going, ‘Taylor Swift is going to be the new New York representative?’†Joel told USA Today, mocking the incredulousness. “You snoots. Let her in. That’s what New York is all about. I say, ‘Welcome.’†Coming from a New Yorker with songs about both uptown girls and Italian restaurants, that’s high praise. Joel continued by saying he thinks Swift is a “talented songwriter.†“She catches a lot of junk, maybe because she’s so popular with young girls. But I like what she’s projecting. I respect what she’s doing.†Countdown to a duet starts now. Somewhere, a Grammy producer is foaming at the mouth.