Pat Kiernan -- the NY1 morning anchor New Yorkers love to love -- was name-checked in the latest in a seemingly endless series of Sh-t People Say videos, cementing his status as a NYC cult hero.

The characters in Sh-t New Yorkers Say are unfazed when they spot national celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, and Mario Batali, but a possible Kiernan sighting causes one to chew on his fist in excitement.

Kiernan is referenced three times in the two-and-half minute video created by brother-sister team Eliot and Ilana Glazer, which ends with the ode: I love you Pat Kiernan.

The Canadian-born Kiernan has been welcomed with open arms by New Yorkers for whom his morning show is a daily fixture. The most popular segment of this show -- In the Papers, a roundup of his favorite stories from newspapers across the country -- now has its own website, PatsPapers.com.

In addition to his NY1 duties, Kiernan hosts a trivia night at The Bell House in Brooklyn, which routinely sells out. (His next trivia date is Wednesday, Jan. 25.)

Kiernan is one of the few public figures that even the most cynical New York hipsters have free license to adore without irony.

This is probably due to the self-affirming nature of our affection for him. Kiernan is known for his dry, keep-you-on-your toes sense of humor - anyone who 'gets' it can feel good about themselves. Also, because he is a local and not a national public figure, he reinforces a sense of New Yorker pride. And of course, there's the ubiquitous Real New Yorker NY1 ad campaign that shamelessly -- and effectively -- taps into New Yorkers' collective fetishizing of authenticity and upmarket street-smarts.

(NY1 is the 24-hour news station owned and exclusively operated by Time Warner Cable, giving the cable provider a significant competitive edge over competing carriers -- something Time Warner ads won't let us forget.)

We're thrilled that Pat Kiernan is getting the recognition he truly deserves -- and in one of the better Sh-t Girls Say spinoffs, to boot. We just hope he doesn't become so famous that his capricious audience turns on him.

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