He’s Big Apple to the core

Los Angeles is a good place to visit, but “The Daily Show’s” Gotham-centric Jon Stewart definitely wouldn’t want to live here. In town recently, picking up awards for the show from the Television Critics Assn., he thanked Comedy Central for “allowing us the freedom to do what we do,”adding, “We don’t come to Los Angeles much, but it’s clear that this is not a city that trusts people. And we don’t like it here.”

How does he really feel about L.A.? Some excerpts from his post-awards riff:

The no-holds-barred comic says he really doesn’t understand the “purpose” of Los Angeles, which, unlike New York -- a harbor town founded to trade goods and services -- is “a place where someone said, ‘This looks like a good place to make a picture.’ From what I understand, [there] used to be oranges [here], which sounds very delicious. So I’m not really sure why they would take out the oranges to put in these places that don’t seem to have a purpose.

“It reminds me of Vegas in that sense of, it’s a reminder to nature that we can take it if we want. Vegas is right near the Grand Canyon, a little message to nature that ‘we can build whatever we want around here, we’re letting you stay. You’re lucky!’ ”

And for those in show biz, “It’s like living in a 24-hour audition. If someone says, ‘We’re having a barbecue,’ it’s not really a barbecue, it’s a meet and greet where a producer is going to pitch you [projects]. I’m far lazier than that. I need to sit at home in a place where no one cares. New York is that place.”

Looks like there won’t be a special week of “Daily Shows” taping from L.A. any time soon.

-- Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn