News 12 The Bronx anchor Matt Pieper thought the station was off the air when he launched into a tirade against welfare families while preparing to “toss” to field reporter Amy Yensi for a story on school crossing guards.

“Parents should do their fucking job and walk their little kids to school on their own, and not rely on everyone else,” Pieper said. “Kind of like people rely on government assistance for their entire lives.”

Yensi reacted by saying she thought she qualified for government assistance, following up her remarks with “hashtag E-B-T!” A hashtag is a popular feature used for categorizing posts on social media services; E-B-T refers to a debit card-style system of payment most welfare recipients use to purchase groceries and pay bills.

Pieper was seen adjusting his tie and picking his nose before the station dumped in to a commercial break.

After video of the gaffe was posted online, the regional cable channel apologized on its Facebook page.

“As a result of a technical error during a program break this morning, a personal conversation between an anchor and a reporter was unintentionally placed on the air,” the station said. “Steps have been taken to deal with the employees involved and resolve the technical issues. We take this incident extremely seriously and we sincerely apologize to all who may have been offended.”

Pieper and Yensi have since deleted their Facebook and Twitter accounts.