Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

It may seem as if Michael Bloomberg has it all. But money doesn't buy you everything, you know. All the riches in the world can't turn a nebbishy guy from Medford, Massachusetts into Tiger Woods, and so despite all the effort the mayor has put into improving his golf game since taking up the sport in 2000, he hasn't been able to improve all that much. But it's not like he doesn't want to. He's "obsessed" with the game, according to Christine Quinn. And it's not as if he isn't trying. He is. He really is.More

Happy Birthday | New York's 107th mayor—and the most famous drag queen in the city's history—is officially a senior citizen. It's Rudy Giuliani's 65th birthday today. Others celebrating: Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is turning 74. View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is 32. Gladys Knight is turning 65. Kylie Minogue is 41. Mark Sanford, the Governor of South Carolina, is turning 49. And singer John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 64 today.

Working on Michael Bloomberg's reelection campaign might just be the best job in town. He's got lots of money to spend, of course. (He's already shelled out more than $18 million since Jan. 12 despite little in the way of competition.) And then there are those rides aboard his jet, where expensive wine and sushi is always on the menu. He's paying his campaign staff pretty well, too, as Jason Horowitz discovered. And he's generous about looking beyond what others might consider unfortunate career blemishes. Take Bradley Tusk, the mayor's 35-year-old campaign manager, for example. Tusk once worked for Chuck Schumer's communications office and for Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall. But then he took a job as deputy governor of Illinois under now-disgraced Rod Blagojevich, and then left to join Lehman Brothers as a senior vice president. (We all know how that one turned out.) But Tusk has bounced back nicely. He's now making $27,500 a month to run Bloomberg's campaign. And he's not the only one doing well. A roundup of some of Bloomberg key campaign staffers—and their salaries—below. More

Last year, Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew filed a lawsuit against Duke University after the school kicked him off the golf team. Andrew claimed that Duke's golf coach had made up a series of allegations in order to force him off the team and had turned his classmates against him. The school (and the coach) countered by saying Giuliani had been dumped for "a variety of boorish acts, including assaulting a teammate, defying coaches, and violating 'both the rules and the spirit of the game of golf.'" (In other words, he behaved much the same way you'd expect given his equally boorish dad.) A judge finally weighed in yesterday and dismissed the lawsuit—but not before slipping in a series of references to Caddyshack in the process. Andrew shouldn't have any trouble putting this legal defeat behind him. As the Smoking Gun points out, "Giuliani graduated this month from Duke, so he's got that going for him."

Rudy Gears Up for 2010, Starts Off by Contradicting Himself | Rudy Giuliani has been waging war on gay marriage in recent days, part of a plan to firm up support with the Republican base in advance of a possible run for governor. This means he will probably not be attending the wedding of Howard Koeppel and Mark Hsaio—the couple that graciously provided Rudy with a place to crash folowing his split with Donna Hanover in 2001— who report today that they plan to tie the knot in Connecticut on May 2. Although the ex-mayor once promised the couple that he'd marry them himself if gay marriage ever became legal in New York, he now claims marriage "should remain between a man and woman." Or, in Rudy's case, a man and three different women, including his second cousin once removed. [NYP]

It was Drew Barrymore's big night at the Ziegfeld yesterday when the new HBO movie, Grey Gardens, had its premiere. On hand for the occasion and afterparty at the Pierre: Drew's co-stars Jessica Lange and Jeanne Tripplehorn, as well as guests like Justin Long (left), Jimmy Fallon,  Rudy and Judi Giuliani, Stanley Tucci, Steve Buscemi, Gay Talese, Arthur Sulzberger, Dan Abrams, Roger Friedman, Hilary Rhoda, Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Peter Som, Jason Wu, Erin Fetherston, Kristin Wiig, Tony Sirico, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Aerin Lauder, Albert Maysles, Ashleigh Banfield and Howard Gould, Monet Mazur, Debbie Harry, Selita Eubanks, the Beastie Boys' Mike D, Ad-Roc, and MCA, Aleksandra Baryshnikov, BD Wong, and the film's director, Michael Sucsy. [PMc, Wireimage, Getty, LAT, FWD]More

Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society hosted a screening of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh last night at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Guests at the screening included the film's stars Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard (left), along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Wintour, Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson, Gilles Bensimon, Rachel Roy, Amy Sacco, Rachel Zoe, Beth Ostrosky, Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Jessica Joffe, Zoe Kravitz, Stefano Tonchi, Marina Rust Connor, Jennifer Creel, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richchofen, Carlos Souza, Marcus Schenkenberg, Rosanna Scotto, Emma Roberts, Brittny Gastineau, Irina Pantaeva, Kiera Chaplin, Lisa Anastos, Jackie Astier, Kim Heirston, Nur Khan, Gilles Mendel, Bobby Kennedy III, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Olympic fencers Tim Morehouse and Jason Rogers. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, Paper, FWD]More

Rudy Is Just Another Victim of the Recession | Rudy Giuliani's consulting business isn't the moneymaker it once was. The ex-mayor's firm, Giuliani Partners, has lost a number of clients and top execs in recent months, and now has about half the number of employees it had at its peak a couple of years ago. Some suggest the decline can be attributed to the recession, or perhaps all the time he spends out of the office making public appearances and tending to his law firm, Bracewell and Giuliani. (Or maybe  his golf obsession has returned?) But leave it to Giuliani boosters to find a way to spin it into a positive: "Some said not having a raft of new clients could be helpful should he run for statewide office—since his business dealings become fodder for opposition research during the presidential run." [NYP]

The Mayor's New Glorified Conference Room | You can now take a panoramic tour of Michael Bloomberg's snazzy new "Situation Room," the place he's supposed to sneak off to in case of emergency and where, if something disastrous happens, you'll find him "huddled with his cabinet members and glued to CNN." (Apparently the mayor has a fave cable news channel.) But before you get any crazy ideas about the "tastefully accoutered" command center, the mayor would also like you to know he built his for $2.5 million, a lot less than the $15 million Rudy Giuliani wasted on a room that had its own gas-proof ventilation system. That's probably still a bit too much given it's roughly the size of your bedroom, but at least he's headed in the right direction. [NYT]

• Sad news for those of you who expected "Real Housewife" Luann de Lesseps to be with her count in shining armor forever. The couple is now splitting up, reportedly because the count is getting serious with an "Ethiopian woman in Geneva." On the plus side, Luann should be able to hold on to her title as "Countess," which is the only thing that matters anyway. [P6]
• Queen Latifah has been sued by her former "beauty and style consultants" for not paying $1 million in fees. [NYP]
• Jennifer Lopez brought 11 pieces of luggage with her on her weekend trip to Japan. Even worse: They were of the cheap, non-designer variety. [DM]
• Soho House is kicking out the finance-types and says it plans to get back to its "artsy roots." Good luck with that. [P6]More

Rudy: Ice Cream Lover, Reckless Driver | Barack Obama is sitting behind a desk in the Oval Office this morning, charged with carrying out the most important job in the country. How is former presidential contender Rudy Giuliani passing the time these days? He's eating ice cream and violating traffic laws, apparently. A tipster tells Page2Live that the ex-mayor "abandoned his dark blue set of wheels in the middle of a turn lane" in Palm Beach yesterday, so he could pick up some sugar-free cappuccino ice cream at Sprinkles Café. Guess it's a good thing Palm Beach doesn't have an overly aggressive mayor who insists on punishing traffic offenders to the fullest extent of the law. [Page2Live]

• Conservative radio is expecting a big boost once Obama takes office. Also, Fred Thompson, not Rudy Giuliani, will take over Bill O'Reilly's slot. [NYT]
• Publishers don't seem to be very interested in Laura Bush's memoir. [NYer]
• After a three-day blackout, China has unblocked the Times' website. [NYT]
• Is Chris Matthews running for office or sticking with NBC? [THR]
• The AP's list of top 10 news stories of 2008. [AP]
• Politico's list of the top 10 media blunders of 2008. [Politico]
• A list of the biggest media losers of 2008. [Business Sheet]

• Rudy Giuliani is reportedly in negotiations to take over Bill O'Reilly's syndicated radio show when he steps down early next year. Whether Rudy could handle sitting still for three hours a day and what effect this would have on his rumored plans to run for office, remain unclear. [P6]
• Jennifer Aniston is "bizarrely obsessed" with Angelina Jolie, says OK! The proof: She wore a dress that was "almost an exact copy" of something Angie once wore, and she can't stop talking about the couple to friends. [OK!] 
• Madonna now says the financial details her publicist Liz Rosenberg released last week concerning her divorce settlement with Guy Ritchie were "misleading and inaccurate." [People, Mirror]
• Anderson Cooper was supposedly spotted shopping for sweaters with a "young Frenchman" at Barneys Co-Op. Wait, what happened to Julio? [P6]More

The list of election '08 losers is a long one: There's John McCain, of course, who will die angry and bitter, notwithstanding his rather gracious concession speech last night. Steve Schmidt, McCain's chief strategist, will probably have trouble finding a Little League team to advise, unless he manages to redeem himself somehow. From Republicans on the Hill to GOP strategists to snowmobile and hunting enthusiasts, plenty of people will feel the cold wind of electoral defeat for a long time to come. After the jump, a roundup of New York City's nine biggest losers. More

Wondering who are New York restaurateurs backing this election season? Not John McCain. Grub Street combed through the data and of the 33 political donations they located, none—not a single one—went to McCain. The most generous contributor was Amy Rubenstein, the co-owner of Peter Luger's (and the wife of PR kingpin Howard) who handed over $5,600 to Obama, Clinton, and Giuliani. The award for most surprising donation? That would be Sirio Maccioni, who gave $2,300 donation to Rudy Giuliani despite the fact the former mayor once confessed that he used to throw up after eating at Le Cirque because the food was so rich. [Grub Street]