Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Anthony Weiner is finally admitting that he'd probably be New York City's mayor-elect right now if he hadn't made the decision last spring to remain on the sidelines. Not that he has any regrets, of course. Had he elected to run, he would have totally neglected his responsibilities in Washington and then he wouldn't have been able to play such a central role in passing health care legislation. Obviously! Weiner also says that if he'd jumped into the race, Mayor Bloomberg would have been forced to spend $150 million on his campaign (instead of the $90 million he spent going up against Bill Thompson), since Bloomberg's advisers "were afraid" of him. So Weiner saved the mayor $60 million? Sounds like someone deserves a gift, Mr. Mayor. [NYT]

That sure was close, wasn't it? Going into the election, pollsters and pundits were predicting a double-digit win for Michael Bloomberg. But for all the money he spent ($157.27 per vote, compared to Thompson's $13.12), flashy endorsements he lined up, political rivals he forced into submission—and even with an opponent like Thompson who never quite got his act together—Bloomberg only managed to win by five percentage points. Yesterday's results will have implications for years to come, of course. We've rounded up a few of the early winners and losers below.More

Ivanka Remembers Mike, Forgets Jared | The good news for Ivanka Trump: She did remember to go out and vote today and displayed a surprising amount of courage and independence by breaking with her father and throwing her support behind underdog Bill Thompson. (Just kidding!) The bad news: She forgot to wear her giant wedding ring when she appeared on The View this morning. Elisabeth Hasselbeck wasn't happy about it. But really, how do you expect someone to fully concentrate when democracy is in action? Cut the lady some slack! [Twitter, People]

Election Day has arrived, which means if you live in New York City, you have until 9pm to go to the polls to cast your vote for the next mayor. Is it even worth trekking to your local polling station given Mike Bloomberg locked in a third term ages ago? Probably not, but you'll be doing your democratic duty and for that you can be proud. (If you skip it and you're a Bill Thompson supporter, take comfort in the fact that a low turnout is something Thompson is hoping for.) If you live in New Jersey, it's a very different story. Gov. Corzine and Chris Christie are neck in neck, every vote will count, and a winner may not emerge until late into the night. So decide between the lady-loving bald dude or the thieving fat man and get to it. [Photo: Flickr]

Mike and Bill Meet One Last Time | If you skipped the debate between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson, you probably made the right choice. For better or worse, nothing that happened last night is going to change what happens next week. And if you just wanted to watch two politicians verbally pummel each other for an hour, you could turn on a cable news channel at any time of the day or night. Then again you did miss opportunity to see the bilingual mayor casually break into Spanish for no apparent reason! More

Bill Thompson's Last Stand | Bill Thompson doesn't stand much of a chance at winning next week's mayoral election. But the two will face off once again this evening for their second and final debate. (Thompson will have to deliver "the political equivalent of an Oscar-performance" if he has any hope of turning things around, says Michael Barbaro of the Times.) Don't think the mayor is coasting on his lead, or on the $85 million he's spent on his campaign thus far. He's taking tonight's debate seriously: "Mr. Bloomberg seems to be taking no chances on Tuesday: there are no events other than the debate on his schedule, allowing him to spend the day preparing for the confrontation." Either that or he's figured out that it's an excellent excuse to take the day off and chill out at home, which it is. [NYT]

Bloomberg Blowout? | With the elections eight days away, Mayor Bloomberg has widened his lead. He's now ahead by 18 percentage points, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, which is up from 16 points last week. [NYT]

Bill Thompson Isn't the Anal-Retentive Sort | According to today's Times, mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is "starved for publicity." We have a feeling that the article in which that tidbit appears wasn't the sort of publicity he had in mind, unfortunately:More

Bill Thompson now trails Mayor Bloomberg by 16 percentage points in the polls, which is a bit of a setback for Thompson since he'd narrowed the lead to 9 percentage points back in September. But shouldn't Bloomberg's lead be bigger right now, especially given how much cash he's spent on his wildly overpriced campaign? More

Billy Thompson Leaves the House Empty-Handed | Poor Bill Thompson. As much as he'd like to hear President Obama publicly endorse his candidacy for mayor, he just can't seem to get him to utter the words. At last night's Democratic National Committee event at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Obama did make mention of Thompson. ("Our candidate for mayor, my friend Billy Thompson, is in the house.") But it clearly wasn't what Thompson had been hoping for. When asked if he considered the Obama shout-out to be an endorsement—he did say "our candidate," after all!—Thompson put it bluntly: "No. Do you consider that an endorsement?" [Politico, NYT, NYDN]

Bill Thompson, Stealth Candidate | As if Bill Thompson doesn't have enough to worry about as it is as he faces off against Mike Bloomberg, it seems that some New Yorkers have yet to figure out that the low-profile candidate happens to be black: "Ask Malcolm Woods, an African-American barista at the Common Grounds coffee shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, if he is inspired that there is a black candidate for mayor, and you get a surprised look. 'There is?' he asked." [NYT]

Did you watch the debate between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson last night? Or did you conclude it would be a big waste of time since the election was predetermined before the campaigning even began and you figured that if you did tune in and you happened to find yourself enamored with Thompson, it would only lead to heartbreak next month when he's clobbered at the polls?  More

You know that Mike Bloomberg is running for a third term next month, of course. And you may even be familiar with the Democrat running against him, Bill Thompson. (If you haven't had a chance to familiarize yourself with Thompson's platform, you can watch him go up against Bloomberg in a debate this evening.)  But are you familiar with the seven other people who will be on the ballot this November? More

President Obama endorsed Bill Thompson in the race for mayor today. But he managed to do so without uttering the words himself (Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs delivered the news) and without referring to Thompson by name (Gibbs described as the "Democratic nominee").  And then he followed up by complimenting Mayor Bloomberg, just to hedge a bit more: More

Thompson's Unlikely Prospects Now Even More Unlikely | Bill Thompson won the Democratic primary for mayor by a substantial margin last week and he started airing his first TV commercial. So he's probably made a dent in Mayor Bloomberg's lead, hasn't he? Not so much, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning:More