Time to Get Down with Time

If you're going to do an issue about the 100 People Who Shape Our World, you might as well have a big party, right? Time magazine rolled out the red carpet last night for people on its list, their friends, and the press. Gothamist stopped by the party just ahead of Stephen Colbert. We were not wearing a bear costume, so he wasn't that afraid of us. And perennial favorite, Rachael Ray, showed up all glammy, alternating poses with and without her A.C.H.M. (Arm Candy Husband Meat).

As befitting a newsweekly, there were a lot of politicians and pundits in the crowd: Bill O'Reilly, Al Franken, Ann Coulter, Senator John McCain (whose selection as the New School commencement speaker will be protested today), Ralph Nader, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, Arianna Huffington. Sadly, we did not see Franken and O'Reilly together (Franken did chat with Nader, when he wasn't hanging with Time reporter Matthew Cooper). But there were also lots of entertainers: P. Diddy (Sean Combs, as his Time 100 entry calls him), Isabella Rossellini, Will Smith, George Lucas, Daddy Yankee, the Dixie Chicks, Harvey Weinstein, Regis Philbin. We saw Police Commissioner Ray Kelly head to the bar and marveled that even at a swank event like this, the celebrities have to fend for themselves.

Time-Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons was there, of course. Parsons made the New York magazine Influentials list, but probably can't be on the Time list because it would look awkward. But a lot of the Influentials on the New York list were at the party, making us ask when there would be a list of the Influential People who Shape and Influence Our World 100 Times Over. Gothamist had to go early, given our bedtime and perverse need to check out the Lincoln Center scene for David Blaine's stunt, but others were keeping tabs:

- Fishbowl NY's photographs and party coverage (argh! we missed J. Lo!)
- Photographs of the red carpet from WireImage (argh! we missed Mayor B!)
- Gawker got blocked by Malcom Gladwell, but thank God there are Team Party Crash pictures
- And Rocketboom gets up in celebrities' faces on the red carpet

What did you think of the Time 100 list? And how many of the entries were written by their friends, sort in that social-networking testimonial way? Oh, and the event was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center which is just gorgeous. The next event there is the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band Ensemble next Wednesday; tickets are $25.