While the husbands were off discussing international affairs at the U.N., Michelle Obama and 31 other state wives headed up to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for a farm-fresh lunch with local schoolchildren. After the first ladies and the local third graders harvested vegetables and collected eggs, everyone sat down to a lunch of vegetables from Stone Barns and from the White House garden. The lunch dovetailed with Michelle Obama's campaign against childhood obesity, and she applauded Blue Hill's work in getting people more connected to their food: "Many of the kids may never learn that ketchup comes from a tomato or that french fries actually come from a potato...When they grow it and they touch it and they taste it, they believe in it more than anything we could tell them." more ›

Michelle Obama took her mother, daughters, and three of their friends to acclaimed Brooklyn pizzeria Grimaldi's yesterday, and what started out as a casual lunch is now reigniting longstanding tensions between two bitterly warring factions: the Chicago-style pizza crowd vs. NYC. more ›

While the eyes of America were on the floor of the House of Representatives for yesterday's historic vote on health care reform, First Lady Michelle Obama turned to Broadway, surprising a Memphis matinee audience by arriving just before the 3 p.m. curtain with her mother and daughters Malia and Sasha. There was no announcement accompanying their entrance, but one audience member tells the Daily News, "When they came in, everybody noticed and started taking pictures. Then people started clapping too and there was a standing ovation for them." Twitter user pooniepoonster may have summed up the reaction best: "OMFG MICHELLE OBAMA AND HER GIRLS are sitting 4 rows behind me at Memphis." (Apparently even when you're married to the President, pooniepoonster can still score better seats.) more ›

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made their first, joint trip to NYC a "personal" one—it was date night for the First Couple. The President released a statement explaining, "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished." more ›

Yesterday Michelle Obama was in town for a second time since becoming the First Lady, this visit emphasizing the important role of the arts. She helped reopen the newly renovated American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (where she commented on how she spent her first date with the President at a museum), and later on attended the American Ballet Theatre's Spring Gala. With our cultural institutions suffering during the current financial climate, it's nice to hear the First Lady remind people, "Nearly 6 million people make their living in the nonprofit arts industry. Arts and cultural activities contribute more than $160 billion to our economy every year." more ›

First Lady Michelle Obama is in New York City today. She spoke at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations this afternoon, where she drew a small crowd. According to Newsday, "Dozens of star-struck workers waved, called and snapped pictures with their cell phones." Before her visit, some protesters (drawing attention to the troubles in Darfur) were outside while the Secret Service and other authorities checked the premises (it took a golden retriever bomb-sniffing dog about 30 minutes to check the property). And for the fashionistas, looks like she's wearing the Tracy Feith dress she wore the day after the Inauguration. more ›

Today the New Museum will unveil a painting "in tribute to incoming First Lady Michelle Obama." The portrait, titled "Michelle and Sasha Obama Listening to Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention August 2008," will be a new component to the exhibition Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton. Stop by the 4th floor to see it for yourself! more ›

President George Bush gave his final State of the Union address, sounding positive about his leadership but also noting that there's still more to do: "From expanding opportunity to protecting our country, we have made good progress. Yet we have unfinished business before us, and the American people expect us to get it done." (You can read the entire text here.) more ›

Mayor Bloomberg may deny any desire to run for president in 2008, but his non-NYC homework seems to suggest otherwise. According to the Huffington Post, he has regular foreign policy briefing session "on a wide variety of topics...from non-proliferation to the defense budget, with a specific focus on the war in Iraq." Who has been briefing him? Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and an adviser during the Clinton administration Nancy Soderberg: "One source... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on 127th St. and Morningside Ave. in Manhattan, a stabbing at East 96th St. and Rutland Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on Guy R. Blvd. in Queens.
• That huge fire visible across the Hudson last night was a blaze that consumed a sailboat docked in Weehawken, NJ.
• A cyclist was hit by several different cars while on the Manhattan Bridge this week.
• Rev. Al Sharpton marched in DC this week to call for widespread racial justice.
• Muddy paths and trails through the woods may not be NYC's strong suit, but NYU has a nationally ranked cross-country track team.
• The B Train only scored a "C-" in the MTA's most recent survey of riders.
• First Lady Laura Bush visited the city to honor an elementary school teacher.
• Almost 15,000 families stand to lose their homes in the ongoing credit-crunch sub-prime mortgage meltdown.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn't totally eschewed the Republican party. According to the NY Sun, the Democrat-turned- Republican-turned- independent will be "entertaining" Nancy Reagan "as well as hosting a fund-raiser for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library." Like the former First Lady, Bloomberg has progressive views on health and science issues (like stem cells). And Bloomberg has been known to host many fund-raisers for various people and causes. But some suspect that Bloomberg might be looking for... more ›

We've said before that Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend (or companion, which is what the NY Times refers to her as) Diana Taylor seems like a classy lady, unlike some other mayor's girlfriends. But we don't know much about her, except that she went to Dartmouth (Mayor Bloomberg accompanied her on an alumni weekend there), she worked in senior management at Keyspan, she was the state's superintendent of banking under Pataki, she was shortlisted by President Bush to run the FDIC but then her nomination got nixed, and she was recently named to the Hudson River Park Trust. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

First Lady Laura Bush visited a school on the Lower East Side with Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials yesterday. The first lady, a former school librarian, announced a $1.3 million grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for school libraries across the country to update their book collections. Twenty-eight schools in the city will get grants up to $5,000, including the the Island School on East Houston. The Post reports that the Island School's head librarian Lewis Lhana, who conducts puppets shows, had one of the puppets "gentle dragon Qualia" tell Mayor Bloomberg he smelled "like a rocket ship." more ›

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After your eyes adjust from the clutter of baseball coverage and win-millions-type games, you may notice that Judith Giuliani, the woman the former mayor says would make a "wonderful first lady," is on the covers of both the Post and Daily News. Congratulations on the exacta, Judi! more ›

Set your DVRs, because tomorrow night's 20/20 should be a doozy. The Barbara Walters interview with Rudy and Judith Giuliani will air, and they talk about marriages (and divorces), their first meeting ("instant" attraction), and how Rudy would be fine if Judi sat in on policy meetings at the White House. Oh, yes. According to ABC News' preview, Giuliani says, "If [the meetings] were relevant to something that she was interested in. I mean that would be something that I'd be very, very comfortable with." more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's longtime girlfriend Diana Taylor is known as the "de facto" First Lady of the city. She was recently the State Banking Superintendent, with previous stints as a VP at Keyspan and CFO of LIPA, and will be working at Wolfensohn & Company, an investment firm, in a few days. Her fashion sense has been praised in Vogue, yet she stands by her man when he wears shorts and white socks. In other words, she flies under the radar. more ›

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Superbowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. more ›

Note to all politicians: If you need a shot of adrenalin at one of your events, get subway superhero Wesley Autrey on board. Because when President Bush cited Autrey's amazing rescue of another subway rider who had fallen into the tracks, we feel that Autrey brought down the house. Bush said:

Three weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls, when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails, and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he's not a hero. He says: "We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We have got to show each other some love." There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey.

- From Mean Girls more ›

It's global leader week in the city, and many who work, live and travel through East Midtown know that as intense security and more traffic are evident (plea from the Mayor: "Take mass transit"), especially as the President will address the United Nations today. Yesterday, President George Bush and First Lady Laura attended a conference on global literacy sponsored by the White House at the New York Public Library, but the bigger question was whether or not the President would come face to face with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since Bush refuses to discuss Iran's nuclear program at the United Nations until Iran suspends uranium enrichment (though French President Jacques Chirac suggested that Iran doesn't necessarily need to suspend its program yesterday), people were atwitter at the possibility of a run-in. more ›

Yesterday, President Bush arrived in New York City for September 11 anniversary rites. He and First Lady Laura Bush went to Ground Zero to lay memorial wreaths at the reflecting pools in the World Trade Center's footprints. They also visited a firehouse near Ground Zero and attended a memorial service at St. Paul's Chapel. Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Pataki, and former Mayor Giuliani, who all accompanied the Bushes to Ground Zero, were also at the memorial, as were Senators Schumer and Clinton. The Bushes will be visiting a firehouse on Pitt Street this morning in the city and will later travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed. Then, at 9PM, the President will be in the White Houes and will address the country at 9PM. more ›

Conan O'Brien gave the commencement speech to Stuyvesant High School students, and thank God for YouTube. To win over the crowd, he slams grandparents and Bronx Science right out of the gate and later he mentions that he researched Stuyvesant using Wikipedia. Gothamist hopes Stuyvesant Class of 2006 knows how lucky they were, as their commencement speakers are probably down hill from here. And certainly this is better PR for Stuyvesant than cuddle groups on the cover of New York magazine (we think!). more ›

International cinema circles may be buzzing today about the announced line-up of films at this year's Cannes Film Festival but for those of us who won't be walking the Croisette in May, there's still plenty to be excited about movie-wise. Here's a few suggestions for your moviegoing this weekend. more ›

The city chosen for the 2012 Olympics will be announced on July 6 in Singapore. Given the time difference, we'll probably be finding out as we're getting over our July 4th weekend sun- and heartburn. more ›

Ah, Presidents Day Weekend is here. Really not much to say about that, except those of you with office jobs can add an extra day to your weekend. Which probably means that the LES bars will be equally annoying on Sunday night. To fill up the extra 24 hours of non office time, here are some suggestions which include (but are not limited to) porn and existential clowns: more ›

Though the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is over, Gothamist has been enjoying city rag's photographs from the final night. The win of the "liver-colored" German pointer Ch Kan-Point's VJK Autumn Roses (aka Carlee) was shocking to us, because "liver-colored" doesn't really sound so good, unless it's foie gras. But the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is the only awards show where they get to say, "This bitch really deserved to win"...well, the only awards show until Chris Rock hosts the Oscars in a week and a half. Anyway, Gothamist found this NY Times piece almost helpful on why purebred dogs have such crazy names; we say almost because the names are still insane. more ›