Last night, Mayor Bloomberg held a reception for Senator Hillary Clinton at Gracie Mansion. He emphasized that he wasn't going to help her relieve campaign debt, saying he wasn't asked for money and added, "Hillary Clinton has been a very good, hard-working senator. I’ve said that every time that I’ve been asked for the last half-a-dozen years. Every time I’ve ever called her she returns the call virtually instantly. And she has worked very hard......

Even though speculation is running high/wistful on a Michael Bloomberg presidential candidacy (maybe because all the other confirmed candidates are boring - or reporters are bored of covering the other candidates), the Post resurrects a rumor from earlier this year: Bloomberg wanting to run for governor against Spitzer in 2010. Back in May, the Post claimed the Mayor had discussed running for governor on two occasions, but the Mayor said the reports were completely made......

John Catsimatidis is hoping to follow in Mayor Bloomberg's footsteps by becoming a Democrat who follows the path of least resistance into Gracie Mansion. The owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain has millions of dollars to burn and would like to become the Mayor of New York City. Even for a lifelong Democrat like Catsimatidis, the easiest road to City Hall is to bypass the scrum of party politics and simply get oneself elected as......

Mayor Bloomberg will walk across the street from City Hall tomorrow morning to report for jury duty at Manhattan Supreme Court. It won't be his first stint in the jurors' box. Bloomberg reportedly has served state jury duty five times since 1981. The Daily News reports that he served in 2001 on his 59th birthday "when he was openly flirting with running for mayor but was not an official candidate." The Manhattan Supreme Court handles......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at 178th Pl. in Queens, a bank robbery at White Plains Rd. in the Bronx, and a homicide on West 157th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a water rescue off 88th St. near Gracie Mansion.. The suspected killer of FDNY Chief Ray Downey's nephew, who was tracked to California, killed himself yesterday when cornered by cops. East River State Park opened today. Be one of the......

This is why no one-time NYC mayor has ever managed to reach the office of the President. New York leads the way, but the rest of the country is, more often than not, a reluctant follower. The political baggage former New York mayors are saddled with as the excecutive head of the Big Apple becomes an albatross that most men are unable to shrug off as they make their plays for higher office. Observe......

If it's almost Christmas, it's almost time to cozy up to WPIX 11's Christmas Yule Log, the televised bit of hearth warmth that momentarily replaces dreams of a "wbf" (woodburning fireplace, in apartment classified speak). Yesterday, amNew York had a great feature about the longevity of Channel 11's yule log tradition. The roaring fire created from a 17-second loop of a Gracie Mansion fireplace in 1966 by Fred Thrower and played every Christmas until 1989.......

Interesting fact: it's legal to use campaign money to pay off personal legal debts. Case in point: Hevesi has spent $750,000+ out of his campaign treasury on defense lawyers. The New York Inquirer takes a bafflingly close look a New York hot dogs-- but still can't figure out exactly where the name comes from. Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an "all hands" call at 400 West 43rd Street, a School Hazmat situation on Bedford......

Ooh - the Observer looks at how New York City will convince the Democratic National Committee to hold the 2008 Convention here. We pieced together their itinerary from the article, and clearly, the mayor misses having the International Olympic Committee to woo. :Today - Check into Ritz Carlton (Central Park South, we assume) tongiht - Hansom cab ride through Central Park - Dinner at Mayor Bloomberg's townhouse Thursday - Breakfast at Gracie Mansion - Tour......

- WABC 7 interviews the man swallowed by his Long Island cesspool! - What acrobatics people will do on subways on Vimeo - Forgotten NY looks at a rally to save St. Savior's in Maspeth - check out the protester with Darth Vader cut-out - Mafia cop Louis Eppolito gets rid of his defense attorney Bruce "John Gotti's Lawyer" Cutler - Gotham Girls Roller Derby is in Brooklyn - for now - People are......

On tonight's Apprentice, the remaining wannabe figurehead Trump employees in the reality show making will have to do something really badly, but less badly than the other team, in order to win a prize of some quality time with Senator Schumer. Now, Senator Schumer probably has some great life and business ("Don't try hire lobbyists") lessons for the group, but it's a pretty boring prize, given that previous winners during this season have been able......

The fifth "amazing bestest yet ever most ridiculous [insert other stupid and/or hyperbolic descriptor here]" season of the Apprentice premiered last night, and boy, do the contestants get dumber and dumber! Maybe not totally dumber, because Lord knows what Gothamist would be doing if we had to work with other people handpicked by Donald Trump and Mark Burnett, but you'd think that people who apply to be on the show would have seen previous episodes......

The AP got a hold of some federal data to create an interactive database of industrial air pollution in the country, and it turns out that the Giants Stadium is more polluted than Manhattan. The NY Post went through and plugged a couple areas in, finding out that - Fifth Avenue in the 50s is 1.4 times more polluted than the average US neighborhood, whereas Gracie Mansion/Yorkville is 1.2 times more polluted; City Hall is......

Forbes has a fun nauseating feature on the homes of billionaires, and three of them are in New York (okay, one is in the Hamptons, but to a Billionaire With a Helicopter, that's practically one of the five-boroughs):When billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was elected, he declined to live in Gracie Mansion, preferring his own luxury digs nearby. Built in 1889, Bloomberg's townhouse has five floors and totals 7,500 square feet--including the chunk of the building......

Negotiations between the MTA and the transit workers union continue to trudge on as today marks the two week mark before the current contract expires on December 15. The main issue seems to be what the role of conductors and token booth clerks will be as trains modernize and the token booths close. There's some interesting dissesion within the Transit Workers Union itself, with one faction rallying for 10% wage increases every year for three......

Paul Simon and Billy Joel's former tour manager was fatally stabbed by his girlfriend in his Upper East Side apartment yesterday. And it was his 57th birthday! Police arrested Kathleen Connors, who was neighbors say was covered in blood from a vicious fight with Danny Harrison, who had been producing shows for the Food Network recently. Harrison lived at 530 East 89th Street, right near Gracie Mansion. A neighbor had called the police to report......

Two weeks into June means the wedding season is in full swing, and this past weekend, Mayor Bloomberg's eldest daughter, Emma Bloomberg, married her Princeton sweetheart, Chris Frissora. Emma Bloomberg has been active in her father's election campaign and other city projects, working as an unpaid aide; we imagine she'll be working on his reelection campaign as well. The details about her wedding at her mother's North Salem estate Saturday: Her dress was a Zac......

Newsday looks at the "issue" of our city's mayor decision not to disclose his weekend plans and how other mayoral hopefuls view this. Of course, they think it's crazy that the Mayor doesn't tell anyone what he does on the weekends and make it clear that they'll be giving everyone all the details. They tell Newsday:- "I have no problems publishing my weekend schedule. Even if I'm not in the city, you'll know if I'm......

Here's a little Mayoral Race 2005 action to tie us over: Congressman and mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner held a protest against the West Side Stadium yesterday, but he was heckled by trade union guys. According to Newsday, the trade unionists were more "amused" than menacing, and called Weiner a "loser." But Gothamist could feel sorry for Weiner, because those union guys could probably take him, it turns out that Weiner heckled back. Another Democratic mayoral......

Now, with this season of The Apprentice" href="http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_2/index.shtml">The Apprentice may not have captured our heart the way the first season did, but Gothamist will admit tonight's dismissal of Stacy Rotner thrilled us. This Stacy, the Jewish, short, lawyer Stacy (vs. the black, tall, restaurateur Stacie) was not as "crazy" as Stacie J., but let's face it, she was more hideously conniving and annoying. We can't believe she stayed on for so long and must thank......

Laurie Woolever, Cook/Food Writer...

While the Times' look inside the WTC Memorial jury was enlightening, Gothamist was most engaged by this description of the final evening of deliberations: There was still no consensus when the jurors broke for a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, served with expensive bottles of Long Island estate merlot from the Gracie Mansion cellar. "The comfort food was important," Dr. James E. Young recalled. "That break really helped." Trials with juries take note:......

The Post tallies up the city's most eligible bachelors (and, yes, the usual suspects are there, like Derek Jeter, Rocco DiSpirito and Adrien Brody as well as some not so usual, like Billy Crudup – who knew the dump the soon to be mother of my child type which is hot to Page Six and homophobe Jeremy Shockey; Gothamist, though, is thrilled with the inclusion of chef Marcus Samuelsson, sigh). The Post also adds what......

Rudy Giuliani and companion Judith Nathan were married yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion. Gothamist likes the idea of having a press conference right after the wedding - it's very romantic. We were also shocked when we saw the pictures of Caroline and Andrew Giuliani, especially Andrew. Gothamist is very fond of Chris Farley's performance as a clambering, fat, hyper Andrew Giuliani during Rudy's inauguration and we're sure all of you are, too.......