For one night of the year, Twitter gets to walk the red carpet at their very own glamorous award show. The fourth annual Shorty Awards were held Monday night at the Times Center in Midtown. All the faceless Twitter dignitaries whose real names you don't even know, but who pontificate in 140 characters all day long, showed up to p@ each other on the back. more ›

For someone who spent millions getting himself a third term as the mayor of New York City (about $175 per vote!) Michael Bloomberg certainly seems ready to get back to his Bermuda estate. He's sick of going to all those boring ceremonies ("I can't wait for the last one. You have no idea."), doesn't care what happens here after he's out ("My job is to sustain it for the next 781 days.") and—despite there being 763 days until Bloomberg leaves the building—he has reportedly already started having city agencies write up his legacy. more ›

Proving that Mayor Bloomberg enjoys dancing on the razor's edge of public opinion, Hizzoner told reporters yesterday that he doesn't believe the Occupy Wall Street tents set up in Zuccotti Park are considered protected speech. "I'm 100 percent in favor of protecting—1,000 percent in favor—of giving people rights to say things, but also we have to protect those who don't want to say anything," Bloomberg said. more ›

Charlotte Bloomberg, the energetic 102-year-old Massachusetts woman who brought Mayor Michael Bloomberg into this world, passed away yesterday. "As the center of our family, our mother's unimpeachable integrity, fierce independence, and constant love were gifts that profoundly shaped our lives and the lives of so many who knew her," Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. "Our family recognizes how truly blessed we have been to have her live such a long and full life, and to be able to carry her spirit with us forever." more ›

Grab some continental breakfast and wake the Germans in the next bunk: the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement has begun cracking down on a law that went into effect on May 1 that bars apartment rentals for less than 30 days and prevents building owners from renting a single unit for temporary use. more ›

Today City Hall reporters were eager to talk about Mayor Bloomberg's reaction to Sarah Palin's entree into the debate over the mosque/community center planned for downtown, and Hizzoner did not disappoint. Besides voicing his differences with Palin, the mayor also defended his adviser Andrea Batista Schlesinger's right to reply to Palin via Twitter. The Daily News reports that when asked if Schlesinger's tweet seemed to suggest Palin was being racist, Bloomberg replied: more ›

With its latest list of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes finds that Mayor Bloomberg is holding steady at as NYC's richest rich person. He's number 8 on the list between a Walton (of Wal-Mart) and Charles Koch. more ›

The latest Quinnipiac poll put Bloomy's approval ratings at 69%, and holding a strong 52-36 lead over the Democrat William Thompson. In an interview with Gothamist, asked what it would take to unseat the billionaire, former DNC chair Howard Dean replied, "Term limits." more ›

In this week's issue of the New Yorker, reporter Ben McGrath looks at Mayor Bloomberg—headline, "THE UNTOUCHABLE," subhead, "Can a good mayor amass too much power?" While the article offers an image of Bloomberg with a crown hovering over his head, the caption says this, "Ambitious younger mayors around the country call him Papa Smurf." Indeed, further into the piece, McGrath writes, "[Newark mayor Cory] Booker and other ambitious younger mayors around the country, like Adrian Fenty, in Washington, D.C., call him Papa Smurf." more ›

The City Council endorsed today Mayor Bloomberg's plan to raise the city's sales tax to 8.875 percent. The measure, which passed 37 to 10, now goes to Albany for approval by the State Legislature. While those who voted against the increase argue the tax is regressive and unfair, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says the measure will save 1,200 to 1,500 retail jobs. But, not all councilmembers who approved the tax say they did so willingly. Said Councilman Lewis Fidler to the Gotham Gazette: "If we don’t authorize the sales tax, as distasteful as it is, there will be layoffs...I prefer we find it somewhere else, but that is not the choice we have." The increase is expected to bring more than $500 million in new revenue to the city. more ›

Forbes released its new list of the World's Richest People and our mayor is the richest person in the Big Apple (heck, his net worth even rose this past year!). Michael R. Bloomberg, who is also known as Hizzoner, is at #17 on the list, with his self-made fortune estimated at $16 billion, thanks to "a transaction [that] put a solid valuation on Bloomberg LP: he borrowed to buy a 20% stake in his company from Merrill Lynch in July for $4.5 billion." Is this why he's advising against taxing the rich? Former richest man in NYC, David Koch, is now the 2nd richest (#20 on the list, with a net worth of $14 billion). Also interesting: One of the many billionaires tied for #701 on the Forbes list is a Mexican drug lord. more ›

Dissension within the McCain campaign has begun spilling over into the public with campaign aides speaking out about Sarah Palin taking her cues less and less from within their camp and instead deciding to "go rogue." The rift appears to be pretty sizable with one aide telling CNN, "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone...Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom." more ›

A last-minute deal was worked out between Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to save Off-track Betting, but the road to the agreement was rocky. more ›

Since it's been about two months since Mayor Bloomberg said, "I’m not seeking a third term," it's time for third term rumors to pop up again. Today, the NY Times reports the billionaire mayor is considering another run as Mayor or maybe doing something in Albany. more ›

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama will be speaking in NYC today, as part of Cooper Union Dialogue Series. And Mayor Bloomberg's office "took the highly unusual step" of issuing a release letting the media know Bloomberg would be introducing Obama. Aw, that's what any billionaire mayor would do for his breakfast buddy! more ›

Yesterday Forbes magazine, in their annual ranking of the rich, declared New York City is no longer the billionaire capital of the world. Where have all the dollar signs gone? To Moscow, of course, who beat us out by 3 billionaires (they have 74 to our 71). more ›

Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, who has spent many months (if not years) hinting about his boss's presidential ambitions, is still stirring the pot of rumors. Last night on NY1's Inside City Hall, Sheekey, "promoted the idea of an Obama-Bloomberg presidential ticket." more ›

Ending months of speculation, Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed he will not run for president in the 2008 election. And he did it with an op-ed in the NY Times, titled, "I'm Not Running for President, but..." more ›

The Politicker has this hilarious photograph outside the East 60th Street location of strip club Scores touting a Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama ticket, as well as John McCain-Michael Bloomberg one. Nice to know that even though manager Harvey Osher and owner Richard Goldring failed to pay $3.1 million in taxes, they still believe in the democratic process. (Osher is serving weekend stints in prison; Goldring is getting probation.) more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's continued insistence that he is not currently running for President is bordering on the absurd, as even attempts to ascertain where his aide Kevin Sheekey is spending his vacation time turns up blacked out in official requests. Sheekey is Bloomberg's chief political deputy, and the man most closely identified with pushing the Mayor forward in a Presidential bid. The New York Times filed a Freedom of Information request with the Mayor's office to see what Sheekey had been up to around the time that Bloomberg excused himself from the Republican party. The results were less than revealing. more ›

All over the city, events were held to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy. One of the biggest events was the Reverend Al Sharpton's annual forum at his National Action Network in Harlem, which attracted Governor Spitzer, Senator Schumer, former Mayor Dinkins and Mayor Bloomberg. more ›

It's Mike and Arnie, together again! The Time magazine co-cover pols, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, made a Los Angeles appearance with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to announce the creation of a "nonpartisan organization that will advocate for more, and smarter, federal spending on infrastructure." The Mayor and maybe presidential candidate slammed the government, referenced the New Deal and more. Some of his statements:

In politics, winning elections and protecting a party majority is more important than solving problems and so short-term pork invariably wins over long-term investing and special interests win over the rest of us... more ›

Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent yesterday in Oklahoma, discussing the state of politics today at a bipartisan political forum at the University of Oklahoma. Bloomberg lamented the way things are going these days:

Government is dysfunctional. There is no collaboration and congeniality. There is no working together. No 'let's do what's right for this country.' I think there is no accountability today. Nobody is holding themselves accountable and to the standards of what they promised when they ran for office. And I think lastly, there is no willingness to focus on big ideas."

The most famous undeclared presidential candidate, our very own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has weighed in about the Iowa caucus results. Okay, so Mayor Bloomberg claims he's not running for president, but when you swipe at the actual candidates, have a staff that's investigating the possibility of running a campaign, and have a billion dollars to spare... more ›

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 ›

It's finally come to this. The lights of the Great White Way have gone dark in a dispute between the theater stagehands of Local One and producers and theater owners. The labor dispute which has been simmering for months and left the stagehands without a contract for an equal time, resulted in a shutdown of Broadway shows on the verge of the theater district's most profitable season. The stalemate came to to a head after... more ›