The New York Observer » Michael Bloomberg http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:18:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 5 Reasons Mayor Bloomberg is a Teenage Girl Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference for the 100th episode of Gossip Girl.
"I just don't see how Blair could marry Prince Louis when she's clearly in love with Chuck," said the New York mayor, who has nothing bigger on his plate to worry about right now. "I just wish that Nate and Vanessa had been able to work things out... But again I'm just a casual fan."

By itself, this might have been an irreverent, fun comment, written by one of his younger staffers. But look more closely, and it becomes clear that Mayor Bloomberg is, in fact, a 16-year-old teenager on the verge of womanhood.
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]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/5-reasons-mayor-bloomberg-is-a-teenage-girl/ Michael Bloomberg to Hang Out With ‘Gossip Girl’ Cast Unsatisfied by his recent date night with Lady Gaga, Michael Bloomberg is to immerse himself further into pop culture with a meeting with the cast of Gossip Girl today. (Even his culture tastes are centered around the city's ultra-upper crust!) The meeting is meant to publicize New York's busiest year ever for TV production, but Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/michael-bloomberg-to-hang-out-with-gossip-girl-cast/ Mayor Bloomberg Doomsday Proposal to Curb New York City Booze Sales: Eliminated After Less Than a Day First they came for the smokers, and we kvetched. Then they came for the trans fats, and we were like, sure, we could stand to lose a few pounds. Then they came for our salt, and we were like, are you serious? Salt? But when you try to come for the booze, Mayor Bloomberg has likely learned an important lesson:

New Yorkers will get smashy. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/bloomberg-liquor-cuts-proposal-01112011/ Dylan Goes Eclectic: As ‘An Advocate Who Hosts a Show,’ Can MSNBC’s Ratigan Broadcast Nuance to the Masses? "THIS IS NOT SOME OPINION! This is a mathematical fact!" In a now-infamous Despite viewing Mr. Bloomberg as a mentor, Mr. Ratigan took issue with the mayor's handling of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which Mr. Ratigan supported and It's another reason he doesn't necessarily consider himself a journalist. "I'm an advocate who hosts a Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/dylan-ratigan-profile-01032011/ The New York Observer’s Holiday Gift Guide: Occupy Wall Street Edition It's that special time of the year again, when Fifth Avenue is set a'twinkling with displays of opulent spending and every magazine advertisement beckons you to think not of yourself for once when engaging in egregious spending.

But gift giving can be hard! Especially, as they say, for the person in your life who has everything...though they never tell you how difficult it can be to shop for the person who has nothing. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/occupy-wall-street-gift-guide-holiday/ Bloomberg’s Girlfriend Diana Taylor Threatens to Resign From Sotheby’s Board If Teamsters’ Demands Are Met (Video) Diana Taylor, the partner of Mayor Mike Bloomberg and a member of the board at Sotheby's, confronted locked-out Teamsters Local 814 and Occupy Wall Street members during a December 1st meeting Hudson River Park Trust (for which Ms. Taylor is chairwoman on the board of directors).
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]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/first-lady-of-new-york-diana-taylor-threatens-to-resign-if-sotheby-protesters-demands-are-met-video/ He’s Got the Beat: Occupy Brings the Fight (Well, the Drum Circle) to Bloomberg’s Doorstep The folks at Yes Lab—which describes itself as "a series of brainstorms and trainings to help activist groups carry out media-getting creative actions, focused on their own campaign goals"—are organizing a drum circle in front of Mayor Bloomberg's building on East 79th Street, starting tomorrow at 2 pm. The group is billing it as a 24-hour event, but we're putting the over/under at more like 24 minutes. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/hes-got-the-beat-occupy-brings-the-fight-well-the-drum-circle-to-bloombergs-doorstep/ Happy 125th Birthday, Lady Liberty! You’re Almost as Popular as Jerry Lewis “I learned a few things today,” Ariane Dagun said from the top deck of the Lady Liberty ferry, which was motoring back toward Battery Park last Thursday morning. “I discovered that Bloomberg and Sarkozy are the same height, which was convenient for the podium. They did not have to change anything, since Sarkozy is very self-conscious about his height.”

Ms. Dagun was one of more than 100 New Yorkers, Frenchmen, and most of all French New Yorkers like herself, who had made the journey to Liberty Island with the president of France and the mayor of New York. They were there to celebrate the statue that country presented the city 125 years ago. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/happy-125th-birthday-lady-liberty-youre-almost-as-popular-as-jerry-lewis/ Anthony Marx Extends Library Amnesty for Children with Overdue Books Following the success of a program this summer that allowed children to read their way out of their library fines, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Public Library president Anthony Marx announced yesterday that all fines would be forgiven for children under the age of 18, no additional reading necessary, thanks in large part to a $300,000 donation from McGraw-Hill. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/anthony-marx-extends-library-amnesty-for-children-with-overdue-books/ New Yorker Laughs at Celebrities’ Pathetic Attempts to Caption Cartoons If you've never had a winning submission to The New Yorker's cartoon caption contest, you're in good company. It took Roger Ebert 107 tries before coming up with a winning line, while other famous people such as Maureen Dowd, Michael Bloomberg, and Zach Galifianakis have also found their entries regarding what a pig in Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/new-yorker-laughs-at-celebrities-pathetic-attempts-to-caption-cartoons/ It’s Fashion Week in the Eight-Day Week Wednesday, September 7 Reever Madness They’re making another Superman flick with some British gent—don’t they know that for screen magnetism as well as real-life heroism, the buck stopped with Christopher Reeve? The beloved screen icon, who became an advocate for the paralyzed after a horseback-riding accident, is remembered at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/its-fashion-week-in-the-eight-day-week/ Meet Rachel Figueroa-Levin, the Soap-Making, Jewryican Stay-at-Home Mom Behind Twitter’s ElBloombito A few thousand people on Twitter can't be wrong: The best thing about Hurricane Irene was the appearance among them of @ElBloombito, a sardonic, Spanglish-speaking caricature of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his earnest attempts at becoming fluent in Spanish. (This is actually a typical occurrence at pretty much every press conference, but how many people watch mayoral press conferences on a regular basis?)

The Observer reached out to Rachel Figueroa-Levin, the 25-year-old native New Yorker behind the Twitter feed—she put her main feed in El Bloombito's bio, never expecting either would become viral smashes—to find out who she was where she got this crazy idea.

Update I: Mayor Bloomberg Responds to El Bloombito >>

Update II: Rachel Figueroa-Levin Responds to Mayor Bloomberg Responding to El Bloombito >>

Like most things on Twitter, it started out as a joke. In an email, she told us, "I live in Inwood with my husband and nine-and-a-half-month-old daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom and soap maker. We are in the process of buying a co-op in Inwood. (We close early September!) Soap making started as a hobby and turned into a mini business." What follows is an interview conducted this evening on GChat. (What, you thought we would do a phone interview with an Internet star?) Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/08/meet-rachel-figueroa-levin-the-soap-making-jewryican-stay-at-home-mom-behind-twitters-elbloombito/ Tying the Knot in a Pop-Up In the days after the same-sex marriage law was passed, a group of friends hatched a plan. “We got really excited and said, ‘Let’s do free weddings, it’s the least we can do,’” Bex Schwartz, one of the creators of Pop-Up Chapel, told The Observer. She was still bubbling with excitement when we Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/08/tying-the-knot-in-a-pop-up/ In Classroom Accountability Battle, Cuomo Will Take the Unions to School The teachers' unions continue to resist the notion of accountability in the classroom, even as it becomes more and more clear that teacher performance is just as important as financial resources and parental involvement in creating a true learning environment in our public schools.

Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced a series of proposals designed Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/opinion/classroom-accountability-battle-cuomo-will-take-unions-school Roundup: Bloomberg Cuts, Reporters Fight

A history of funding for the NYC Department of Education, as presented by Mayor Bloomberg today, in City Hall.

2012: Lessons from GOP debate. [Anna Sale]

Budget Fight: "Two weeks ago the mayor and the governor had a long dinner on the Upper West Side. Perhaps today's quieter Read More

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