Hope you didn't make the big mistake of taking Michael Bloomberg's investment advice yesterday! The mayor singled out three companies, telling reporters that General Electric, Macy's and Saks were all "irreplaceable brands" and were undervalued in the current market. But with the exception of GE, which is about where it started, both Macy's and Saks are down big today. Guess a career as an investment advisor probably isn't in the cards if his re-election campaign doesn't pan out this November.

The snowstorm didn't stop art and society scenesters from stopping off at the New York Academy of Art on Monday night. Guests at the Tribeca Ball included Liev Schreiber, Justin Timberlake, and event co-chair Eileen Guggenheim (left), along with Bill Clinton, Andre Balazs, Andy and Kate Spade, Adam Weinberg, Jason Wu, Nicole Miller and Kim Taipale, Monet Mazur, Alek Wek, Bettina Zilkha, Poppy de Villeneuve, Jennifer Creel, Jean-Pierre Roy, Ludwig Kuttner and Beatrix Ost, stylist Ric Pipino, Heather Mnuchin, Liam McMullan, Antoine and Maureen Chiquet, and artist Will Cotton. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, FWD, Style.com]

Must be a slow day over at City Hall: Mayor Bloomberg plans to "temporarily rename" part of West 53rd Street "U2 Way" today, in honor of the group's latest CD. [AP]

Mayor Bloomberg has a plan to improve life in the city: He's announcing that several sections of Times Square and Herald Square will be turned into car-free zones! Pedestrian malls will be set up in several areas with benches, café tables, and "colorful umbrellas." (An illustration of what's in store for Times Square is above.) Unfortunately, it's just an "experimental" program for the time being, and is only scheduled to run through the end of the year. But be sure to enjoy it while it lasts! "Colorful umbrellas" are always the first to go when another round of budget cuts come along.

The Observer has a lovely little Q&A today with Jamie Drake, the interior designer best known for his work designing Mayor Bloomberg's 2,274 homes around the world. If you were hoping for some info on the dimensions of the mayor's closet, or if Drake ever proposed painting the mayor's master suite pink—much as he did with one of his other clients, left—you'll have to look elsewhere. When asked if the pair ever had any disagreements about design issues, Drake did not bring up that time Mayor Bloomberg proposed installing a hot tub on the roof of his ever-expanding townhouse and Drake counseled against it. (We totally made that scenario up, by the way.) "When one has a fabulous relationship with a client for a long time, you obviously have a dialogue and a comfort and a trust that is a major and important component of each and every relationship." [NYO]

The Times reports today that Mayor Bloomberg has been secretly expanding his lair on East 79th Street in recent years, since the 7,500 square feet of space on five floors that he already owned wasn't enough, clearly. In "transactions that have gone all but unnoticed," Bloomberg has been buying up space in the building next door, and has since acquired four of the six apartments at 19 East 79th Street, giving him a total of 12,500 square feet to run around in. Presumably this would be plenty of space for a bachelor mayor whose kids don't live with their parents (and whose girlfriend has a posh Park Avenue apartment of her own to go home to). But maybe not!

Bad news for Bloomie: A new poll shows that only 52 percent of New York City residents believe the mayor is doing a good job—his lowest approval rating in four years—and only 43 percent approve of the job he's doing to help the city endure the economic crisis. But now that he's hiring former aides to John McCain's disastrous presidential campaign, things should turn around pretty quickly, no? [NYP]

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver turns 65 today. Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife, Donna Hanover, is 59. Real estate developer Francis Greenburger is 60. Peter Gabriel is turning 59. Robbie Williams is 35. Stockard Channing turns 65. Jerry Springer is 65. And Henry Rollins turns 48. People celebrating their birthdays this weekend—including Valentine's Day birthday boys like Michael Bloomberg and Steve Schwarzman—after the jump.

Lycée Français de New York honored Dior president Sidney Toledano at its 10th annual gala at 7 World Trade Center on Friday night. The event, which was co-chaired in part by by Olivier Sarkozy and his wife Charlotte, attracted Eric and Sandra Ripert (left), Robbie Myers, Bernard Aidan, Bettina Zilkha, Catherine Malandrino Glenda Bailey, Cathy Horyn, Kassy and Liya Kebede, Delphine and Reed Krakoff, Susan Fales-Hill, Yannick Noah, Virginia Smith, Alejandra and Jeffrey Kluger, Stacey Bronfman, Assouline and Martine Prosper, Fabrizio and Maryane Freda, and Veronica Bulgari. [PMc, FWD, WWD, NYSD]

Michael Bloomberg presented keys to the city this morning to Chesley Sullenberger and four other members of the crew of Flight 1549 for their heroic efforts in saving the lives of 155 people a couple of weeks ago. "These true professionals are not there to just serve drinks and snacks. They are there to keep us safe," the mayor said in his opening remarks. It's nice to see Sully receive an honor he rightfully deserves, but "drinks and snacks"? What airline is Mayor Bloomberg flying? Oh, right, that's the one. [NYT]

The Times listed off some of the perks of working on Michael Bloomberg's campaign today, one of which is the opportunity to "hopscotch around the world on two Falcon 900 private jets, where wine and sushi are served." Here's one of the planes where the mayor nibbles on spicy tuna rolls and sips Château Margaux. After the jump: Air Bloomberg on the tarmac in the Bahamas two days after Christmas.

Too bad you didn't go into politics. Working on Michael Bloomberg's reelection campaign may be the last cushy job in town. "Aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg hopscotch around the world on two Falcon 900 private jets, where wine and sushi are served. They stay at the Four Seasons in London (about $400 a night), the Intercontinental in Paris ($320) and the King David in Jerusalem ($345). Room service? The mayor pays for it all. Even the laundry. And invitations to dinner parties at Mr. Bloomberg's Upper East Side town house rarely disappoint: Kofi Annan and Nora Ephron are regulars." [NYT]

In an astonishing feat of detective work worthy of the Hardy Boys, Mayor Bloomberg has announced the source of that mystery maple syrup smell. Click for the answer!

Michael Bloomberg revealed the source of that syrupy smell that has occasionally (and mysteriously) wafted over the city over the past couple of years. And it's New Jersey's fault. Of course. Following an investigation by "a team of odor investigators," the city now says the culprit was the International Frutarom Corporation in North Bergen, which processes fenugreek seeds for flavorings. Your tax dollars at work! [1010WINS]

Remember late last year when Mayor Bloomberg announced plans to charge a 6-cent tax on plastic bags at grocery stores? The mayor downgraded the fee to 5 cents last week. The bad news is that it will now apply to all plastic bags, not just the ones from grocery stores. More bad news: This probably means more people are going to start carrying those FEED bags that Lauren Bush has been pushing for so long. [NYT]

A handful of news outlets have been reporting that Michael Bloomberg is officially the "most generous living man in America," having given away a total of $235 million over the course of 2008, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Bloomberg didn't come in No. 1 on the list, though. As NY1 tells it, "Bloomberg actually ranked ninth overall on the list. He was topped by eight others who died last year and gave greater amounts away in their wills." We're guessing this news will come as a big surprise to the still-living couple that came in at No. 3, Pete Peterson and his wife, Joan Ganz Cooney. [NY1, NYT]

Michael Bloomberg wants you to keep as much money in your pocket as possible. To that end, he's proposing that people now be able to share cabs. So now instead of spending $40 on a cab from the airport and entertaining yourself with that silly video screen in the back seat, you'll only have to pay $20—but you'll spend half an hour hearing about how cool Cancun is from the overly cologned real estate broker sitting 12 inches from you. Genius! Unfortunately, there seem to be a few unanswered questions about Bloomberg's plan to implement "sharing lines" at various locations around the city:

All of the celebrities descended on Washington DC for yesterday's presidential ceremonies, in which former President Bush was pushed into the Potomac on an ice floe, never to be seen again. Read the dish!

John Catsimatidis is the billionaire owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain. He was also seriously considering a bid for mayor, at least when it looked like he wouldn't have to go head-to-head with Michael Bloomberg. Oh, how Catsimatidis's fortunes have changed since then. In September, a federal judge ruled that his company had violated federal and state laws by failing to pay overtime to hundreds of supermarket employees. Then Bloomberg successfully pushed for a change in term limit laws, which cleared the way for him to run for a third term and also foiled Catsimatidis' plan to be New York's second billionaire mayor. And now he suffered yet another embarrassing legal defeat.

Get ready to see lots of overdressed couples with stars in their eyes wondering around Lower Manhattan beginning on Monday. Next week the city opens its new, 24,000-square-foot Manhattan Marriage Bureau following $12 million in renovations to the building. (The mayor tapped his personal interior designer, Jamie Drake, to do the job.) Why spend so much money on such a trivial slice of city bureaucracy when New York City is facing a historic budget shortfall? It's all part of Michael Bloomberg's plan to unseat Las Vegas as the nation's "wedding capital" and turn New York into a marriage destination!