Did you miss the party that Michael Bloomberg organized for Hillary Clinton last night at Gracie Mansion? Then you missed your chance to mingle with Chevy Chase or sing along with a performance of "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Uh oh. [NYO]

What have you been doing with your free time this summer? Maybe you've been heading out of work early on Fridays to hit the beach or enjoying the weather at an outdoor bar or restaurant. Not Michael Bloomberg! He's been busy brushing up on his Spanish—he's been taking lessons for six years now—and made time for four lessons last week alone. This is totally going to come in handy the next time he hangs out with Shakira. [NYT]

Michael Bloomberg finally answered the question that has been on the minds of so many New Yorkers: If the mayor knew he was going to die tomorrow, what would he select as his last meal? "I always said if I had one breakfast to eat before I die, it would be Wonder Bread toasted, with Skippy Super Chunky melted on it, slices of overripe banana and fresh crisp bacon." [NYP]

Michael Bloomberg isn't exactly a fashion plate. Although he's expressed a fondness for all things Paul Stuart and now has his suits custom-made (with tiny holes in the lapels for his apple-shaped NYC pin), he's never seemed to enjoy discussing his sartorial preferences, nor expressed much interest in clothes shopping. (He reportedly sets aside half an hour several times a year to buy things in bulk.) Then, of course, he's had some truly horrifying fashion moments, like a baggy tan shorts and bright white socks combo in 2006. But there is one accessory he apparently has a weakness for: ties! The most comprehensive, detailed investigation into the mayor's neckwear after the jump.

Could Michael Bloomberg now be the richest man in New York? Probably! Bloomberg LP is a private company, of course, and putting a price tag on the enormously profitable financial news giant has long been a challenge. It hasn't been any easier to peg Bloomberg's own net worth: Last year, after the Wall Street Journal suggested he might be worth as much as $13 billion, an embarrassed Forbes more than doubled his net worth from $5.5 billion to $11.5 billion, a reminder of just what a guesstimate the entire Forbes list really is despite their suggestions to the contrary.

That would bring the total, on paper at least, to $16 billion. Not a bad day for the mayor. [Business Sheet]

It took 82 years, but New York City may finally get its groove back: The Daily News reports today that the Bloomberg administration is in talks to repeal the city's cabaret license laws, or at least make the licenses a little less rigid. As it stands now—and as you know full well if you've spent any time out since the beginning of the Giuliani adminstration—a club needs the license to allow dancing on the premises, and it's both hard to obtain a permit and easy to lose it for the smallest infractions. Over the years, a long list of venues have battled the Prohibition-era ban, although they've rarely prevailed in their legal bouts with the city. A brief (and select) history of the cabaret wars after the jump.

Some of the biggest moguls and powerbrokers in New York just can't seem to figure out who the next mayor should be! According to the Times today, heavyweights like Martin Lipton, Steve Rattner and Jerry Speyer—as well as other members of the Kathryn Wylde-led Partnership for New York City—have been scratching their heads, debating which way to tug on the strings. Do we try and overturn term limits so Michael Bloomberg can stay on? Do we find another mega-wealthy businessman to fill his shoes? But Dick Parsons doesn't want the job, goddamit! Maybe John Catsimatidis? We're guessing Kevin Sheekey has already made his opinion known.

Michael Bloomberg doesn't look too happy with Jon Bon Jovi when the rocker corrects the mayor and points out it's Simon and Garfunkel, not Garfinkel. The uncomfortable episode, Mayor Bloomberg's lame excuse, and his moment of humiliation, is nine minutes in.

The day after the Post's Fred Dicker reported that David Paterson called Michael Bloomberg a liar (among several other not-so-nice things), all parties involved are feeling a wee bit defensive today. Bloomberg dismissed suggestion that relations had frayed ("He and I never had an acrimonious relationship"), although Paterson only half-denied it, allowing that Dicker could have heard something to that effect, but that he didn't get the story straight. But Dicker isn't about to let the story go or let anyone cast suspicion on his scoop. Dicker defended his journalistic chops today and even suggests who might have leaked him the info. Oh, and for visually-minded readers, Dicker's article includes a state-of-the-art BS meter. Because you just can't argue with science.

Lex Fenwick, purple-suited CEO-in-name-only of Bloomberg, did once put his finger on the greatest threat to the financial information service: "ourselves," he told Fortune, referring to the company's potentially complacent management. Behind the superficially charming self-deprecation, Fenwick hit upon a truth. For a highly profitable company founded by a supposed paragon of competence, Bloomberg is an astonishingly unhappy place run by bad-tempered cronies of the New York mayor. We wouldn't normally run the ravings of a disgruntled former employee. But Jerel Smith's farewell email captures some of the data terminal company's poisonous atmosphere; and his parting words for "loud mouth family size bag o'douche" Fenwick are particularly unfettered.

David Paterson absolutely despises Michael Bloomberg. Or at least that's the takeaway from Fred Dicker's front page "exclusive" in the Post today, which is full of vicious soundbites supposedly uttered by New York's governor, according to Dicker's unnamed sources. Paterson's tirade comes on the heels of a showdown over the fate of the city's OTB parlors. (Bloomberg wanted to shutter the chain of seedy betting dens; Paterson went around Mike to put together a last-minute reprieve.) And it certainly can't help that there's been talk that Bloomberg might make a run for Albany and challenge Paterson to the seat that landed in his lap three months ago. So is the mild-mannered governor really this furious at the mayor? Who knows, but it makes for a fantastic read:

Local News

"I now have 3,715 friends, of whom I actually know three," Mike Bloomberg told the Times over the weekend, referring to the Facebook profile he set up in late 2007. (Perhaps the article is responsible for his surge in popularity: He's up to 3,864 as of this morning.) So who are the three? There's Ed Skyler, for one. Anyone else in the Bloomberg administration have a Facebook profile? Let us know! [NYT]

Rudy Giuliani has laid understandably low since his much-hyped 2008 presidential campaign crashed and burned before it really got off the runway. But new schemings suggest he hasn't lost his appetite for executive office, and may have his eye on the Governor's mansion. Giuliani, who passes his days in what be frustratingly attention-deprived fashion at his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, is fighting a proxy battle with Michael Bloomberg—whose possible gubernatorial ambitions themselves came to light this week—over who should be the next leader of the state GOP. Giuliani is angling to install his longtime crony Anthony Carbonetti, while Bloomberg is pushing for outgoing Buffalo Rep. Tom Reynolds. Rudy's fundraising abilities will greatly improve if he gets his way, though it's hard to imagine a few extra million dollars making a difference when you're up against a wallet like Mike's.

Sick of hearing about the possibility that Mike Bloomberg may be tapped by either Barack Obama or John McCain to run as vice president? Brace yourself for two new strains of will-he-or-won't-he speculation: There's now talk he'll run for a third term as mayor, a move that would require overturning city term limits. (But would give him plenty of time to pass a congestion pricing plan!) At the same time there are suggestions that Bloomie may mount a bid for governor—and he's told friends he wouldn't mind being Treasury Secretary or president of the World Bank either. It's nice to have options, isn't it?

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of some city on the East Coast with good nightlife but lousy conditions for startups, has unveiled a $2 million fund for companies doomed to failure by their thoughtlessly poor choice of location. Why doesn't he just give the would-be founders plane tickets to San Francisco and a deposit on a SoMa loft office? That seems easier. [Silicon Alley Insider]

It's that time of year when institutions of higher learning heartlessly eject their seniors into the real world! Princeton grads were treated to the best speech of the season; Stephen Colbert delivered a zinger-filled address (above) in which he wisely reminded grads that "no one will ever, ever want to hear you sing a capella" outside college. How true. But plenty of other colleges tapped A through Z-list celebs to brace their soon-to-be-discharged students for entry into the workforce.

Last night the 26th CFDA Awards were held at the New York Public Library, MC'd by Fran Lebowitz and hosted by CFDA chairman Diane Von Furstenberg, who, like many attendees, wore YSL in tribute to the late designer. The big winners? Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa was presented the award for womenswear by Maggie Gyllenhaal (in Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's Proenza Schouler), Victoria Beckham (in Marc Jacobs) and Eva Mendes (in Calvin Klein). Kim Cattrall presented the award for menswear to Tom Ford.

Turns out Mike Bloomberg isn't so thrilled with former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's decision to publish a expose on his former employer. "I just hopefully hire people who are a little more responsible," he told reporters. "I've always thought that when you work for somebody, you have an obligation to not write a tell-all book afterwards." So will Ed Skyler emerge in 2009 with a dramatic, behind-the-scenes account of Bloomberg's decision to ban trans fat? Will Patti Harris open the floodgates on Mike's highly contentious implementation of 311? Aside from the fact that there doesn't appear to be all that much juicy material (although we would like to know which one of his advisors is responsible for dispensing notoriously unfortunate fashion advice), the mayor has one thing going for him that George Bush didn't: