As if Bill Thompson doesn't have enough to worry about as it is as he faces off against Mike Bloomberg, it seems that some New Yorkers have yet to figure out that the low-profile candidate happens to be black: "Ask Malcolm Woods, an African-American barista at the Common Grounds coffee shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, if he is inspired that there is a black candidate for mayor, and you get a surprised look. 'There is?' he asked." [NYT]

This week's issue of New York has come up with a list of the 12 most powerful people in town. (Well, the 11 most powerful behind Michael Bloomberg, that is.) They are (in no particular order): Al Sharpton, Howard Rubenstein, Sheldon Silver, Stephen Ross, Jamie Dimon, Herb Pardes, Anna Wintour, Andrew Cuomo, Mike Fishman, Chuck Schumer, and Rupert Murdoch. [NYM]

Rudy Giuliani is trying to stoke paranoid fears of something here, in this talk before some ultra-Orthodox Jews, with Mike Bloomberg, but... what? "You know exactly what I'm talking about," Rudy said.

Were you, like us, a little perplexed last week when Mayor Bloomberg indicated that he planned to campaign this weekend with Rudy Giuliani by his side? One thing we didn't take into account (but which explains everything): If you'd like to engage in a little vintage NYC fear-mongering and race-baiting in the last few weeks of a campaign, there's really no better person out there to guide you. [NYT, previously]

• Will Café des Artistes be reborn one of these days? A number of investors have expressed an interest in reviving the famed venue, apparently. [Crain's]
• As for Tavern on the Green, which is supposed to change hands on Dec. 31, a judge has given the LeRoy family more time to vacate the premises, which will prevent it from having to lay off 400 employees over Christmas. [NYT]
• The Todd English case goes on: The chef's bride-to-be Erica Wang is maintaining her innocence and gave a statement to police today. [NYP]
• A $1 billion lawsuit has been filed against Greenhouse for allegedly denying a group of people entry because of their race. Yes, $1 billion. [NYP]
• Mayor Bloomberg has weighed in on his fave bagel for some reason. [NYDN]
• Maialino, Danny Meyer's restaurant at the Gramercy Park Hotel, is on track to opens next month. But he's not sure when the next Shake Shack opens. [GS]
• Any interest in some "Viagra soup"? Yea, didn't think so. [NYDN]

At the debate earlier this week between Michael Bloomberg and Bill Thompson, the mayor said he thought Rudy Giuliani would make a good governor. The remark generated boos from the crowd (and rightly so), but it looks like the mayor wasn't paying much attention.

• The Condé Nast job cuts have made their way to Anna's domain on the 12th floor of 4 Times Square: Vogue laid off six staffers today. [AllThingsD]
• More bad news for Condé: some advertisers are reportedly "jumping ship" after the recent shake-up at Brides. On the plus side, The New Yorker appears to be hiring, so you can take that as good news if you'd like. [NYP, NYO]
• Remember how the New York Times Co. was planning to sell the Boston Globe? Yea, well, NYT publisher Artie Sulz has changed his mind. [AP, BG]
• Mike Bloomberg totally approves of Bloomberg LP's decision to buy BusinessWeek. Translation: The mayor backs the decisions he, himself, makes even if he contends that he wasn't actually responsible for making them. [NYT]
• Is Bloomberg LP's acquisition of BusinessWeek part of a big, new plan to compete with the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones? Sure seems like it. [NYT]
• Meanwhile, WSJ staffers gathered today to toast the news that the Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling paper in the U.S. [Politico, E&P]
• CBS News is now "investigating" the David Letterman saga (and his employer CBS!) as part of a future story. That must be a bit awkward, huh? [NYO]

If you're going to eventually catch swine flu anyway, you might as well perform a little volunteer work in the process. Earlier today, Mayor Bloomberg announced a "Flu Fighters" program, which will recruit 800 volunteers to help the city spread the word about getting vaccinated for both swine flu and seasonal flu. Among other things, volunteers will be asked to help "manage the flow of people in and out of weekend vaccination centers that will be set up around the city." This will bring you into contact with thousands of totally random (and possibly infected) New Yorkers, and you'lll ost likely fall ill a few days later. But the city will thank you for your service. And at least you can now coordinate your H1N1 infection around your busy schedule, which isn't such a bad thing. [NYC.gov, AP]

What's on Mike Bloomberg's schedule today? Oh, he's heading to Staten Island to campaign for Borough President James P. Molinaro's reelection, with his good friend Rudy Giuliani! He loves Rudy again!

Did you watch the debate between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson last night? Or did you conclude it would be a big waste of time since the election was predetermined before the campaigning even began and you figured that if you did tune in and you happened to find yourself enamored with Thompson, it would only lead to heartbreak next month when he's clobbered at the polls?

Bloomberg is now reporting that Bloomberg, the media company founded by a man with the last name Bloomberg, has reached a deal to buy BusinessWeek from McGraw-Hill. "BusinessWeek, with its extraordinary context and perspective on the economy and companies, presents a giant opportunity for Bloomberg News to reach decision makers in the most important industries," said Bloomberg's editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler. Added bonus? Although terms of the deal weren't disclosed, it probably wasn't all that expensive either. [Bloomberg]

You know that Mike Bloomberg is running for a third term next month, of course. And you may even be familiar with the Democrat running against him, Bill Thompson. (If you haven't had a chance to familiarize yourself with Thompson's platform, you can watch him go up against Bloomberg in a debate this evening.) But are you familiar with the seven other people who will be on the ballot this November?

Barack Obama endorsed Democratic New York mayoral candidate Bill Thompson! Sort of! But not really!

President Obama endorsed Bill Thompson in the race for mayor today. But he managed to do so without uttering the words himself (Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs delivered the news) and without referring to Thompson by name (Gibbs described as the "Democratic nominee"). And then he followed up by complimenting Mayor Bloomberg, just to hedge a bit more:

Mort Zuckerman's latest attempt to expand his media empire has failed, it seems. Reuters is reporting the real estate developer and owner of the Daily News and US News has decided to drop out of the race to acquire BusinessWeek, possibly because he sensed execs at the mag's parent company, McGraw-Hill, are more interesting in doing a deal with Bloomberg LP instead.

Michael Bloomberg's reelection campaign is costing him $15,000 per hour, in case you were wondering. Of course, that's just a drop in the bucket for the richest man in New York. At that rate, he could afford to go on campaigning for the next 133.1 years. [AP]

• Comcast denied the rumors yesterday, but it now appears the cable giant is involved in talks to take a controlling stake in NBC Universal. [NYT, NYT]
• It hasn't been smooth sailing for Jay Leno since his primetime show debuted—ratings have been slipping and the critical buzz has been lousy—but now it looks like NBC has another problem to worry about: CBS and ABC have both been actively discouraging their stars from appearing on the show. [LAT]
• Bravo reports it's developing solo series for three of its reality TV stars: Bethenny Frankel, Christian Siriano and Top Chef's Fabio Viviani. [Variety]
• Meanwhile, Logo is casting its gay version of the Real Housewives. [Gawker]
• Maybe the magazine industry isn't dead, after all: American Media plans to launch a new bridal title in early 2010 called Shapebride. [WWD]

When Mayor Bloomberg first brought up the idea of banning smoking at parks and public beaches a couple of weeks ago, he said the issue would require further study, especially since it would be a tricky law to enforce, at least in the absence of an extra 5,000 or so cops assigned to smoke patrol. Well, Bloomberg seems to have concluded His study and figured out how to make it work. Because he now says he's going to move ahead with the plan. Enjoy that last cigarette in Central Park while you still can, smokers. [NYDN, previously]

What is our billionaire Mayor-for-life up to, today? Oh, he has some great ideas for parking! He will make it so easy to park in New York, if you just give him one more term. Parking will be his legacy.

Remember last week when the mayor asked New Yorkers to paint their rooftops white to save on energy, but didn't bother to glance at his own roof before dishing out the advice to everyone else? He's at it again. A few weeks after Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Health announced plans to wage war on sugary beverages comes word that the agency's main lobby features—yes, you guessed it—a big vending machine stocked with soft drinks. Now someone just needs to snap a photo of the mayor sneaking a cigarette behind City Hall and our week will be complete. [NYP]