There’s no doubt that the pivotal moment of last night’s mayoral debate came when the candidates were asked whether either of them had ever had a manicure or pedicure, a question with no clear purpose besides embarrassing whoever answered in the affirmative. That man was Bill Thompson, who looked down at his nails and joked, “Not recently, but yes.” Then Mayor Bloomberg was up, and he answered “No.” Moderator Dominic Carter pressed him, because, come on, Bloomberg is even more effete than most politicians. Bloomberg, less unequivocal now, replied, “Don’t think so. I do it myself!”
We weren’t ready to just take Bloomberg at his word. Not that we care whether anyone gets a manicure, but if they’re going to lie to the People about it, that’s a problem. As it turns out, Bloomberg didn’t lie, as far as we can tell. In a Times article from last November, Bloomberg’s hairdresser, Alberto Rottura, says that “Bloomberg has never requested” the salon’s mani-pedi service, which is “popular with men and women alike.” But that was a whole year ago — what if Bloomberg had changed his mind since then? So we called up Rottura to find out. Is it still the case that he’s never given Bloomberg a manicure or pedicure? “It’s still the case, it’s still the case,” he said, chuckling. “We have offered him, but he doesn’t do those things.” It’s still possible that Bloomberg is getting manicures at the secret, personal nail salon he hides behind a trick bookshelf, but for now, it looks like his story holds up.
