London is rapidly emerging as a center of financial innovation. London-based hedge funds are snapping up property in Mayfair, and London has also outgrown New York to become the world’s center of over-the-counter derivatives.

To be a leading actor on the London stage is to have it all: fame, acclaim, and a table at the Ivy. Which of these young thesps will be the next Olivier or Dench?

Is theater more enjoyable in London because of the age-old tradition of drinking before a play?

Emily Bobrow, an online editor for The Economist, polls her friends and colleagues on aspects of London that categorically suck.

While the U.S. as a whole reliably ignores the latest London sensation, New Yorkers will dutifully pack the Bowery Ballroom to see what it’s all about (like Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs).

According to area sexperts, London lags up to four years behind New York, which means pubic topiary, sex diarists, and speed dating are just hitting their stride.

London, obviously. In fact, in a city with thirteen daily newspapers, it can be easy to feel swamped.

Gwyneth Paltrow apparently finds dinner parties more entertaining in London than in New York. Is it true? We dispatched two revelers to deliver post-party dossiers.

The U.K. capital has become a teeming global boomtown, equal parts shiny and gritty, and our cocky rival for finance, food, fashion, and plain-old fun. But let’s get serious: Would you really want to live there?

An extensive examination of London’s challenge to our city’s global preeminence. From finance, to fashion, to urban planning, to music and even restaurants, should New Yorkers be minding the world’s-greatest-city gap more carefully?