J.Lo and Marc Anthony’s Problems ContinueThe couple had trouble getting into one of the inaugural balls last night. Also, Sheryl Crow had an awkward interaction with an ex, and Russell Simmons got caught stealing!
‘Daily News’: Mayor’s Gal Pal Is No Mere Gal PalNormally it takes a cop’s funeral, or a fireman’s funeral, or a big win by a local team, or maybe even Lindsay Lohan going to rehab, for a story to make its way to the cover of the Daily News. But today, mysteriously, the paper devotes its front page to a profile of Diana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend, former State Bank superintendent, and recently appointed Hudson River Trust chief. So what new and exciting news does reporter Heidi Evans, who earlier this year won a Pulitzer for the paper with her 9/11 reporting, elicit from the city’s quasi–First Lady to merit this page-one placement? Um, actually, nothing. Evans had a breakfast of “oatmeal and blueberries” with Taylor, and a side order of girl talk. The only thing we learned from the article — not that we didn’t know it already — is that Diana Taylor is much too successful in her own right just be called the mayor’s “Gal Pal.” This is apparently big news to the paper — it’s called her that at least sixteen times since 2002.
She’s Not Just His ‘Gal Pal’ [NYDN]
intel
Mayor’s Gal Gets a New GigDiana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend, just snagged herself a new government job: Governor Spitzer announced her appointment today as head of the Hudson River Park Trust, the state entity in charge of converting land along the West Side Highway into a paradise of playgrounds and boat launches and bike paths. After a career in finance, Taylor joined the governor’s office in the Pataki administration. In 2003, he appointed her New York State’s superintendent of banks, a position she held until February, when she stepped down to join a private investment firm. Her new post will be about as hard as any we can imagine: The trust is regularly lambasted from all sides. Everyone from powerful developers like Times Square landlord Doug Durst to the aging hippies who run the free-kayak program routinely fault it for either regulating too heavily or moving too lethargically. Even worse, when a developer is selected for the MTA’s Hudson Yards site, which should happen this fall, a whole new tangle of questions will arise about access and development rights. A relocation to Washington, D.C., might start to seem like a good exit strategy. —Alec Appelbaum
company town
Mayor’s Girlfriend Leaves Public for Private SectorFINANCE
• Diana Taylor the mayor’s First Girlfriend leaves post as state superintendent of banks for boutique investment firm Wolfensohn & Co. [NYP]
• Harold Ford Jr. loses Senate race in Tennessee, wins position at Merrill Lynch. [CNNMoney]
• Former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill wants hedge funds to open up their books. [Spiegel via DealBreaker]
early and often
How Chic Is Our Power?
Yesterday’s Times brought word that Nancy Pelosi’s elevation to House Speaker is changing not just Washington’s politics but also its fashion. “[W]ith the ascent of Nancy Pelosi, 66, widely recognized and admired for her Armani and easy fashion savvy, the days of the dowdy Washington dress code may be numbered,” wrote reporter Lizette Alvarez. She quoted Representative Mary Bono: “I am so sick of the matronly box — the rest of America doesn’t dress like that.” It made us wonder: Do New York’s big-shot female pols have better fashion sense than Washington’s? We pulled a bunch of photos of five Big Apple power players and gave them to New York fashionista Amy Larocca for a once-over. After the jump, her verdicts.
