The City's Most Expensive Dinner

And you thought Nobu was pricey. Bringing with him the gridlock that is part and parcel of any presidential visit to our island, Barack Obama arrived in town last night for a whistle-stop tour that included a fund-raiser dinner at the Mandarin Oriental hotel for 200 deep-pocketed donors, each of whom paid $30,400--the legal maximum--for the privilege. (To be fair, that did include a plus-one.) The commander-in-chief also spoke at an event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Compared to the fête at the Mandarin, entry to that fund-raiser was a steal, at $1,000 per head or less. Nearly 2,500 supporters were estimated to have turned out for the cheaper of the two presidential-viewing opportunities, both of which supported the Democratic National Committee.

Not feeling the love, however, was New York's Democratic mayoral hopeful, Bill Thompson, who got a gentle nod from the president with the comment that he is "our candidate," but nothing resembling the endorsement he so sorely needs in his race against Michael Bloomberg.