The Brooklyn Paper takes an awkwardly close look at Miss New York's "most recognizable assets," and declares, "They're spectacular — and they're real." 22-year-old Leigh-Taylor Smith won the title of Miss Brooklyn, somewhat controversially, before donning the Miss New York crown. She'll be competing for the Miss America title in January, but before that happens she cleared up any rumors that she had been surgically enhanced. One Brooklyn Paper reader said he still had his......

Carroll Gardens, you totally got Punk'd...the seven newest Real World strangers won't be moving to your quaint little neighborhood after all, instead they'll be moving to Red Hook. So says the latest rumor, which claims "construction of a make-shift apartment has begun on the upstairs end of Pier-41 (204 Van Dyke Street) as of last week. The space had most recently been used a few years ago when it was built-out as a bar/night club......

Could Yankee and lover of "well-toned, muscular" women, A-Rod, be the cause of the alleged marital problems between Madonna and Guy Ritchie? Radar reports that the issue of OK! Magazine hitting newsstands tomorrow claims the two are having an affair. The pair did go to the same gym last year and share a manager, after all; further proof in the article, Radar assumes, will be given through various "close friends."......

The Times of London reports the Material Girl has spoken to a divorce lawyer fueling speculation the superstar is ready to dump husband Guy Ritchie. The lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, represented Prince Charles and Paul McCartney in their divorces. Notably, McCartney only gave up about $40-50 million in his divorce settlement, from his $1 billion fortune; Madonna's worth is estimated to be around $600 million--and she may not have a pre-nup. Now, will Madonna come back......

Last summer Shepard Fairey was in town installing his exhibit at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in DUMBO; new pieces also went up around the streets of Brooklyn during that time. This past week, after a report came in that Fairey was going blind as a result of his diabetes, a whole new slew of his pieces went up (check them out below); while some thought, "for a blind guy, he's sure getting up," others questioned......

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg and Lance Armstrong by Harry Cabluck/AP The day after giving his State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg headed out of town and to capital of the Lone Star State. Sure, Bloomberg did have a press conference with Lance Armstrong and former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, but more interesting was his meeting with Ross Perot's former campaign manager! The billionaire mayor had a "private" meeting with Clay Mulford, who is......

With news that Mayor Bloomberg is planning to attend a meeting about a possible third party bid for the White House, the mayor's possible presidential aspirations finally enter 2008. If he does plan on running, he's lucky he has his billions to get the hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to get onto ballots across the country. The NY Times looked at the petition quest. Naturally, the states' petition requirements (and deadlines) are all different:......

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Mayor Bloomberg would be meeting with other Republicans and Democrats to "consider the merits of a third-party bid for the White House." Which means that today, not only do we get a NY Post cover, we also get a NY Post Photoshop illustration of Bloomberg, Gary Hart and Christie Todd Whitman (two other meeting attendees) as Revolutionary musicians! Former Democratic senators David Boren and Sam Nunn are organizing the......

Mayor Bloomberg may deny any desire to run for president in 2008, but his non-NYC homework seems to suggest otherwise. According to the Huffington Post, he has regular foreign policy briefing session "on a wide variety of topics...from non-proliferation to the defense budget, with a specific focus on the war in Iraq." Who has been briefing him? Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and an adviser during the Clinton administration Nancy Soderberg: "One source......