Wingnut gossip round-up: Homeless O'LOOFAH, Pickles tries to return designer dress, & MORE

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http://www.nypost.com/seven/01242007/gossip/cindy/friends__funds__what_a_party__cindy_cindy_adams.htm?page=0

The conversation around the room: Bill O'Reilly to someone hanging on every word: "I'm not materialistic. I'd be a 6-foot-4 homeless bum if not for Fox." Oscar de la Renta: "My famous two-piece red Laura Bush gown? Would you believe the next day one lady tried to return it to the store?" Leading Dem fund-raiser Robert Zimmerman: "For now, I'm keeping all options open." Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio: "This book's climbing fast. Already way up on Amazon, and it's not out until tomorrow." Former state chair Judith Hope: "Karenna Gore Schiff will make a great future candidate." A youngish reporter to Barbara Walters, "How do you like this party?" Barbara, thrilled at the thrilling question: "It's lovely."



http://www.nypost.com/seven/01242007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix_u.htm

Mike: Gracie Not For Mayors

MICHAEL Bloomberg doesn't think taxpayers should foot the bill for the occupants of Gracie Mansion, the official mayor's residence which he declined to move into after his election. "I don't think any mayor should live here," Bloomberg told The Post's Braden Keil at a mansion fund-raiser on Monday night. "Rudy Giuliani had the executive chef prepare food for his mother three times a week, then would have it delivered to her 10 blocks away. The taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for things like that." Giuliani's mother, Helen, died in 2002 after a long illness. Bloomberg, who lives in his own townhouse near Central Park, wrote a $5 million check to help renovate the 206-year-old, Federal-style mansion after Giuliani moved out at the end of 2001. Giuliani's spokewoman, Sunny Mindel denies her boss ever fleeced the taxpayers. "He wrote monthly checks for personal at Gracie Mansion," she said. Bloomberg, whose political aspirations appear to aim higher than the vacant house in Carl Schurz Park, didn't express any aversion to moving into the taxpayer-subsidized White House.


Blonde Evasion

BILL Clinton needs Secret Service protection - from overzealous fans. At the Terry McAuliffe book party Monday night, the former president was seen dashing away from a flirtatious blonde. Clinton was heard telling one of his security detail, "You've got to get me away from her. I don't know what she's up to, but she's got an agenda." Meanwhile, his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton personally called rival Barack Obama on Saturday to chat with him about her White House run - a courtesy the Illinois senator did not extend to her before his announcement. By picking up the phone first, Clinton took Obama to school when it comes to proper political etiquette.


We Hear . . .

THAT Mario Cuomo and Newt Gingrich met for breakfast at the Regency to set the ground rules for a "Lincoln at Cooper Union" dialogue on Feb. 28, when they'll have a no-holds-barred, 90-minute debate on current issues . . .



Sightings . . . Sightings . . .

GOV. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and wife Ann, billionaire AOL founder Jim Kimsey and talk-radio star Laura Ingraham at the Prime Rib restaurant in D.C. getting an air-kiss blown at them by Bo Derek . . .

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