But there's no need to be embarrassed. After all, as it's been said, girls run the world. And in New York City's media industry, they've certainly been killing it lately, as you'll note from the list of media bachelorettes, which follow yesterday's look at media's bachelors.

Who's on the list? Some men have wanted to take a guess. Some men have taken a guess. Some men have been noted as having been with no less than three of the women on the same list.

And yet, it does speak to a certain consistency: what these ladies are looking for are indeed a rare breed. Their power often precedes their looks (i.e. you've likely heard of them, read them, or felt their impact, long before you've seen them), their intellect is a style onto itself, to say nothing of the way they actually style themselves. Matching wits with them? Forget about it. More men have likely been shot down trying to pick up these women than were in the Pacific Theater, and with some of the more outgoing ones, more viciously, too. Be you man or fellow lady, fan or foe, whether you have unilateral praise for or pointed individual gripes with these women, one thing is certain: they are unarguably accomplished both in the office and outside of it, and we're proud to have them on this list.

The criterion for making it? As it's already been said: We have to think of you. We have to agree with the inclusion. And we have to hold you in a specific regard, the propriety formula for which—a sampling: sugar, spice, everything nice, rare earth, hybrid compound chemicals, and sheer cosmic force—will remain forever locked away deep in The Observer's grey file cabinet. And who knows? Maybe, one day, some of these Power Bachelorettes can join our Power Bachelors and together, make Media Power Couple magic.

Or, as you'll soon see, not. But we can all be romantics for a slide or fifty, no?

Without further ado: Ladies? The floor is yours.

First and foremost, Power Bachelors should be desirable, be it by physical appearance, byline, or pure and unfiltered cachet.

Beyond which, they must be available: this doesn't necessarily mean they're completely single, per se—besides, what's 'single' in New York now, anyway? But if they don't have a ring on it, aren't living with someone, and you can get within close proximity of them, that's a bachelor. Dictionary definition: "Unmarried man." Ours? They likely have yet to fully give up the freedoms afforded to one not in a long-term committed relationship.

Unless they have had a recent breakup, it's a good bet that they were not included on our Media Couples Power List, or the Sequel to the Media Couples Power List. And they're definitely not these lovebirds.

Finally, to make our list, candidates must simply come to mind: the following gentlemen represent nothing more or less than the editorial judgment of The Observer. They're the names that came up most often, that were thought of first, and who simply defy exclusion from this kind of thing.

Without further ado, we present out 2011 Media Power Bachelor list. These are gentlemen whose words on the page or appearances on the screen are as utterly charming and desirable as their lives beyond it. For those on the prowl, fair warning, however: to win them away from bachelorhood, most of these men will have to be torn from not just from a modicum of romantic freedom, but the imprisonment of their work that's lead them to the high regard that appearing on this list requires. If you're interested in proposing something to them—like, say, a drink—get in touch, and we'll do our best to pass along the message.

The event had the air of a slightly drunk three-ring circus, complete with a brass band as well as a freak act: the “painted penguin”—a Coney Island staple—performed a classic “blockhead” routine, shoving a screwdriver up his nose through to his skull before removing the tool and licking it clean. “Delicious,” he smiled. Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz  and Shmaltz Brewing Company proprietor Jeremy Cowan were on hand to mark the occasion as well.

When word of “free booze” spread throughout the sparsely populated boardwalk on Wednesday evening, a small crowd of young-looking men assembled near the Observer. “Is the beer really free?,” one gentleman inquired.  We assured him it was. “Is it good?” He waited for an opinion, then decided, either way: “It’s free, so I’m in.” Such seemed to be the shared consensus of many attendees, several of whom admitted their RSVP was contingent on the promise of free “exclusive” ale.

“It’s not every day you’re allowed to drink on the boardwalk,” remarked one passerby, clutching a frothy bottle of “Albino Snake” flavored beer.

In June , Shmaltz's Coney Island was given the legal go-ahead to brew beer and become the smallest commercial brewery in the world! The retail component of Coney Island Brewing Company has been open since May 2010, selling shirts and Coney Island-inspired lagers.

After presenting Mr. Cowan with an official proclamation declaring August 10, 2011 “Coney Island Brewery Company Day,” Mr. Markowitz made his way inside the 175-square foot brewery/ storefront, to pick up a special case of He’Brew beer for his wife. “I never touch the stuff,” he called over his shoulder to the Observer. “But she loves it. ” The brewery produces 1 gallon of beer at a time, using Bunsen burners, hot plates, and old-timey mechanisms that cast a Prohibition-style moon-shine vibe over the entire operation.

“Mayor of Coney Island” Dick  Zigun couldn’t’ pinpoint his favorite Coney Island brew, neither could Mr. Cowan. “It’s like choosing between your kids,” Mr. Cowan said with pride. “I had a really bad experience with “Blockhead” flavor, Mr. Zigun revealed. “It has an incredibly high alcohol content for a beer (almost 12%). I’d be embarrassed to tell you what happened.” Mr. Zigun and Mr. Cowan exchanged knowing glances.

As the Observer headed for the Q train back to Manhattan, a platinum blonde (extensions) woman with leathery skin with blue eyeshadow smeared across her lids introduced herself as "Vera," and then proceeded to lament the changing nature of her surroundings.

“I hate Coney Island,” she muttered, with a Marlboro hanging out of her mouth. “It’s all yuppified. Craft beers on Coney Island. What’s next? It’s supposed to be the underbelly of America, the compulsion to see freaks, not buy shitty beer with freaks on the bottles."

She finished:  "This is so Brooklyn.”

bjimerson@observer.com

“Be careful with this one, she won’t give you anything. She’s quite squirrely,” chided MSNBC political correspondent and host Dylan Ratigan as Keli Goff, a contributing editor at TheLoop21, chatted with The Observer during the launch party of Ms. Goff’s first novel, The GQ Candidate at the Tracy Reese Boutique in the West Village.

Teetering in three-inch heels, Ms. Goff greeted each guest individually before the start of the launch party, sponsored by TheLoop21 and Tracy Reese.  Several attendees, thumbed through their newly-purchased copies, were here to exclaim, “I can’t wait to read it!” Though the book has been available for purchase since the beginning of July, it appeared few guests had cracked it yet.

It was the type of crowd one might have found at a fundraiser for the novel’s fictional presidential candidate, Luke Cooper—with Essence editor-at-large Mikki Taylor, fashion journalist Kate Betts, writer/socialite Susan Fales-Hill,  Mr. Ratigan, Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, and Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove.

The book, which Ms. Goff said was inspired by the lack of privacy surrounding the 2008 presidential elections, is the  fictional tale of an African American, Jewish politician who decides to mount a White House run, and the aftershocks felt by his closest circle. “It’s an exploration into what happens to those closest to political power,” said Ms. Goff. “During the 2008 elections, I was intrigued by the people who weren’t running, the people around the candidates; sometimes I found those in the background more fascinating than the candidates.” She added with a wince that the book's protagonist Luke Cooper has drawn public comparison to a “certain sitting president.”

The event's cohost, Ms. Fales-Hill, commended Ms. Goff on showing the world “as it is,” a diverse community of movers and shakers. A former writer for The Cosby Show and A Different World, about life at a fictional historically black college, she noted that “People still come up to me and say, ‘I went to college because of A Different World.’”

Shortly before Ms. Goff was scheduled to thank the evening’s attendees, R&B music legend Nile Rodgers slipped in, sporting his signature million-watt smile and fade-out sunglasses. “I stopped in to congratulate Keli,” Mr. Rodgers said with a smile. Still recovering from what he called “an aggressive cancer,” he attributed his rehabilitation to constant performing and writing. “I just received the galley of my first book today,” Rodgers said.

Mr. Ratigan took great pleasure in thoroughly educating The Observer on the significance of the American Industrial Revolution and its direct and indirect implications on today’s digitally driven social and political landscape. Oh, and he talked about Ms. Goff, who moonlights as a TV pundit. “I love having her on the shows because it makes Monday’s bearable!” he said with a wink. When asked about the backlash against his interview in The Atlantic earlier in July, in which he bashed print newspapers, he cried, “I just don’t like having physical paper all over my goddamn house!” Then it was back to the Revolution.

After a couple hours, attendees milled outside, only to be caught in torrential rains. The Observer found Chery Jordan, a stylist for Donna Karan, huddled with celebrity stylist Luke Destin—clutching a perfectly lush Hermès Birkin Bag—under the store’s awning. “I should write a novel…,” Ms. Jordan mused, inspired by Ms. Goff’s success. Her red pout twisted in thought. “I’ve partied with Eric Clapton, I’ve done it all! I was doing in the 1980s what Vogue is doing today!” She smiled politely and calmly reiterated, “I need to write a book.”

“Assemblyman [Matthew] Titone and I are going to be there handing out cupcakes and champagne -- or perhaps mimosas, or bellinis,” Savino said.

By the time The Observer arrived at Staten Island's Borough Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Titone and Savino had come and gone, and the procession of couples seeking marriage ceremonies and licenses had largely tapered off.

The majority of the 38 couples who had registered to marry there had long since come through, leaving plenty of room for stragglers to meander into Borough Hall, sometimes in clothing more fit for a backyard cookout than a wedding ceremony. “That’s the beauty of the entire thing,” commented a passerby on Stuyvesant Street. “They can just hop off their bicycles and come and get married, no red tape, nothing.”

As The Observer ascended the steps into the hall, a newlywed same-sex couple practically ran down the stairs, smiling ear to ear, and jumped into a waiting Jeep Cherokee.

Outside the courthouse, Judge Charles Troia, who sits in Brooklyn but is a Staten Island native, lounged and chatted with about two dozens friends of the soon-to-be newlyweds, Charles Dominick and Robert Portas. “Today I’ve married both heterosexual and same-sex couples,” said Judge Troia. “Some have come from as far as North Carolina to get married on Staten Island today!” When Troia saw the names of his previous co-workers and dear friends on Staten Island’s list of lottery winners, he angled to preside over their wedding.

Dominick and Portas are both court reporters at the New York Supreme Court, in the criminal and civil courts, respectively. “Our wedding wasn’t planned. We signed up for the lottery, and when we found out we won, we told everyone! Our lives are very chaotic, so this really fits us,” said Dominick.  “To illustrate to you how spontaneous it is, we picked up our rings during lunch,” he bragged.

Dressed in white linen button downs and khakis, Portas and Dominick entertained a growing band of well-wishers, which eventually totaled about 30 people. “This ain’t even half of it,” said one family member. “We got even more people waiting back at the house!”

While the borough enjoys a reputation as the most conservative in the city, it has its own gay community, and both Titone and Savino pushed aggressively to pass same-sex marriage. In 2009, Savino delivered a stirring floor speech that was noticed nationally. “If my speech converted some people’s minds, I’m just happy to do that I was able to do it," she said on Friday. "And if someone else’s did, it was all a concerted effort.”

The scene on Staten Island was a far cry from the packed courthouse in Manhattan, where hundreds of same-sex couples applied for a lottery to be married. An aide from the mayor’s office confirmed that of the 38 spots on Staten Island, some of those selected in the lottery had not arrived by 3:45, leaving several open spaces for couples who hadn’t won or even participated in the lottery to wed -- including, as it would happen, several heterosexual couples.

A ragtag crew of supporters, about six in all, congratulated each couple that exited the courthouse with balloons, noisemakers, and smiles from ear to ear. “We were hoping for protesters,” said a volunteer, decked out in rainbow dressings. Alas, none were visible outside Borough Hall. “Maybe they’re getting the hint. We’re here. We’re queer. We’re married. Get used to it.”

On Wednesday night, Christie’s brought in $361,938 for 46 previously unreleased photographs documenting The Beatles’ first US visit, well-surpassing a collective estimate of $100,000 and shocking photographer Mike Mitchell, who was just 18 when he took the pictures.

“I wasn’t expecting this, when I took those photos all those years ago. It’s a pretty good feeling,” Mr. Mitchell told The Observer after the auction had ended. During the bidding he watched wide-eyed from the audience as the prices kept rising, in some cases surpassing their estimates by a factor of ten. Frantically, he texted with his sister, who is in Florida.  “We were going ‘Wow, Wow, Wow!’”

The sums were impressive across all price-points for the shots, which largely document the band's arrival at Union Station in DC and performance at the Washington Coliseum. A Beatle-less shot of Ringo Starr’s drums went for a whopping $16,250. A photo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney singing in harmony at the microphone quickly jumped to $30,000. The high price of the night belonged to an image of the Fab Four with their backs silhouetted against a sliver of light.

As bidders dropped off one by one, the battle for that photo became a showdown between an anonymous phone bidder and a bidder in the room. The price teetered around the $38,000 mark, and the phone bidder, judging by his representative’s response, seemed to mull the price. The tense seconds ticked by.

“If someone doesn’t round it off to $40,000, I’m gonna cry,” said auctioneer Cathy Elkies, who was met with laughter — and the requested bid.

“C’mon, what’s another thousand?” she teased, when the applause died down. The price shot to $50,000 and kept climbing, going at hammer for $55,000. Upon close, the crowd erupted into a cheer. A flushed but grinning Elkies stood proudly at the podium.

“This is a room where people want to have fun and be engaged,” she told The Observer after the bidding. “You want to bring personality into room, and they’ll spend more because they feel you’re on their side… this kind of interplay between two bidders is amazing. It’s as fun as it gets.”

After the auction, The Observer caught up with onetime Lennon girlfriend May Pang, a curvy Asian woman with a black shaggy bob, as she chatted with her friends and Beatles memorabilia hounds.

“I didn’t buy anything, I just wanted to see what Mike saw in 1964,” she said. “I don’t need the pictures, I have them in my mind.”

She then proceeded to whip out her phone, and flip causally through her own never-released photos of Lennon, assuring The Observer that her private collection was priceless.

During a press lunch Monday afternoon, Food Network The Ultimate star and House Beautiful magazine columnist Tyler Florence mingled effortlessly with guests over cocktails and oven-baked pizza at the launch of House Beautiful’s annual Kitchen of the Year expo. Florence and Kitchen of the Year interior designer Lori Yeomans, designed a rustically romantic lived-in Northern California-inspired kitchen, complete with Florence’s own personal effects on the shelves.

“I’m always on,” Florence told The Observer. “I don’t take a moment of this for granted.”

Overeager cater waiters refilled glasses of fresh squeezed lemonade, a bustling buffet line doled out Florence’s signature sweets and vegan-friendly treats. While meticulously carving up a cured pig’s leg, Florence mused on his craft.

“Nothing bums me out more than a dull knife,” he said. “A dull knife means a dull chef.”

This year marks House Beautiful’s second time inviting a Food Network star as the headliner of Kitchen of the Year—in 2009 Barefoot Contessa designed the kitchen, and last year Jeff Lewis of Bravo’s Flipping Out created a distinctly Los Angeles feel for the space. Florence has been writing for House Beautiful since February 2011.

Both Food Network magazine and House Beautiful are under the Hearst Publishing umbrella, but according to Newell Turner, editor-in-chief of House Beautiful,  Florence has no contractual allegiance to the magazine of the network that made him an culinary idol.

“There’s no connection between House Beautiful and the Food Network Channel. I am a long-time fan of Tyler’s. He’s been on my radar for a long time, and when the column became open, I wanted him to fill it,” said Turner.  Florence’s monthly column, “Tyler’s Kitchen”, features family friendly recipes from the acclaimed gourmand.

After mingling with guests, and with a full schedule ahead of him, Florence deftly slipped out Rockefeller Plaza and into the throngs of pedestrians at 3:48, 12 minutes before the space opened up to the public.

Quickly and quietly, the smorgasbord was disbanded, waiters snatched up half empty glasses of Pinot, and the brick-oven pizza crew broke down their stations. “The public doesn’t get lunch,” laughed a media correspondent. “They only get to see a kitchen they can never afford.”

“This is madness,” commented a theater employee. “I haven’t seen anything like this since Sex and the City 2!” Alas, the theater would only keep approximately one percent of the evening’s earnings, according to a  manager. “We’re really pushing the concession stand tonight. We need some of that Harry Potter Gringott’s gold!”

Outside the theater, The Observer met an engaged couple, Sarah Weitz,32, and John Hammon, 30, who met at the New York Premiere of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in New York ten years ago. “We’re getting married tomorrow,” beamed Hammon. Both Weitz and Hammon were decked out in matching Ginny and Harry garb, respectfully, complete with a redhead dye job and a semi-permanent scar in Hammon’s forehead. “We carved it last night with a shard of glass,” said Hammon. The wedding theme? Summer at Hogwarts. After 3 years spent planning “a perfectly Potter wedding”, the couple plan to honeymoon at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida. They are registered at Crate and Barrel.

The couple plans to marry on Friday, after having seen the film saga to fruition.  “It feels right. Harry and the gang have been part of our relationship since the very beginning. We wouldn’t want to get married without seeing Harry through to the end.”

“It’ll be weird, down the road, when we have kids, to tell them we were there when the first movie came out,” squealed Weitz.

For countless fan(atics), Thursday night marked the end of a cultural phenomenon, a moment of closure, and a new explosion in the fan fiction universe. “I’m more excited to go home and create fanfics and fandom’s than I am to see the movie,” commented Julian Si, a Cho Chang lookalike. “The movie is more of a formality for me.”

After the credits rolled, The Observer spotted a couple tucked away in a back row, sobbing loudly and gripping each other, rocking back and forth. “It’s going to be alright,” consoled one half of the pair. “We’ll see it again tomorrow, I promise.”

Members of Baby It's You cast

Bryant Park is not unaccustomed to crowds of families with lunch coolers in tow, corporate types wolfing down sandwiches on their lunch breaks, and high schoolers with skateboards and a curb to grind. But each Thursday  at noon until August 11, some of Broadway’s most widely celebrated (and Tony nominated) productions will call the park home, as part of Broadway in Bryant Park, a New York City summer tradition since 2006. This all comes on behalf of 106.7 Lite FM (the show's presenter), and is sponsored by Bank of America.

As The Observer fawned over the Cirque du Soleil’s ingenious and intricate Zarkana routine, event staffers hurried around in the press tents, feverously dialing and texting Sister Act cast members, three of whom were late for their call time. “Why don’t they just fly in on their umbrellas?”, commented an event photographer. “That’s Mary Poppins,” corrected a PR rep. “Damn nuns!” the photographer finished.

As Sister Act cast members began to trickle into the park and geared up for their performance (sans flying umbrellas), Rashidra Scott, who sang as Delores, regaled The Observer with tales of Whoopi Goldberg coming backstage to the show, bearing cookies and sage advice on how to be a nun. “She says to tell the truth, and don’t hold back,” commented Scott.

Stomp seized the stage next, manipulating push brooms and makeshift drums, reminding the audience why they are still a Broadway force after seventeen years on the stage. Fritzlyn “Fritz” Hector of Stomp descended from the stage and spoke with The Observer, still riding her ‘performance high’. She insisted the performance on stage was heavily improvised, such being the nature of the 8-person show. “The show is 75% written, and the other 25% is spontaneity,” said Hector.

For Erica Ash, Baby It’s You marks her Broadway debut as the originator of the roles of Micki and Dionne Warwick, and her third offer to grace the stages of the Great White Way. “I was offered roles in The Lion King and in The Color Purple,” assures Ash, “but I didn’t want to come to Broadway unless I could originate a role.”  Broadway in Bryant Park will continue each Thursday at noon until August 11. Check www.bryantpark.org for full event listings.