“This is my first Cosmo lunch; I’m reigniting them because Helen Gurley Brown used to do them,” Ms. Coles, wearing a sleek black sleeveless turtleneck and black trousers, told the Transom. As precious lunch-hour minutes ticked by, Ms. Coles herded the fun, fearless women into the dining room.

“I’m sorry if I look a bit tired. I have to be truthful, I’ve been up the last few nights with my biographer,” Ms. Coles quipped in her opening remarks. “I would ask you to re-engage with the magazine; over the next year, I’ll be making changes. You all think you are here for a free lunch, but of course you are not. I’ll be hitting all of you up for ideas, your advice, your tips for younger readers.”

At least among those assembled, the verdict seemed to be that Ms. Coles might spark new interest in the magazine. “I do read Cosmo now and again—not regularly, but now that Joanna is there, I probably will,” actress (and Jon Hamm companion) Jennifer Westfeldt said. “She’s been such a great supporter and friend, and I think she’s such a wonderful lady.”

“I don’t have a lot of time to read magazines, but with Joanna at the helm, I think it’s going to be really great and aggressive and smart and surprising,” said Sarah Jessica Parker.

Rose McGowan, meanwhile, thought aloud, “I wonder how Cosmo will change, because it’s totally been a slut magazine.”

Ms. Coles also took the opportunity to celebrate recently elected women. During her opening remarks, she congratulated New Hampshire Governor-elect Maggie Hassan, Hawaii Representative-elect Tulsi Gabbard, New York Representative-elect Grace Meng, and Connecticut Representative-elect Elizabeth Esty, all of whom spoke during the fish course.

At the tables, however, the conversation turned less political.

“Wasn’t there a Sex and the City where Carrie was wandering around Paris and she was depressed and lonely?” someone asked.

“Let’s ask Sarah,” someone else suggested, motioning to the next table.

“I wonder if guys even like it when you touch their perineum; I can never tell,” Ms. McGowan mused. “Someone should actually ask guys that.”

Ms. Coles? Are you listening?

Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, New York City comptroller John Liu, state senator Daniel Squadron, assembly member Grace Meng, council member Margaret Chin were among supporters at a press conference at the Chinese Consolidated Business Association.

"We've all showed up together because that's how important it is to send a message," Squadron said.

In his remarks to the group of a couple of dozen Chinatown locals, DiNapoli  talked up his pension management, his plan for accountability in government, and the importance of entrepreneurship for small businesses. He also stressed the need for Chinese voters to come out on election day as they had for Liu in 2009.

He only talked about his Republican challenger Harry Wilson in response to a question, saying that Wilson does not have the experience or values needed to be a successful comptroller.

"My opponent who has absolutely no experience in government, in running an agency, and in delivering on what government needs to do," DiNapoli said.

"He made millions in a way that hurt too many people," he said in reference to Wilson's companies subprime financial investments. "Those are not the kinds of values that represent the best of Wall St., those are not the kind of values that should be represented in the comptrollers office, where you need to look out for the greatest good for the greatest number of New Yorkers "

DiNapoli emphasized his strong working relationship with Liu, labeling the pair a "dynamic duo".

Silver took exception.

"Margaret Chin really just reminded me long before the two of you got together, Margaret Chin and I were called the dynamic duo," he said.

On his way out, DiNapoli commented that he remains optimistic by poll results, citing a Wednesday Siena poll that placed him leading in all districts and more than 30 points up in New York City.

"Its all going to be about turnout who comes out to vote so we're working very hard all across the state to make sure that there's a strong turn out certainly in Democratic areas but were obviously getting support from Republicans and independents too," he said.

Meng:

"Governor David Paterson is still our Governor and currently the only Democrat running for Governor. Let us give him, the office and New Yorkers the respect that is desperately needed right now to focus on finding solutions to better the lives of New Yorkers.  A fair and thorough investigation will be conducted by our Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. We should have the same respect and faith in that process as we should in the process of electing our representatives.

"When did we earn the right to tell people who should and should not run for office? The last time I checked that task is left to the voters on Election Day. We still function in a democracy and are Democrats and thus, should believe in the democratic process. I dare say that most of us would not even tell our own opponents that they are not qualified and therefore should not run for office."

The first was Eric Ulrich, who held his seat in the Howard Beach, Rockaway section, which is pretty blue-collar and the kind of place Rudy Giuliani did well. Which is why the former mayor campaigned there with Republican Eric Ulrich. But Ulrich could have held the seat on his own. He’s young and a talented public speaker who first won the seat in a special election after the front-runner was knocked off the ballot. On Tuesday, Ulrich was helped by the fact that Michael Bloomberg carried the district, according to this fun interactive map.

In Bayside, Dan Hallaron – a pagan – edged out Democrat Kevin Kim, an aide to Representative Gary Ackerman.

The pagan angle was, predictably, distracting. One television report quotes Halloran, but attributes it like this: "Pagan said."

Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said the District didn’t do anything special by voting in Halloran.

“The district went back to what it was before Avella. It’s a Republican neighborhood. They made an option to vote and to sustain the old. It’s not so new,” he said.

And if you think about it, Avella was usually with Republicans when it came to things like taxes.

But it’s in Flushing that Republicans made their most surprising gain.

Peter Koo, a local businessman , beat out Yen Chou, who won a crowded Democratic primary back in September, and had the support of outgoing Councilman John Liu – who demonstrated an amazing ability to attract voters in Asian neighborhoods like Flushing.

One Democratic operative said Chou’s people made a few classic mistakes: the first was not expanding their outreach to the non-Asian voters in Flushing. Also, Chou came out of a crowded primary with just 25 percent of the vote. Since then, she hadn’t consolidated the Democratic vote or establishment to her cause, one consultant said.

Flushing Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who supported Chou, told me via email, “I think Queens Democrats didn't expect a Republican to win in Flushing. We were focused on Kevin Kim, Liz Crowley and Bill Thompson.”

Liz Crowley, who, like Ulrich, won her seat in a special election earlier this year, held off a challenge from former Republican Councilman Tom Ognibene.

The result--not a surprise, but a wider margin than in previous years--was greeted with applause from advocates in the overlooking balconies as well as the members on the floor who supported the measure. There were kisses and hugs for the chamber's three openly gay members--Matt Titone, Deborah Glick and Danny O'Donnell, who carried the bill--as well as Micah Kellner, who is openly bisexual.

Now it's up to the Senate, where passage is in doubt.

Six assembly members were absent for the vote: Karim Camara, David Gantt, Carl Heastie, Marge Markey, Grace Meng and Marc Molinaro. Additionally, Crystal Peoples did not vote. Since 2007, when the measure passed 85-61, five members changed from no to yes. They are Tim Gordon, Sandra Galef, Janet Duprey, Fred Thiele and Bob Reilly. (Peoples voted yes in 2007, so it's 85+5-1, for those of you doing math at home.)

People are gravitating down State Street to O'Donnell's engagement party.

Sometimes the commenters mention the fact that Liu's father was convicted for bank fraud. Usually the criticism of Liu, a councilmember from Queens who was born in Taiwan, is less specific, and amounts to name-calling.

Many of the anti-Liu comments sound alike, and seem to stem from an ongoing conflict taking place far from City Hall.

The criticisms are similar in spirit, at least, to the stories about Liu that appear frequently in The Epoch Times, a free newspaper that was founded in 2000 by practitioners of Falun Gong in New York. It is a professional-looking broadsheet that is widely available in Flushing and throughout the city. It is not, in any way that would be apparent to a casual reader, associated with Falun Gong.

It is run by people who do not like John Liu at all.

Headlines in the Manhattan-based weekly include, “Flushing Politician Helping ‘a tyrant do evil’ Says Critic” and “Taiwanese New York Politicians Appear Not Interested During U.S. Taiwan Policy Discussion.”

Falun Gong is a China-based spritual movement which has been the target of a repression campaign by the Chinese government for the last decade. (Their U.S.A. web site is here.)

In New York, Falun Gong periodically organizes theatrical demonstrations in Union Square Park and other large outdoor settings to draw the attention of passersby to the unpleasant details of the Chinese crackdown. The demonstrations, here and elsewhere, aren't generally billed as such: they are advertised as celebrations--"Chinese New Year Spectacular," for example--although they turn out in part to be depictions of torture and brutality. 

Some Falun Gong practitioners staged a protest in July 2008 on the streets of Flushing, in John Liu’s district. The event resulted in some kind of confrontation between the demonstrators and local residents, the result of which was that Falun Gong, according to the Epoch Times' coverage, accused its critics of being “sympathetic” to the “Chinese Communist Party” and of harassing them.

According to the Epoch Times report, Liu met with the Falun Gong members, but ended up siding with the local residents who were criticizing the group. In the eyes of the Falun Gong, Liu was effectively siding with the Chinese Communist Party and was no different, morally.

(A reporter at the Epoch Times I spoke to said the paper is not directly affiliated with Falun Gong--Wikipedia suggests that this is cutting things a bit fine--and said he had lots of other damaging information about Liu, and spoke as if it were all common knowledge. )

Here’s an unusually detailed comment referring to the incident, posted on April 15, 2009 on a Daily Politics post, from someone writing under the name “Don’tHateMeLoveMe.”

This person wrote, “Victims of the attacks in Flushing had tried multiple times to meet with Council Member John Liu and State Assemblywoman Ellen Young, yet were unsuccessful. It was later discovered that Liu and Young had been instead meeting with the people who had allegedly attacked Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing.”

Don'tHateMeLoveMe goes on to say, “Falun Gong practitioners had shown up at Liu’s office in hopes of presenting their cases and asking Liu for support. Liu then kicked the Falun Gong practitioners out of his office, and is recorded saying, “Bye! Bye! Bye!” as he does so. TAKE FROM ME, John Liu told me in my face he had no response for me and he is a small nasty man. Dont' trust this shithead.”

The meeting between Liu and the Falun Gong members happened around the time Liu’s former aide, Assemblywoman Ellen Young, was gearing up for what would be her first re-election campaign.

Young, for a number of reasons, lost her race that year to Grace Meng (daughter of the Assemblyman who immediately preceded Young). The relentless, sensationally negative coverage in the Epoch Times did not help Young's efforts.

Meng, for her part, has kept herself out of the Falun Gong cross-hairs and presented herself carefully as an assemblywoman who happens to be Asian, not an ambassador to the Asian masses.

The strategy has worked: The Epoch Times has only mentioned Meng in three stories that I could find.

Liu, for his part, accepts the fact that there is a group of people who dislike him intensely and vocally.

At the kick-off event for his city comptroller bid on the steps of City Hall, Liu spotted a bunch of banner-waving anti-Liu protesters just outside the gates. Surrounded by a few reporters and well-wishers, Liu calmly gestured toward them, smiling, and explained that they were his "friends" who follow him "everywhere."

Liu's campaign did not wish to comment for this story.

At his campaign office opening this Sunday, City Comptroller candidate David Weprin announced he was endorsed by 20 current and former officials including former Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden and Assemblywoman Grace Meng of Flushing.

Golden joins Fernando Ferrer of the Bronx and David Dinkins of Manhattan as co-chairs of the campaign.

The office space was somewhat striking: a big cavernous store front around the corner from the Letterman Show and next door to where Studio 54 used to be (something Weprin's campaign manager, Eben Bronfman, loves to point out to people).

Also endorsing Weprin yesterday were Representatives Gary Ackerman of Queens and Long Island, Steve Israel of Long Island, Weprin’s brother Mark, an Assemblyman, former City Comptroller candidate Jim Brennan of Brooklyn, along with several Democratic district leaders.

"I like to tease him," said Mark Weprin. "He even has the perfect personality to be New York City comptroller." That's because "he is serious and, you know, not the most, greatest public speaker and he's not out there as 'I'm Mr. Personality.' He's out there because he knows what he's doing."

Mark Weprin also said that "we have some good friends in this race, but none of which would even hold a candle in the experience category."

But what caught my eye was the endorsement from Meng (who was not at the event).

She's a woman, but not backing the only woman in the race who is also from Queens, City Councilwoman Melinda Katz. And Meng, the only Asian-American in the state legislature, is also not backing John Liu, a councilman from Flushing who is running to become the first Asian-American elected citywide in New York’s history.

Liu and Meng have been political opponents for some time.

In 2002, Liu backed the re-election of Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik in Flushing, who defeated a crowded field of candidates that included Meng’s father Jimmy, a local businessman. Two years later, Grodenchik lost to Meng. He later stepped down, citing back pain. But Meng’s daughter, Grace, ran for the open seat against one of Liu’s staffers, Ellen Young. Grace was kicked off the ballot for not moving into the district in time withdrew from the race before a challenge to her residency was settled. Then, last year, when Grace qualified to be on the ballot, she defeated Young.

The seat is now held by Ellen Young, who won it when the elder Meng left after one term, citing health problems. The younger Meng ran then, but abandoned her campaign when Young challenged her residency status.

Among other things, the contest will be a test of the strength of Councilman John Liu, the city's only Asian-American lawmaker and likely 2009 citywide candidate. Liu supported Young in 2006 and is likely to do so again.

Young's district is a center of Asian politics in the city, and arguably a purer measure of New York Asian political sentiment than Chinatown, where the influence of the Asian vote is diluted because the neighborhood is carved into a number of city and state districts and the population is smaller. (When I covered the truncated Meng-Young race in 2006, it was primarily covered by and fought through non-English-speaking media outlets.)