Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called him the “dean of damage control.” His public relations firm, Rubenstein Associates, once simultaneously represented both Leona Helmsley and Donald Trump.

So it’s no exaggeration to say that nothing of importance happens in New York City without somehow involving Howard J. Rubenstein.

Howard Rubenstein. (Illustration by Joao Maio Pinto)

A REBNY member since “forever,” in his words, Mr. Rubenstein, the city’s ultimate spin doctor, has been honored with this year’s “Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker” award for his contributions to the civic welfare and the real estate community.

“I’ve been involved with the real estate community for over 40 years,” said Mr. Rubenstein. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely. They’ve built the city that allowed me to do so much in my career. Harry Helmsley was one of my very first accounts.”

Mr. Rubenstein, 79, grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, the son of a police reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania and then came back to Brooklyn. In 1954, with not much money in the bank and working at his parent’s kitchen table, Mr. Rubenstein started the public relations firm that’s spilled oceans of printer’s ink, negotiated hundreds of thousands of scandals and tenaciously stood by New York City even in the worst of times.

“It all started very modestly with $100 in the bank and an idea,” he said. Menorah Home and Hospital for the Aged and Infirm was his first client. “I wrote speeches and they wanted to see if they could get them in the papers,” he said. “I called my father and he called everyone he knew.”

His clients started getting into the newspapers and his reputation grew. The idea, said Mr. Rubenstein was not just to promote a single client, but to put that client—be it person or development—in the context of the city. “I had a vision to tie any one building to a vision of New York,” he said. “It wasn’t one building, it was a conglomeration of different factors, economic, social.”

While Rubenstein Associates was still a fledgling enterprise, and before Mr. Rubinstein took on clients like Rupert Murdoch and the New York Yankees, developers Helmsley and Lewis Rudin helped him build the business. “One of the people who helped me the most was Lew Rudin. He was one of my first accounts. I was so interested in politics and real estate, we just hit it off.” It was with Rudin that he helped start the Association for a Better New York, a civic group founded in 1972 to address some of the city’s social ills.

“We had a commercial property owners association and we were just jawboning, telling landlords not to raise their rents too precipitously for fear of bringing in rent control,” he said.

At the same time the city was going in a downward spiral, said Mr. Rubenstein. “We decided someone had to do something about it, so we changed the name to the Association for a Better New York. Our point was that in good times and in bad times this city had strength like no where else in the country.” It was a time when crime, municipal union strikes and budget woes were ruining the quality of life in the city and making it the butt of a few late-night talk-show jokes. “Johnny Carson used to make fun of us and we picketed him,” he said.

When trash and litter around Manhattan’s business districts started to pile up, the great PR man hit on an idea that some of the city’s real estate titans take to the streets to fix the problem personally. “We took brooms to the sidewalk and we started to sweep,” he said. “You can just picture Harry Helmsley, Lew Rudin and Robert Tishman out there sweeping. They’re all very rich and they’re sweeping. We got a lot of press for that.”

Today, Rubenstein Associates has over 200 employees in New York and over 400 clients—you’ve heard of most of them. Two of his sons started their own firm under the Rubenstein Associates umbrella.

“Most real estate people have a view of the future,” said Mr. Rubenstein, who serves on the executive board of REBNY. “They are projecting strength despite the downturn in the economy. They never give up. They’re always talking positively. They look at New York and their investments in a long-range view.”

That’s why he said he was honored to receive such an accolade from REBNY. “My family and I were so pleased with this award. I never sought it and don’t own any real estate, but I’m extremely grateful to receive it,” he said.

In this latest filing period, from January 12 to March 11, Mark Green raised $143,285, but has only paid two bills so far, totaling $17,621. Those bills were for a campaign office and for a $16,006 poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.

Green spokesman Paul Rivera said other expenses – including his own invoice – will be paid later and will appear in future filings. He said they’re more focused on raising money at this point.

Bill de Blasio raised $136,282 from 428 contributors.

Norman Siegel raised $21,542 from 117 contributors, including $60 from political comedian Randy Credico.

Republican Alex Zablocki raised $657 from 39 contributors, including $50 from Jonathan Judge, who was one of the Brooklyn Republicans who voted against allowing Bloomberg into the G.O.P. primary this year.

Eric Gioia's latest finance numbers were not posted on the Campaign Finance Board web site as of Tuesday morning.

Among Green’s contributors are public relations guru Howard Rubenstein, who gave $500. Rubenstein helped orchestrate Michael Bloomberg’s push for the extension of term-limits, which Green has criticized.

Also contributing to Green was a big-shot lawyer and deputy commissioner in the state’s division of human rights, Tom Shanahan, who gave $50.

De Blasio contributors include Representative Ed Towns, who gave $175, Towns’ district director Jennifer James, who gave $50, and the Washington-based “Working for Working Americans” group, which gave $4,950. Among the group’s stated goals is to “pull back the curtain on the damage done by free trade agreements.”

City Hall released Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey’s schedule this evening, in reponse to Freedom of Information requests from me and other reporters.

Here, from Sheekey’s schedule from July 2, 2007 to January 11, 2009, are a few notable entires:

Sheekey and other top aides to the mayor met in City Hall at 11 a.m. on February 12, 2008 to discuss “the chairs of the Campaign Finance Board & Charter Review Commission." That was one of the last times the Charter Review Commission appeared on Sheekey’s schedule. Bloomberg later was criticized for never empanelling it, and for citing its lack of existence as the reason the term-limits bill had to be voted on by the City Council rather than in a public referendum.

On April 9, Sheekey met with Howard Rubenstein, the PR guru. It doesn’t say what the subject of the meeting was, and Rubenstein, as many of you no doubt know, does many things for many people. One of them was to help roll out news that Bloomberg wanted to extend term limits.

On May 07, Sheekey had lunch at Takahachi on Duane Street with a person only identified as “Hank.” A City Hall spokesman later said that it was probably Hank Sheinkopf, who is widely known as a Democratic operative but also lobbies for many clients who do business with the city.

From August 25, 2008 – the day Bloomberg donated to the state Independence party, to September 1, 2008 – the only events on Sheekey’s schedule are two 30-minute meetings, where the attendees and subject are not identified.

No other events are listed for those eight days.

During those 10 days, the New York Times reported that the mayor was meeting privately with newspaper publishers to court their support for his plan to extend term limits and run for re-election.

The day after Bloomberg’s October 1 announcement that he intended to seek an extension of term limits, Sheekey met with Howard Wolfson at the Gee Whiz Diner. Wolfson was later hired by Bloomberg’s re-election campaign.

Eight days after the Mayor announced his plan to extend term limits, Sheekey was scheduled to meet with Kathy Wylde, head of the Partnership for New York City – a business association that is closely allied with the mayor. In the notes for that meeting, it says the two will “catch up on everything.”

On October 29, Sheekey met with Nancy Jacobson and Mark Penn, who was Hillary Clinton’s top campaign strategist.

Sheekey met with Special Agent David Yorn on Monday, December 29, at City Hall. The subject of that meeting was not provided.

And, in the spirit of transparency, one entry of strictly parochial interest, from June 30th: breakfast with New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro and then lunch with, um, me.

I asked public relations titan Howard Rubenstein to explain.

“Well, Lauder is the father, and financed the effort to impose and keep term limits. So, he’s a startling and significant voice,” Rubenstein told me in a telephone interview just now. “He’s inspired the movement."

Rubenstein, who at times seems to speak on behalf of both Bloomberg and Lauder, said that the mayor has good reason to reach out to Lauder on the issue, and "it’s more than just the money.”

Rubenstein said Lauder “introduced the idea, paid for advertising for it” and become its most recognizable supporter. “It could have been someone else, but he put his money behind it,” he said.

In any case, the father of term limits doesn't want to talk about the movement.

When I expressed confusion over Lauder's exact position on the proposed changed to the law--and whether he's on board or got any problems with the current proposal--Rubenstein said, "Right now, what he’s saying is he’s not going to comment on what he’s on board for. He, the mayor, and [corporation] counsel, are trying to work it out. Corporation counsel told the mayor if it has it as a sunset provision, it’ll be overturned in the court."

The goal, Rubenstein said, is to determine "how can it be ended and revert back to two terms."

When asked how, if term limits are refashioned to help one person stay in office, the law would retain any credibility the next time a public official makes the case for an exception, Rubenstein said that people will understand that it’s being done because of the extraordinary financial challenges facing the city right now.

“This situation is a once in a lifetime," he said. "The last time we had this situation was the Great Depression.”

The third-term roll-out certainly looks like it was done professionally, and with recognizably Rubensteinian comprehensiveness. First with Lauder's announcement and then, hours later, the Bloomberg third-term story attributed to "three people who have been told of his plan." Finally, it's capped with unnamed confirmation to the A.P. 

All of which happened at the start of a two-holiday during which Bloomberg's chief spokesman, and many members of the media, were not at work. 

But some other notable New Yorkers have opened up their wallets and given to another Schwarzenegger venture: his campaign committee. That's according to a financial report posted yesterday for Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Dream Team:

Ed Cox, son-in-law to Richard Nixon, one-time Senate candidate and New York chairman for John McCain’s presidential campaign, donated $2,000.

Howard Rubenstein, communication guru, donated $2,000.

Bill Weld contributed $4,000 from his gubernatorial campaign committee.

“Most of the time, if it’s me,” said Steven Rubenstein, “people want to talk to the Letterman people, or Tribeca” (that’s the late-night talk-show guy, and the group that incorporates real estate and a film festival and Robert De Niro). “My dad: Rupert or Steinbrenner.” (That’s Murdoch and George, respectively.) “My brother: Time Warner.”

Steven Rubenstein, 37, is the president of Rubenstein Communications. He is also the senior executive vice president of Rubenstein Associates, which is run by his father, Howard Rubenstein, 74. A third company, Rubenstein Public Relations, belongs to Steven’s older brother, Richard Rubenstein, 41.

Howard Rubenstein speaks for a world of family businesses with healthy generational succession. “We represent them,” the elder Mr. Rubenstein said by phone on Friday, Dec. 8. “The Rudins, a good many, they’re doing O.K.! The Resnicks. The entrepreneurial and real-estate families have done very well—the Silversteins. You read about the conflict; you don’t read about the peaceful relations. They’re famous and wealthy; it ends up in the gossip columns.”

Rubenstein Associates represents News Corporation, the parent company of the New York Post, which actually has a well-known gossip column called Page Six. (Speaking of newspapers! Both the Kushner Companies and Jared Kushner, who is the owner and publisher of The New York Observer, are clients of Rubenstein Associates. The Observer is not.)

“A lot of these businesses are in their third generation,” said Steven Rubenstein. (They were together on speakerphone.) “The Rudins. The Fishers. The Speyers.”

“It’s a wonderful thing if it works,” said his father. Mr. Rubenstein conducts a great persona—genial, shticky, sly. “It could be hell if it doesn’t work, I imagine. We’re lucky—we’re living in P.R. heaven.”

P.R. heaven, by the sound of it, is a busy place. “Tomorrow will be my first day off, including a Saturday or Sunday, in a month,” Steven Rubenstein said. Howard had retreated into the distance. “Thanksgiving, I didn’t start working till 6 at night. The business is a little relentless.”

On his day off, he thought he might go to the gym and have a bluegrass guitar lesson. He’s still reading the Bob Woodward book. Maybe basketball!

“My whole life, my father has worked all day Sunday,” Steven Rubenstein said. “The family thing is, you get to take off Saturday. We do Friday status reports”—staffers at Rubenstein Associates download about each of their clients—“and, my whole life, I saw my father go through them on Sunday. And now I do it: an eight-to-12-hour workday on Sunday.” Mr. Rubenstein also hosts dinners at his house regularly, because, he said, he’s met so many interesting people in his line of work.

(Alas! On Dec. 11, Steven Rubenstein e-mailed: “needless to say, my father called me Saturday morning to talk through a bunch of business … :).”

Along with the sizzle, the family is in the steak business. Howard Rubenstein’s wife, Amy Rubenstein, is a daughter of Sol and Marsha Forman. In 1950, Sol Forman bought Peter Luger, the steakhouse in Williamsburg. They passed the business on to Amy and her sister, Marilyn Spiera, as well as Marilyn’s daughter, Jody Spiera Storch, who since has had children of her own.

Amy Rubenstein began working at Peter Luger a quarter-century ago. “And the transition from my father-in-law,” Howard Rubenstein said, “was very smooth. He was a terrific business man.”

“That family transition was an example of excellent relationships,” he said. “Business relationships, personal relationships.”

Howard Rubenstein’s father, Sam, grew up in Williamsburg, married an immigrant, settled in Bensonhurst. He was a newspaperman—cops and fires and crimes—primarily with the New York Herald Tribune, and did time in public relations, working for his son at one time.

For many years, it has been said of Steven and Richard that, as Advertising Age put it in October 2004, “the two will jointly succeed their father.” The elder Mr. Rubenstein joked to The New York Times in 1998 that his office “will be divided in half.”

But though they all shared a Thanksgiving table this season, the multi-firm arrangement means that the younger generation is unlikely to carve up Howard Rubenstein’s headquarters.

“Richard runs an independent business,” the elder Mr. Rubenstein said a few days after the conference call. He was doing what he does with reporters—calling daily to check back in. “Steven runs an independent business. And he works very closely with me and Rubenstein Associates.” Where Steven and Howard work collaboratively, “Richard gives me some advice from time to time that I find valuable. We’re close, and I think the three of us have run ethical businesses.”

“My objective,” said Richard Rubenstein, all alone on the phone on Dec. 11, “was to build my own business and prove I can run my own business. It’s proven. I always thought early on, if I learned the business and the challenges, that at the conclusion of a substantial amount of time, I could feel comfortable with myself. And that’s been 20 years in the making.”

Richard Rubenstein’s company handles: luxury brands; Trump; 15 Central Park West; the Miss Universe Pageant; the Savoy, in Miami; the Atlantica, in the Dominican Republic. He’s less interested in the entertainment gigs he did early on, and not at all interested in the crisis management that his father and brother take on. He said his goal now was to double the size of his own business, which employs 40 or so. Similarly, other Rubenstein companies have added infrastructure recently; a C.O.O., a C.F.O., digging deeper niches in their practice areas.

Richard Rubenstein said that he was just getting started. Like all good P.R. men, he answered the questions he wanted to, including when asked about succession in the family business.

More than once, he recalled his early days, with just his assistant, working on nightclub accounts. “They’d say, ‘Maybe we should hire your father instead.’ Can you imagine contending with that? It was difficult.”

“There aren’t simple answers to this,” he said. He went back in time again. “I would take any—even the small accounts would say at the onset, ‘We don’t need you! We’ll hire Howard Rubenstein.’” He laughed long and hard.

Howard Rubenstein, who represents the New York Post, also represents the Former Special Agents of the FBI. (He also works with the New York F.B.I. office— Mr. Rubenstein has also been identified in the press as a "Kushner family spokesman." Jared Kushner is the owner of the New York Observer.)

In addition to recently buying a midtown hotel, East 77th St. townhouse and a couple units in The Plaza, developer Harry Macklowe has become embroiled in a dispute with his chocolatier tenant, Fauchon, reports the New York Times.

The argument revolves around Fauchon's retail space in the Drake Hotel, which Mr. Macklowe purchased last month for over $418 million, and now reportedly plans to demolish to building a luxury apartment building.

Both sides are now at odds over a variety of issues: air-conditioning, bathrooms, and hanging decorative flags on the building's exterior. But why dwell those petty matters? The more probing question seems to be whether Mr. Macklowe likes chocolate or not. Seriously!

- Michael Calderone