Can You Believe Bette Is NOT ON THIS LIST? (Thanks Richie)

Mister D: I have to say I’m pretty amazed Bette didn’t make this list. What do you think? I provided the email address at the end of this article for those who would like to give their feedback to The Post. So here’s the women who made the list.

The New York Post
THE 50 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN NYC THEY LEVERAGE BUYOUTS AND SELL OUT STORES, TOP THE CHARTS AND CHART THE BUDGET. STEP ASIDE FOR NEW YORK’S 50 MOST POWERFUL LADIES.
By RAAKHEE MIRCHANDANI
June 1, 2008 —

1) Hillary Rodham Clinton, 60, presidential candidate. Win or lose – and it’s probably lose – Clinton has made it further than any woman in history in the race for the White House. She’ll remain a party leader, a Senate power and maybe even return for another prez run – all the while shaming the “iron my shirt” hecklers.

2) Anna Wintour, 58, editor in chief, Vogue. Twenty years later, she’s still making careers – most recently landing Peter Som a gig as creative director at Bill Blass. Her pet project, The Costume Institute Ball, raised $7.8 million for charity this year and is still one of the hottest invites of the year.

3) Erin Callan, 42, CFO, Lehman Brothers. As her bank reeled from the credit crisis, Queens-bred Callan was promoted to CFO and executive vice president to help right the ship. She’s spearheading deals and trying to save the troubled bank from a buyout; if she succeeds, she’s a front-runner to be the next chief executive.

4) Mary Ann Tighe, 60, tri-state CEO, CB Richard Ellis. New York, New York, it’s her kind of town – literally. Tighe is responsible for leasing more than 69 million square feet of commercial space, including 5.5 million of new construction in Manhattan. She filled up the New York Times’ building, and now she’s working on 11 Times Square next door.

5) Christine Quinn, 41, speaker, New York City Council. You’re not a real politician until your first scandal, so consider Quinn made. The openly gay politico is under investigation for earmarking millions of dollars for 30 nonexistent organizations. But she’s weathering the storm, and if she pulls through, we just might be calling her mayor.

6) Tina Fey, 38, producer/actress, “30 Rock.” When does she sleep? “30 Rock” won an Emmy, and Fey won a Golden Globe and a SAG. “Baby Mama” made $18.5 million in its first week, she plays Tinkerbell in a Disney ad and she landed Vanity Fair and Marie Claire covers. Seems like Liz Lemon’s bumbling failures are just fiction.

7) Amy Poehler, 36, comedian. Proving that the girls can be just as funny as the boys (see “Baby Mama,” above), Poehler’s impersonations are keeping “Saturday Night Live” afloat. Her Hillary Clinton kills, and her “Weekend Update” anchoring has brought the show back.

8) Randi Weingarten, 50, president, United Federation of Teachers. With American Federation of Teachers President Edward McElroy retiring in July, Weingarten is poised to step from her city power base to the national arena. Plus, she’s a superdelegate – meaning a summer of very interesting decisions.

9) Barbara Walters, 78, television journalist. She continues to expertly court controversy, juicing the ratings of her kaffeeklatsch, “The View,” and generating a little scandal herself with her memoir, “Audition,” selling a quarter-million copies in one week.

10) Patti LuPone, 59, theater actress. She is Broadway. Sorry, Nathan Lane, this diva is the one you want opening your show – most recently the raved-about, Tony-nominated “Gypsy,” which sold out its run. (Mister D: Then why were there empty seats when I went.)

11) Jane Friedman, 62, CEO, HarperCollins. The driving force behind the publishing house that tops $1 billion yearly- helped this year by “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” which inspired multiple knockoffs. The children’s division had the highest numbers for the sixth consecutive year. This summer’s big releases: Jennifer Haigh’s “The Condition” and Richard Clarke’s “Your Government Failed You.”

12) Annie Leibovitz, 58, photographer. Between the Gisele Bundchen/LeBron James Vogue cover and the Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photo that had people screaming kiddie porn, Leibovitz is still stirring up buzz – after decades in the business.

13) Patricia Harris, 52, first deputy mayor. Bloomberg’s righthand woman, she’s entrusted with his pet projects. Chances are she’ll play a prime role after he leaves office in coordinating where he wants to put his millions.

14) Kelly Ripa, 37, talk show host. New York’s answer to Oprah. Ripa keeps Regis current, on topic and funny. The bubbly blonde – as famous for her model walk as she is her ridiculously ripped arms – also produced an ESPN documentary, “The Streak,” which debuted at the Tri-beca Film Festival, and signed with Ryka to endorse its line of sneakers and workout wear.

15) Ivanka Trump, 26, vice president of development and acquisitions, Trump Organization. She won the real-world “Apprentice,” proving that she picked up her father’s real-estate acumen – and, thank goodness, not his looks. Besides marketing a number of Trump properties, she’s in charge of Trump SoHo, which will house Quattro, a hot restaurant from Miami.

16) Lois Curren, 47, president of entertainment and programming, MTV. Curren delivered hits like “Newlyweds,” “The Osbournes” and “Punk’d.” Now hoping to stop a downward slide in the ratings, she’s lined up a new Menudo and a reality show about a freestyle motorcycle rider. Prepare to be obsessed.

17) Pilar Guzman, 38, editor in chief, Cookie Magazine. From Park Slope to the Upper East Side, she’s convincing mommies that they need an $800 stroller. Since the mag debuted in 2006, it’s doubled in size – and ad revenue.

18) Elaine Kaufman, 79, proprietor, Elaine’s. Grab a corner table any night and watch Kaufman’s host of famous friends – news anchors, authors, theater actors and TV personalities – stroll in. Like your best friend’s living room – if your BFF happened to know the city’s most interesting and influential people.

19) Ashley Dupre, 23, destroyer of governors. Kristen, Ashley, whatever you call her, the “bad girl” of the Emperors Club brought down Eliot Spitzer in a prostitution scandal and now weighs book deals, a music career, maybe a reality show. Whatever she decides, chances are she’ll make more than $5,000 a job. (Mister D: A Hooker Over Divine….WTF?)

20) Silda Wall Spitzer, 50, founder, Children for Children. Husband Eliot will slink off into obscurity, but dignified, brilliant Silda surely has a bright future. She’s involved in her charity for children but could always return to law – or even, dare we suggest, politics?

21) Kate Lee, 31, book and blog agent, ICM. Discovering stars out of the blogosphere, she’s landed book deals for Elizabeth Spiers, Rachel Sklar and Jessica Grose from jezebel.com, as well the Page Six’s own Paula Froelich. And she has her eye on a dozen more.

22) Dolly Lenz, vice chair, Prudential Douglas Elliman. This Bronx-born residential broker is the queen of closing deals in New York with $500 million in sales in 2006 and $748 million in 2007. She’s got $3 billion in listings on the books and is marketing apartments at the $2 billion Manhattan House condo conversion, the largest in North America.

23) Lisa Dennison, 55, executive vice president, Sotheby’s. Going, going, she’s gone! The 29-year veteran of the Guggenheim left the museum’s top job to join the auction house last fall. She and her team sold Jeff Koons’ “Hanging Heart” for a record $23.5 million and recorded the highest contemporary sales in both London in February ($238 million) and New York in May ($469 million).

24) Patricia Field, 66, stylist. She’s in charge of the wardrobe at Apple newcomer “Ugly Betty” and the “Sex and the City” movie – she’s the woman you love or loathe for Carrie’s crazy couture. (Mister D: I met her…nice lady)

25) Padma Lakshmi, 36, author/model/TV show host. Fatwa this! She ditched her famous and frumpy husband, Salman Rushdie, wrote a pretty good cookbook and became the host of “Top Chef,” proving that models do eat.

26) Shelly Lazarus, 62, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Leading one of the biggest agencies in the world, her clients include IBM and American Express, but her agency really threw everyone a curveball with its groundbreaking real-women Dove campaign.

27) Natalie Portman, 26, actress. The Harvard-educated, chic, charming actress is one of the few who plays by her own rules – alternating between billion-dollar blockbusters like “Star Wars” and smaller films like “New York, I Love You.” She’s launched a line of vegan shoes and started her own production company with two short films under her belt as she writes her first feature.

28) Sarah Jessica Parker, 43; Kim Cattrall, 51; Cynthia Nixon, 42; Kristin Davis, 43, actresses. Carrie & Co. put Manolo on the map and had girls of all ages wearing nameplate necklaces, choosing Choo and drinking cosmos. The heroines of a generation, the “Sex and the City” ladies are back – and on their way to the bank, as their movie was estimated to take in $75 million this weekend.

29) Jane Rosenthal, 51, film producer/co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival. The little post-9/11 festival that could continues to gain steam – and popularity – with commerical successes like “Baby Mama,” which opened this year’s fete.

30) Beyonce Knowles, 26, singer/actress. With a new duet with Usher (“Love in This Club”) that’s a contender for song of the summer and two movies in the works, including a sure to be award-winning turn as Etta James, she’s R&B’s Queen B – and recently landed her king, hip-hop kingpin Jay-Z.

31) Donatella Arpaia, 36, restaurateur. Her Anthos is one of only two Greek restaurants in the world with a Michelin star. Now, Mia Dona is a must-visit. Next up: a reality show with Bravo and a new restaurant with chef-partner Michael Psilakis, opening in July.

32) Jhumpa Lahiri, 40, author. As she secures her spot as the voice of a generation – the Pulitzer prize-winning author’s latest collection of short stories, “Unaccustomed Earth,” debuted at No. 1 on the Times best-seller list – she’s tapping blossoming writers as an executive at the PEN American Center.

33) Cindy Adams, columnist, New York Post. She’s got a sandwich named after her – the Stage Deli’s corned beef, pastrami and Swiss – a fragrance line called Gossip and the ability to sniff out a sex scandal or other juicy gossip six days a week. Thank goodness she’s in New York, kids. Thank goodness. (Mister D: Huh?)

34) Rachael Ray, 39, talk show host. This twice-Emmy- nominated TV hostess has been a hot property for ABC and continues to juggle Food Network work on the side. Guests from Bill Clinton to Laura Bush to Oprah stop by, and Forbes put her above Ellen DeGeneres in terms of attracting prime audiences. (Mister D: Huh?)

35) Sheila Nevins, 69, president, documentary and family programming for HBO. The best in the business, she snatched up “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” 15 minutes into a screening for $1 million. The film airs on HBO on June 9. Cue the awards buzz.

36) Agyness Deyn, 25, model. Kate Moss’ heir apparent, she’s the up-and-coming “go-to” girl for mega- luxury ad campaigns after rocking the runways from London to New York. Next she’ll star in bandmate/friend Alanna Masterson’s short film, “The Right Side of my Exultant Brain.” (Mister D: Huh?)

37) Maryam Banikarim, 38, chief marketing officer, Univision. The Iranian native grew sales at the $2.2 billion Spanish-language broadcaster by $33 million in her first year and $75 million in her second, while reeling in ad giants like Target and Nike.

38) Meredith Whitney, 38, analyst, OppenheimerFunds. She’s the one who correctly sounded the alarms on Citibank to cut its dividends and, at first, was blasted for it. Now while Citi continues to fall apart, her profile has shot straight to the top, as people look for her inside knowledge.

39) Charissa Fernandez, 33, COO, The After School Society. This Harvard-educated do-gooder started an after-school program in Washington Heights. It now has a budget of $30 million, a staff of 90 and 193 community-based and cultural city programs that it supports.

40) Mariah Carey, 38, pop star. Not long ago, things looked dire for the Long Island native – dropped from her record label, trying to live down “Glitter.” Now she’s back as R&B’s biggest diva, with her song “Touch My Body” becoming her 18th No. 1 single – pushing her past Elvis Presley and second only to the Beatles in chart-toppers.

41) Lisette Sand-Freedman, 30, co-owner, Shadow PR. Nightclub clients Butter, 1Oak and Tenjune pay her big bucks to deliver Jay-Z, Diddy or Lindsay daily – though even she can’t control fur coat pilfering. She’s just signed on NBC, Epic Records, Mulberry, Intermix, Armani Exchange, American Eagle, Southern Hospitality and Kobe Club.

42) Robin Roberts, 47, co-host, “Good Morning America.” What speaks louder than a bald head? Roberts used her own battle with breast cancer – and her forum on “GMA” – to raise money and awareness about the disease, proving bald is beautiful.

43) Lindsay Prevette, 26, publicist, Penguin. How do you get on “Oprah”? In the case of “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert, with a good publicist. That coup led to 47 weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list and a movie starring Julia Roberts out next year. Prevette’s other authors are lining up.

44) Stacey Bendet, 30, owner, Alice & Olivia. Last year, she did $54 million in sales. This year, she’s already up to $100 million. Her marriage to Michael Eisner’s son Eric is sure to be good for business, too. Plus, she’s got sass. When Molly Sims called her clothing line low end, she responded with, “Before Molly calls us lower end, maybe she should stop begging for free pants and a plane ticket.” Score.

45) Majora Carter, 42, founder, Sustainable South Bronx. Power to the people! Carter – the one who waved a Tibetan flag while running with the Olympic torch in San Francisco – is greening the ghetto, including landing a $1.25 million federal transportation-planning grant to create a bike path along the Hunts Point and Port Morris waterfronts.

46) Chloe Sevigny, 33, actress. With a stealthy career playing an obedient Mormon on HBO’s “Big Love” and securing a Uniqlo ad campaign, this downtown fashion plate just launched her own fashion line with Opening Ceremony that’s now in Barneys. (Mister D: Huh?)

47) Liz Smith, 85, columnist, New York Post. New York’s Living Landmark is now wired since launching wowowow.com, a Web site for women over 40. When she’s not blogging, she’s out on red carpets and dishing out scoops.

48) Christine Vachon, 46, independent movie producer. No one can make sad so good. From “Boys Don’t Cry” to “Far From Heaven” to her current project, a Sylvia Plath biopic called “The Bell Jar” starring Julia Stiles.

49) Georgina Chapman, 32, designer. She’s got Marchesa, the darling dress line loved by Sienna Miller and Jennifer Lopez, and new hubby Harvey Weinstein owns Halston. With the recent launch of a bridal line, it seems that there’s only one direction for Chapman to go – up.

50) Tinsley Mortimer, 32, socialite. Move over, Tory Burch and all the others, even LVMH noticed the city’s most famous socialite, Tinz, the new brand ambassador for Dior Beauty and creator of her own Tinsley Pink lip gloss.

Click Here to voice your opinion to the New York Post….

Mister D: New York Post employees, Cindy Adams and Liz Smith (whom I like) shouldn’t be on there. It’s like playing favorites. And a hooker making the list over Bette? Give me a break. And I gave a pretty good amount of breaks to ladies on this list, so believe me there was room for Bette and NYRP on this list. I mean, gee whiz, I could have made a Top Ten Loser list with some of these women!