The New York Observer's Power 150 (Part 2)

Editor in chief, the Newsweek Daily Beast Company

What started as an ambitious Internet magazine cloaked in an Evelyn Waugh allusion has merged with a dusty old newsweekly. Ms. Brown will have a very different beast on her hands in 2011.

Founder and CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management LP

He's invested in prisons and owns a stake in Target that's worth a few billion dollars. Now he may increase his clout dramatically in the bookselling business by financing a $960 million buyout of Barnes & Noble by Borders, in which he owns a 38 percent stake.

CEO, Rudin Management Company

The would-be savior of St. Vincent's Hospital has a lot to fall back on if his redevelopment of the dearly departed hospital falls through. With office towers and residential properties strewn about the city, Mr. Rudin has built quite the empire for himself.

Founder, owner, DVF

It's been four decades since the designer gained fame for her iconic wrap dress, but the erstwhile princess and Barry Diller spouse remains the queen of New York fashion as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Co-president, HBO

Under Mr. Plepler's leadership, HBO continued its winning streak this year with, among others, the excellent new Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi. HBO received 12 Golden Globe nominations, more than any other television network.

Founder, Jumo; Co-Founder, Facebook

The ubiquity of Facebook had something to do with Barack Obama's becoming president, but Mr. Hughes is at the center of social networking's potential for real activism. He recently launched the Beta version of Jumo, a social network that connects individuals working for global change and promises to make the Internet into something more than a repository for funny cat videos.

Chairman, president and CEO, MDC Partners Inc.

Mr. Nadal has expanded MDC Partners into one of the world's largest marketing communications networks. He made $7.1 million last year.

President, Bloomberg LP

The former deputy mayor best remembered for failing to bring the Olympics to New York, Mr. Doctoroff is having better luck as the second-in-command at Bloomberg. He's maintained the company's reputation as the leading global provider of financial data and news.

Head of Government Relations and Communications, Bloomberg LP

As Mayor Bloomberg's deputy mayor for government affairs during the administration's second term, Mr. Sheekey was one of the mayor's closest, most aggressive advisers and policy makers. He hasn't strayed too far from the pack. He now advises the mayor on his philanthropic endeavors, among other tasks.

New York City schools chancellor-designate

The city raised quite a stink when Mr. Bloomberg appointed the First Lady of American Magazines to the position of schools chancellor, but is running a magazine empire really so different from presiding over the city's schools? Her first task will be to lay off several thousand teachers due to state and city budget cuts. Sound familiar?

Actor

He doesn't just play a powerful man on TV. Mr. Baldwin has something few actors do--longevity. He's also hosted Saturday Night Live so much that they might as well make him a cast member.

President and CEO, Corcoran

She runs the second-largest brokerage in the city, and has made her mark by gobbling up other agencies. The firm had 20 agents when the Staten Island native joined in 1985. It now has 2,800.

President, New York University

If Mr. Sexton has his way, every building in Manhattan--and some in Brooklyn!--will carry the purple flag of N.Y.U. in a matter of years. He also manages to convince several thousand new students each year into thinking spending $200,000 on college is a good idea.

General manager, Metropolitan Opera

The son of former Times managing editor Arthur Gelb, this onetime teen usher has helmed the city's most prestigious opera house since 2006, putting an emphasis on theatricality, revamping its marketing strategies and recruiting directors from Broadway. But his greatest impact is felt beyond the city limits, in the live HD broadcasts the opera started under his direction.

PR Queen

She has been the city's most notorious publicist for years. The only thing worse than this daughter of a light bulb manufacturer not liking you is her never having heard of you.

Power Forward, New York Knicks

In just under 30 games, the Knicks' $100 million man has turned out to be more than just a Lebronsolation prize.
And since he's been reunited with his old coach, Mike D'Antoni, the pair have brought some of their old flair from Phoenix and restored a glimmer of hope to the Garden. His waved-off buzzer three pointer against Boston was nevertheless the shot heard 'round the city, and had Spike Lee jumping out of his seat for the first time in years.

Head coach, New York Jets

The Jets this season are on pace to outstrip their 11-8 in 2009 (unless they collapse). Mr. Ryan is known for being loud-mouthed and divisive, but fans are sure to forgive him if he can bring home the Lombardi Trophy this year. He's promised as much.

U.S. Representative, New York's 9th District

If Mr. Weiner hasn't graced your TV screen in the last five minutes, check your set. The Queens congressman--and Schumer protégé--has become the unofficial spokesman for liberal discontent. Mr. Weiner still claims he would have beaten Mayor Bloomberg "like a rented mule" if he hadn't dropped out of last year's mayor's race. He should get the chance to lash someone else in 2013.

Restaurateur

This year Mr. McNally added Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria to his restaurant empire. His ensuing spat with the "bald, overweight" New York restaurant critic Adam Platt may not have earned him any points with the food press, but it does show Mr. McNally's unending willingness to engage in passionate defense of the fruits of his labor.

Chairman and CEO, Comcast

With his acquisition of NBC, Mr. Roberts busted into the limelight. The move, which is under review by the F.C.C. and the Justice Department, was announced last year and will give Comcast a stake in NBC and a number of successful cable operations.

Commissioner, National Basketball Association

In his tenure, he has built 28 new arenas, relocated five franchises and ratified the NBA Dress Code. He can rest easier now that the Knicks are no longer the laughingstock of the NBA.

President, Rubenstein Communications

The fresh-faced heir apparent to his father's public-relations empire handles many of the firm's younger and more glamorous clients. A force behind the restoration of the High Line, Mr. Rubenstein figures to rule the PR game for decades to come.

President, Fox News Channel

His "NPR executives are Nazis" comment landed him in hot water in November. Regardless, Mr. Ailes remains firmly in control of Fox News, which, unlike many other broadcast networks, continues its surging profitability.

Businesswoman

Born in China, the former Wendi Deng met Rupert Murdoch at a company Christmas party in Hong Kong, and the rest is history. Ms. Murdoch has since become a force in her own right, championing women in business and politics and serving as an important sounding board for our list's Number Two.

Director, Museum of Modern Art

He's turned MoMA into an epicenter of avant-garde expressionism--see Marina Abramović's zeitgeisty The Artist Is Present--as well as a hipster carnival. The Walkmen sounded great playing in the lobby of the city's greatest museum. Keep it up, Mr. Lowry.

Speaker of the New York City Council

The first female speaker of the New York City Council, Ms. Quinn was reelected last year, and has since taken positions on controversial subjects ranging from the construction of 15 Penn Plaza to the arrival of Wal-Mart in New York City.

Expert Character Actor

Mr. Hoffman, a downtown fixture who has been making moves in the city's theater community, is the rare A-list actor to get by on talent alone. He's played everything from a sexually ambiguous minister to the fickle sound guy on a porno movie set; it's always easy to forget that behind one of his characters is the chameleonic Mr. Hoffman.

Chairman, president and CEO, Macy's

As long as crowds still line up early on the wooden escalators the day after Thanksgiving, Mr. Lundgren, one of the city's most prominent arts philanthropists, will be raking it in and giving it away. It's convenient that Mr. Lundgren, who has 815 stores in 45 states, is also a thoroughbred clotheshorse.

Co-founder and co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Mr. Kravis has waited a long time to see the letters "KKR" appear on the New York Stock Exchange. The undisputed master of the leveraged buyout, Mr. Kravis and his equity firm braved the credit storm and went public in July, joining rival Blackstone. Mr. Kravis is also a philanthropist: He donated $100 million to Columbia Business School in October.

Executive vice president, News Corp.

As schools chancellor, he shut down failing schools and put an end to the teachers' rubber rooms. Mr. Klein will now be heading up News Corp.'s forays into the digital education market.

President, Hearst Magazines

The man who made The New Yorker profitable earlier in the decade and launched the ill-fated Portfolio made the jump this year to Hearst. Mr. Carey calls this a time of "media sea change," and if his 15-year success at Condé Nast is any indication, he'll breathe new life into the Hearst Corporation.

Co-founder, Foursquare

Formerly a name known almost solely among Silicon Alley's tech-savants, Mr. Crowley has seen his influence swiftly spread with the burgeoning popularity of his location-based social networking service Foursquare. Though Foursquare is as yet unprofitable, Mr. Crowley envisions his service becoming an indispensable tool for local businesses. Unperturbed by Facebook's recent venture into his territory, Mr. Crowley is the undisputed mayor of the location-based sphere.

Chairman and CEO, Time Warner

For many established media companies, the rapid rise of Netflix is striking, and, potentially, unnerving. Not so for Mr. Bewkes, who's on record calling Netflix a small-time operation and likening it to the Albanian army. It seems Mr. Bewkes knows of which he speaks, given the recent additions of Conan O'Brien and Eliot Spitzer to the Time Warner mantel.

Manager, New York Yankees

When the New York Yankees hired Joe Girardi in 2008, the former catcher chose the number 27 to signify his World Series ambitions, but it wasn't until the subsequent season that he fulfilled them. This past year was a less successful one for Mr. Girardi's team, but with his recent three-year extension as Yankees manager, Mr. Girardi has plenty of time to try for number 28.

Owners, the Estée Lauder Companies

Heirs to the $4.6 billion cosmetics fortune, the Lauder brothers have been knee-deep in the art world for years. Formerly an opponent of the Whitney's move downtown, Leonard Lauder eventually voted to approve the project, helping push the institution's historic southward jump.

President, Malkin Holdings LLC

As president of Malkin Holdings, which owns a little piece of property called the Empire State Building, Mr. Malkin had a year marked by both triumph and defeat. While his efforts to block construction of the skyline-altering 15 Penn Plaza were dismissed by the City Council, Mr. Malkin is loath to let his ongoing renovations to the Empire State Building be overshadowed.

Editor and CEO, the Business Insider

Star tech-stock analyst-turned-media mogul; his fall from grace in 2002 was an obsession of the industry he has now joined. His gossipy Business Insider has been dubbed by some as "the Hooters of the Internet," a title Mr. Blodget is known to appreciate.

Founder, publisher, chief operating officer, Gawker Media

Paying college wages and dredging the city's nether regions for content, Mr. Denton proved that blogging could be a business. The recent announcement that his media collective is ditching reverse-chronological structure in favor of the look of a conventional magazine site shows that this flame-thrower has joined the establishment.

Standards Enforcer, Bloomberg News

He makes bow ties look intimidating, which we didn't think was possible. He has no tolerance for mistakes, and every week he sends out an email berating the staff with old-school journalistic fury, calling for "facts, not glib labels, clichés or gossip."

Chairman, Vornado Realty Trust

He is a master of the art of buying up vacant lots and turning them into real estate gold. Mr. Roth's rare patience--the lot at Lexington and 59th, where he built the Bloomberg LP tower, sat vacant for years--ensures that he can profit in even the darkest of markets.

Chairman, Clear Channel Communications

The founder of MTV has been the CEO of everything--from AOL to Six Flags to Century 21. His return to radio this November was a return to his roots as a radio announcer, a job he started at age 15. He may be just the guy to revolutionize radio for the digital era.

Co-President, Durst Organization

The combination of practical commercial and trendy residential spaces kept Mr. Durst successful during a slow market. And he and his cousin, Douglas, outbid Steve Ross for a stake in the development of One World Trade Center.

Editor in Chief, Vogue

How many fashion magazine editors are referenced in a Jay-Z song? Ms. Wintour is as iconic as the magazine she has run for more than 20 years.

Host, The Daily Show 

How does a corny stand-up comedian from the late '90s accumulate power? Transform his cynical late-night show
on a dinky cable channel into one of the most honest and intelligent commentaries on politics and media, then restore the sanity of a crowd of several hundred thousand followers in Washington. Mr. Stewart has come a long way since Big Daddy.

Chairman, Soros Fund Management; chairman, Open Society Institute

The man who backed the legalization of marijuana this year is also one of the most powerful philanthropists in the world. This hated enemy of the right has donated a lot of money to the liberal cause over the years, all the while building a multibillion-dollar business empire.

CEO, SL Green

If power were measured in square feet, Mr. Holliday would be at the top of this list. Running the largest commercial landlord company in New York City, he controls nearly 25 million feet of property, and his empire is only expanding.

CEO, Prudential Douglas Elliman

She is the driving force behind the city's largest residential brokerage. Her real estate colossus, with more than 3,500 agents, seems to have offices on every street in New York.

Directors, Cablevision, Madison Square Garden, Inc.

James (pictured), Charles and Patrick own the Knicks and the Rangers, and they play elbows out. Just ask Village Voice Media. The company lost more than $1 million in Cablevision advertising after one of its bloggers insulted Jimmy Dolan, whose band J.D. and the Straight Shot opened nine dates this summer for the Eagles.

President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

In a surprising twist, he recently beat out the vice president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops to become one of the most visible authorities in the church. He's right-leaning and outspoken against abortion and gay marriage, representing a general shift of the Catholic Church toward increasing conservatism.