MANHATTAN — Lady Gaga doesn’t have anything on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's girlfriend, Diana Taylor.
While Bloomberg's liplock with the eccentric superstar on New Year’s Eve in Times Square drew headlines around the globe, the mayor insisted Tuesday that his girlfriend’s smooch was even better.
"The best kiss of the night came after that, from Diana,” he joked to reporters at a press conference in Queens.
But the mayor still seemed smitten by the hometown pop princess, who kissed both him and Taylor in the Crossroads of the World.
“First, Lady Gaga is very charming. She’s a young lady who grew up and went to school here in New York City. She’s obviously a great entertainer,” he gushed. "She really does have some talent."
He also dished on their conversation ahead of the smooch.
”It was fun to talk to her about New York City,” said the mayor.
He was surprised to find out that Gaga was “a little bit” nervous up on stage, despite her time in the limelight.
"I said, 'Well why? You know, you perform in front of big crowds all the time.' She said, 'But yeah, this is my home,'" he said.
The mayor promised to return the favor of Gaga's Times Square visit by visiting the soon-to-open Upper West Side restaurant run by her dad, Joe Germanotta, and where she reportedly threw a post-ball drop New Year’s bash.
“I said I would go to that restaurant,” he said.
The eatery, named Joanne, at 70 W. 68th St., isn’t open to the public yet, but now has a telephone number: 212-721-0068 — just in case the mayor wants to make a reservation soon.
But don’t expect him to try any name dropping to get in the door.
The mayor said that while he eats out “virtually every night" he asks his secretary to make reservations on his behalf so that no one knows he's on his way.
“I never make a reservation under my own name because I don’t want anybody to just move me to the top of the cue,” he said, blasting preferential treatment for big-name guests as "an outrage."
"It’s just wrong,” he said. "I think restaurants should treat everyone else before they seat me."
The person who answered the phone at Joanne Tuesday said the eatery will be opening in mid-January, but they're not taking reservations yet.
The mayor made his comments Tuesday at Tacos Tulcingo restaurant in Jackson Heights, the 500th restaurant that has participated in the city’s New Business Acceleration Team, which City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said has been able to shave almost three months off the lengthy permitting process for small businesses.
Quinn said the city hopes to target retail permits next.
With reporting by Leslie Albrecht
