Mayor Bloomberg will make one of those rare appearances tonight that remind people he's a registered Republican. Bloomberg will speak at the retirement celebration for Staten Island State Senator John Marchi, according to his public schedule. No doubt Bloomberg would appear at a retirement celebration for an elder statesman of either party. But his attendance at Marchi's farewell is another example of how artfully Bloomberg has finessed his nominal party affiliation: Marchi is staunchly conservative, an old-school Republican so stalwart that back in 1969, he challenged incumbent mayor John Lindsay in the Republican primary because he thought Lindsay was too liberal — and beat him.

Marchi and Bloomberg maintain a cordial relationship, even though the mayor chose not to support Marchi's designated successor. Instead, Bloomberg made peace with city councilman Andrew Lanza, who four years ago stormed out of a meeting at Gracie Mansion when Bloomberg praised council Democrats for passing his property-tax increase. Lanza squeaked out a primary win three weeks ago, and his race is key to retaining Republican control of the State Senate in November.

— Chris Smith