New York's 26th congressional district went to the polls on Tuesday to pick a replacement for their former representative Christopher Lee, who resigned after we caught him sending shirtless photos to women he met on Craigslist. The winner? Democrat Kathy Hochul, whose victory has been declared a repudiation of the Republican Medicare plan. Kathy! We don't necessarily expect a thank-you or anything, but if you want to say "hi," you can reach us at 646-470-4295.

Chris Lee's resignation from the House on Feb. 9 may be the quickest political downfall in history: It came just three hours after Gawker published a photo of Lee standing in the mirror shirtless, along with a story about how the married congressman dabbled in a little online dating on Craigslist.

This afternoon, three hours after Gawker's exclusive report about Republican Representative Chris Lee's flirtatious, shirtless Craigslist antics, the Congressman issued an immediate resignation. Tonight, Gawker's Maureen O'Connor—who broke the story—talked about it exclusively on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight.

• Michael Psilakis's Gus & Gabriel was scheduled to open this evening. But then the air-conditioning stopped working so it didn't. Oh, well. [TFB, TFB]
• Ama in Soho has closed its doors after four years. [Eater]
• Le Pere Pinard on Ludlow Street has been shuttered. [Eater]
• Zen Palate in the financial district is no more. [EVGrieve]
• One more bit of bad news, in case all those closings weren't quite enough: the Dean & Deluca on University Place and 11th Street is gone. [Eater]

♦ David Chang's Momofuku Ssäm has earned itself an upgrade. Frank Bruni gave it three stars in today's Times, saying the food there makes him feel "unencumbered, honest and joyful." [NYT]
♦ The most despised restaurant of 2008? That would be Delicatessen. [NYO]
♦ Justin Bogle is replacing Christopher Lee as executive chef at Gilt. [GS]
♦ Macao Trading Co. is planning to add a lounge and downstairs bar. [Eater]
♦ The Ciprianis are pushing for landmark status for the Rainbow Room. [NYO]
♦ Pink Elephant co-founder Shawn Kolodny is departing the club. [DBTH]
♦ If you pick up dinner at one of the outposts of Saigon Grill and it looks emptier than usual, there's a good reason for that: The owner and his wife were arrested today for falsifying records and tampering with evidence. [NYP]

♦ Tonight is the night for Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz's 20-course, $1,500 dinner at Per Se, and despite the bad economy, it's completely sold out. [NYT, NYT]
♦ A Q&A with chef Seamus Mullen, whose long-awaited Boqueria Soho finally opened last night. [Metromix, Eater]
♦ Christopher Lee will depart Gilt at the end of the year to take over as Auerole's executive chef. [NYT]