The host of the raunchy, tacky, and hilarious Robin Byrd Show, former porn star Byrd is the grande dame of New York cable access television.

Making a name for herself as editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, Min spent years keeping America informed on what Britney did, who Paris was sleeping with, and what rehab clinic Lindsay was residing at. These days, she's the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter.

A longtime newspaper columnist and editor, Hamill is the only person who can claim to have been editor-in-chief of both the Daily News and the New York Post. A memoirist and novelist, his notable books of the last decade include 2004's Downtown: My Manhattan and 1997's A Drinking Life, an account of his struggle with alcoholism.

Jarecki is the founder of Moviefone and the director responsible for the award-winning doc Capturing the Friedmans.

Together with celebrity chef Mario Batali, restaurateur Joe Bastianich co-owns Babbo, Otto, Del Posto, Spotted Pig, and a collection of other flashy restaurants in New York and beyond.

Meyer is the man behind some of New York's most beloved restaurants, including Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, and the ever-expanding Shake Shack.

One of New York's culinary giants during the 1990s, Kunz is the acclaimed chef who presided over Café Gray in the Time Warner Center until June 2008.

One of the food world's most prominent figures, alternately thought of as a tells-it-like-it-is iconoclast or a bombastic douchebag, Jersey native Bourdain attended Vassar before dropping out and washing ashore at the Culinary Institute of America. The '80s weren't very productive years for Bourdain: he eventually sobered up and went on to run the kitchens of a handful of mid-range Manhattan restaurants in the '90s.

David Bouley

The founder of Felidia, Bastianich is the godmother of high-end northern Italian cuisine. She's also the mother of restaurateur Joe Bastianich and an investor in Del Posto, the king-sized Italian restaurant in the Meatpacking District co-owned by her son and Mario Batali.

Brennan is the cheese-obsessed chef and owner of the three-star French restaurant Picholine. He also owns the Flatiron bistro Artisanal and the Artisanal Cheese Center.

Tom Scott

Gabrielle Hamilton

Chef, restaurant owner, and frequent Top Chef judge, Dufresne is best known as the leading proponent of the molecular gastronomy cooking technique, which seeks to incorporate science into the preparation and presentation of food.

Gutfreund is the former Wall Street titan who served as CEO of Salomon Brothers in the 1980s.

As acclaimed as he is prolific, Vongerichten is best known for his four-star French restaurant Jean-Georges. Along with Phil Suarez, Vongerichten also owns high-profile dining spots like Vong, Spice Market, JoJo, Mercer Kitchen, and Matsugen.

The former hellchild from Hempstead, Hannity is the polarizing conservative talk radio and television host of Fox's Hannity. He is also the author of best-selling liberal beat-downs like Let Freedom Ring, 2004's Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism. and 2010's Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama's Radical Agenda.

A legendary chronicler of New York life, Breslin was a columnist for New York newspapers for more than 40 years. Known for his hard-boiled prose and salt-of-the-earth journalism, he's also author of more than a dozen books, including I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me, The Church That Forgot Christ, and The Good Rat. His wife is former New York City councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge.

Manhattan's District Attorney from 1975 to 2009, Morgenthau retired at the end of 2009. The longest-serving D.A. in the city's history, he was replaced by Cy Vance Jr.

Kenneth T. Jackson