Somer is the co-owner of Freemans, the hard-to-locate hipster haunt on the Lower East Side. He's also the proprietor of Freemans Sporting Club on Rivington Street.

A longtime criminal defense lawyer, Ron Fischetti is most famous for defending mobsters and crooked cops.

Joseph Tacopina

A crusading attorney who represents the city's most vulnerable, Banks is the top legal mind at the Legal Aid Society of New York.

"A living legend" according to the National Law Journal, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein has been on the bench for more than 40 years.

As New York's corporation counsel, Cardozo is New York City's top lawyer. He's the man who represents the city when it's suing someone—or being sued.

Rakoff has served as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York since 1996.

The head of luxury cosmetics company Borghese, Mosbacher is better known for her red-maned presence on the social circuit and as one of the GOP's most reliable—and highest-profile—fundraisers.

Public-interest lawyer Neuborne has built a career defending the needy, but it's his huge settlements for Holocaust survivors—and the dispute over the fees for his service—that have attracted attention in recent years.

The President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and the most idealistic member of the Ratner clan, Michael Ratner is a legal gadfly best known for campaigning for the civil rights of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. He's the brother of real estate developer Bruce Ratner.

Defense attorney Gerry Lefcourt has made a career of keeping high-profile clients like Russell Crowe out of jail.

Majora Carter is the founder and former executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, a non-profit focused on promoting environmental justice and green space in the borough. Now she's respectfully sold out to the private center with the "green" economic consulting firm, The Majora Carter Group, LLC.

As Mayor Bloomberg's Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Kate Levin doles out millions every year to hundreds of arts and cultural organizations in the city.

Criminal defense attorney Barry Scheck became famous in the '90s sitting at the defense table for O.J. Simpson. These days he's a law professor and runs the convict-clearing Innocence Project along with Peter Neufeld.

Denniston is General Electric's general counsel. As such, he oversees the largest corporate legal department in the world.

Until December 2008, Kaye served as chief judge of the State of New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York. She was the first woman to hold the position.

Yaro is president of the Regional Plan Association, the wonky but influential public interest group that weighs in on city planning issues.

Along with Barry Scheck, Neufeld is a former member of the original O.J. Simpson "Dream Team" and a co-founder of the Innocence Project, a pro bono group that works toward the exoneration of the wrongly convicted.

The wife of city Councilman David Yassky, Fortuna is head of the watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission, which advocates for fiscal prudence in government and lower taxes. Don't let the name fool you—it's funded by business types. The group's trustees include Doug Durst, Larry Silverstein, Barry Gosin, Randy Mastro, Ira Millstein, Felix Rohatyn, Stephen Berger, Jim Chanos, and Michael Steinhardt.

Lewis was CEO of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the left-leaning and often controversial group that advocates on behalf of low-income Americans. Although the organization disbanded in 2010, she's still active, launching The Black Institute.