RUDOLPH GIULIANI, the Mayor of New York City, now has a new label attached to his oft-lambasted name: petty party-pooper. This is thanks to a ruckus that has erupted over plans for a mega-bash to launch Talk, the new monthly magazine headed by British-born Tina Brown in partnership with the Miramax film people.

The party, to be held in the Brooklyn Navy Yards in August, was to have been the social event of the year. Save-the-date letters had already been dispatched to everyone who is anyone in the glittering world of magazines and movies.

Interest was all the more intense because of plans announced last month for the transformation of the Yards. Once the core of the United States Navy shipbuilding industry but now in rusty disrepair, the city-owned Yards were to be become a movie-studio and sound-stage complex to compete with the established lots in Hollywood.

Negotiations over the use of the Yards between Talk and the Giuliani administration were going well until reports began to surface that Talk's first front cover would feature Hillary Rodham Clinton. Deputy Mayor Randy Levine abruptly informed Talk it would have to find a new venue.

It is not just that Giuliani is a Republican. It is now almost certain that next year will find the First Lady running for a US Senate seat in New York against - who else? - the man they call `Hizzoner'.

"I told them, `It's your call'," Mr Levine said of the decision. "Put whoever you want on the magazine. However, we told you going in that we didn't want any of these city facilities used in any way that could be perceived as being political".

Where will the party happen now? Ms Brown's cheeky suggestion is Gracie Mansion, a splendid pile on the Upper East Side - and Hizzoner's home.