Mayor Bloomberg may tell you to "deal with it" when it comes to blizzards, paying for the FDNY to respond to your crash, smoking, cutting the number of teachers, brazen corruption, and police raiding your stupid protest, but let's face it: When he announced he'd donate up to $250,000 to Planned Parenthood, you liked him for at least five minutes.

The NY Times looks at the billionaire's masterstroke: "Thanks to exquisite timing, an ear for the zeitgeist and an assist from the momentum and immediacy of the Internet, [the donation] turned into one of his biggest political coups in years and gave him, at least for the moment, a rejuvenated voice on the national stage" and "served as a reminder that with his billionaire’s checkbook and his bully pulpit, Mr. Bloomberg retains an extraordinary ability to command attention."

Here's how it happened: On Thursday morning, after many were denouncing Komen's move to defund Planned Parenthood, he met with Deputy Mayors Howard Wolfson and Patricia Hraris at City Hall:

Mr. Bloomberg, aides said, appeared mystified and angered by the foundation’s decision. Mr. Wolfson suggested a donation that would make up the $700,000 that had been lost, but the mayor said he preferred a so-called challenge grant, which would encourage others to match his donation.

Mr. Wolfson called Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. She was, not surprisingly, immediately receptive.

“This came at a really important moment for us,” Ms. Richards said in a telephone interview.

“For our folks from the front lines, our doctors and our nurses, to have someone of Mayor Bloomberg’s stature stand with them at that moment meant an enormous amount,” she said.

As it happens, after Bloomberg announced his donation, "It took less than three hours for Planned Parenthood to receive $250,000 worth of additional donations." (The group has raised $3 million between Tuesday and Friday afternoon.)

Political consultant George Arzt said, "He got into the conversation at the right time, and he was the first person to have acted. It looks to anyone like a precursor of Mike Bloomberg after the mayoralty. [The donation] gives you an idea of what he would like to do and how he would like to shape the discourse on major issues.”