A New York Sun columnist, Mark Steyn, is enjoying a wave of admiring attention from some of New York's most thoughtful and attractive ladies.

A female magnet is perhaps not the first description of Mr. Steyn that comes to mind. In his writing and frequent television appearances on Fox News, he often offers a bleak political outlook. He is, after all, the author of the book "America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It."

But like any superhero — in Mr. Steyn's instance, his power is the pen and his moniker "the one-man global content provider" — he's full of contradictions.

Mr. Steyn can be stern, but he is also smart, funny, and musical (another book he wrote is titled "Mark Steyn's American Songbook," and features his own timely lyrics to tunes by Cole Porter and others.)

At the very least, New York women seem susceptible to his combination of smarts, sense of humor, and impeccable fashion (I've only ever seen him in a tuxedo or a navy pinstripe suit with red tie and matching handkerchief).

"He's amazing, sharp, and funny all at the same time," a merchant banker, Nina Rosenwald, said at a Hudson Institute luncheon yesterday at the Four Seasons, featuring remarks by Mr. Steyn.

Mr. Steyn spoke about the war in Iraq ("It was the right thing to do and no one should feel the need to apologize now"); gay-bashing in Europe ("Why are Moroccan men targeting the city's gays? Geez, that's a toughie"), and the state of the world ("It's hard to deliver a wake-up call in a civilization so determined to smother the alarm clock under a fluffy pillow of multiculturalism.")

When the floor was opened for questions, the first one to raise a hand was a Hudson Institute patron, Barbara Winston, who, like Ms. Rosenwald, also heard Mr. Steyn speak at a Center for Security Policy '21' Club luncheon.

"I have to say, you're a genius," Ms. Winston said. "Could you tell us about this organization called the Elders?"

A conservative commentator, Monica Crowley, asked Mr. Steyn about the presidential candidates.

Some men, too, have a crush. The president of the Hudson Institute, Herbert London, said, "I don't believe in cloning, but in the case of Mark Steyn, I wish he could be cloned all over the country."

agordon@nysun.com