Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Last Friday, David Paterson insinuated that he was the victim of racial bias, suggesting that a racially motivated campaign had been organized to keep him from running for governor this fall. A good deal of criticism immediately followed (and today Paterson attempted to back away from his remarks). But if Paterson had been planning to stick with that line of attack over the weekend and possibly coordinate a march on Albany with Al Sharpton, well, that doesn't appear to have been on his agenda. A few hours after raising the race issue on Friday, he cruised out to Water Mill to attend a country western-themed fundraiser at the home of author Jay McInerney and heiress Anne Hearst, where he had an opportunity to play a little charity blackjack with the likes of Kathy Hilton and Countess Luann de Lesseps. And you were thinking that the Hamptons tended to be exclusionary! A few more photos of Gov. Paterson's fun-filled Friday night below. More

Happy Birthday | Project Runway host and all-around fashion guru Tim Gunn turns 56 today. Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley is turning 51. Publishing heiress Anne Hearst is 54. ABC News president David Westin is turning 57. Artist Jenny Holzer is 59. Choreographer Paul Taylor turns 79. IBM chairman Sam Palmisano is turning 58. Hotel owner Sam Chang turns 49. Patti Scialfa, the singer, songwriter, and wife of Bruce Springsteen, is 56. Filmmaker Ken Burns is turning 56, too. Actor Josh Radnor turns 35. Stephen Dorff is 36. And Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Gualtieri on HBO's the Sopranos, celebrates his 67th birthday today.

The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hosted its second annual Spring Ball at the Plaza on Tuesday night. More than 350 people turned out for the NBC Universal-sponsored event, including NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker and his wife Caryn (left), Mort Zuckerman, Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower, Julia and David Koch, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Hilary Geary and Wilbur Ross, Jonathan and Somers White Farkas, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Ginny and Tiki Barber, Sherman and Chris Meloni, Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Peggy Siegal, Natalie Morales, Valesca Guerrand Hermes, Jennifer Creel, Renee Rockefeller, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Danielle Ganek, Kimberly Kravis, Muffie Potter Aston, Hilary Gumbel, Dr. Harold Varmus, Dennis Basso, Heather Mnuchin, Anne Grauso, Sylvester and Gillian Miniter, Gigi Mortimer, Sara Ayres, Shafi Roepers, Leslie Jones, and LL Cool J. [PMc, Wireimage, NYSD]More

Jay McInerney's latest book, How It Ended, was feted at the 21 Club on Wednesday night. On hand for the occasion: McInerney's wife, Anne Hearst, Brooke Shields, Candace Bushnell and Charles Askegaard, Gay and Nan Talese, Morgan Entrekin, Nina Garcia, Pamela Fiori, Bob Colacello, Richard Johnson and Sessa Von Richthofen, Peggy Siegal, Muffie Potter Aston, Bettina Zilkha, Cornelia Guest, Debbie Bancroft, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Nina Griscom, Somers White Farkas, Patrick McMullan, Robert Couturier, George Farias, Tatiana and Campion Platt, Kimberly Rockefeller, Pamela Gross, Harry Slatkin, Dana Hammond, Harry Benson, and Deborah Norville. [PMc, VF, P6]More

Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society hosted a screening of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh last night at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Guests at the screening included the film's stars Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard (left), along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Wintour, Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson, Gilles Bensimon, Rachel Roy, Amy Sacco, Rachel Zoe, Beth Ostrosky, Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Jessica Joffe, Zoe Kravitz, Stefano Tonchi, Marina Rust Connor, Jennifer Creel, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richchofen, Carlos Souza, Marcus Schenkenberg, Rosanna Scotto, Emma Roberts, Brittny Gastineau, Irina Pantaeva, Kiera Chaplin, Lisa Anastos, Jackie Astier, Kim Heirston, Nur Khan, Gilles Mendel, Bobby Kennedy III, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Olympic fencers Tim Morehouse and Jason Rogers. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, Paper, FWD]More

Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society hosted a screening of He's Just Not That Into You at the Tribeca Grand on Wednesday night. Guests at the screening and after-party, hosted by Stardoll and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, included Lindsay Price (left), Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Michael Kors, Amy Sacco, Anne Hearst and Jay McInerney, Rachel Roy, America Ferrera, Helena Christensen, Eva Amurri, Mamie Gummer, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maggie Rizer, Annelise Peterson, Zoe Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Lorenzo Martone, Marina Rust Connor, Chris Benz, Christian Siriano, Reed Krakoff, Dori Cooperman, Taylor Momsen, Carson Kressley, Poppy Delevigne, Jane Seymour, Genevieve Jones, Patricia Clarkson, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Irina Pantaeva, Dylan Lauren, Jeff Gordon, Kiera Chaplin, Liam McMullan, Derek Blasberg, and one of the stars of the film, Ginnifer Goodwin. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, Style.com, NYO, FWD]More

• There were bound to be a few dramatic moments at the inaugural parties last night: Sheryl Crow had an awkward run in with her ex, Kid Rock, in the lobby of Donovan House. John Legend was forced to make a last-minute stop at Bloomingdale's because his girlfriend didn't have a gown. Susan Sarandon got a reporter kicked out an event for daring to ask a question. And Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony showed up so late to the Neighborhood Ball, they almost didn't get in. [P6, WP, Politico]
• One possible explanation for Lopez's late arrival: She was spotted at the Scientology Center in LA yesterday morning, trying to sneak out of the building without being noticed. [NYDN]
• Another headache for John Travolta and Kelly Preston: A politician in the Bahamas may have been part of a plot to extort money from the couple following the death of Jett Travolta. [OK!]More

♦ Publishing heiress Anne Hearst—the mother of socialite Amanda and wife of writer Jay McInerney—has sold her former three-bedroom, fifth-floor apartment at 203 East 72nd Street for $1.85 million. She and Jay shouldn't have to worry about packing any boxes: The couple has been living in an East 9th Street penthouse for the past couple of years. [Cityfile]
♦ Lincoln Center Theater artistic director André Bishop has sold his five-bedroom townhouse in Carnegie Hill for $5.6 million, nearly $2 million less than original $7.5 million asking price when it was first placed on the market back in February. [Cityfile]
♦ Adam Bronfman, the youngest son of Edgar Bronfman Sr. (and brother of Edgar Jr. and Matthew), has paid $7 million for a pied-à-terre at 170 East End Ave, the same building where Johan Santana, Dominique Levy, and Michael Fascitelli have all picked up apartments in recent months. [NYP]

It's a Zen-worthy philosophical riddle: If all the boldfaced names who turn up to a store opening deny that they themselves would dream of wearing the clothes, does that neutralize the PR value of their presence? At the launch of Juicy Couture's Fifth Avenue flagship last night, the guest list was a publicist's wet dream—or would have been—if The Transom hadn't asked people what they thought of the label.More

Happy Birthday | Tim Gunn of Project Runway (and chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne!) turns 55 today. Also celebrating: Designer Cynthia Rowley is turning 50. Anne Hearst—heiress, occasional writer, and bride of Jay McInerney—is 53. ABC News president David Westin is 56. Actor Stephen Dorf turns 35. Famed choreographer Paul Taylor is 78. Multimedia artist Jenny Holzer is 58. And IBM chairman and chief executive Sam Palmisano will celebrate his 57th today.

1) Donna Karan's annual designer garage sale in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund was co-hosted by InStyle and Kelly Ripa on Saturday. Betsey Johnson, Lydia Hearst, Euan Rellie, Lorraine Bracco, Jessica Stam, Katie Lee Joel, Debbie Matenopoulos, Hana Soukupova, Charlotte Ronson, and Nanette Lepore browsed stalls manned by the likes of Rachel Zoe and Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, raising $3.6 million. [FWD]

2) In the evening Robert Wilson hosted the 15th annual Watermill Benefit, where Lisa Anastos, Anthony Haden Guest, Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky, Alan Wyse and Kim Catrall, Campion and Tatiana Platt, Roger Waters, Rufus Wainwright, Amanda Hearst, Fabiola Beracasa, Valesca Guerrand Hermès, Douglas Hannant, Debbie Bancroft, Rachel Zoe, Lisa Perry, Debbie Bancroft, Ross Bleckner, Bob Colacello, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Michelle Paige Paterson, Alexandra Stanton, Jamee Gregory, Jessica Joffe,  Jonathan and Somers Farkas, Chris and Cristina Greeven Cuomo, Hope Atherton, Joe Zee, Roberta Myers, Simon de Pury, Kim Heirston and Richard Evans, Lauren Ezersky, Jon Stewart, Lisa de Kooning, Jay McInerney and Anne Hearst participated in auctions for exotic prizes like an Einstein chair and a golden palomino mare. [PMc/FWD] More

It's a thorny issue grappled with by the best of us: When you're invited to spend the weekend at someone's palatial Hamptons residence, what kind of gift should you bring in order to create the right impression, not look like a cheap freeloader, and secure that all-important second invitation? Well, agonize no more, because The Sun has gathered together some top tips from both guests and hosts, so you'll know what to come armed with next time—or, you can see if you want to invite certain people based on what they might bring.More