Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

ABC announced last month that Diane Sawyer would depart Good Morning America at the end of the year to replace Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC's World News. Now we hear that the morning show's co-anchor, Chris Cuomo, is leaving the program as well. According to a well-placed source, Cuomo plans to move over to 20/20, taking over for John Stossel who left ABC in September to join Fox News and Fox Business. More

Happy Birthday | Twins Charlotte and Samantha Ronson turn 32 today. David Duchovny is turning 49. Charlize Theron is 34. Author and radio personality Garrison Keillor is 67. Conservative political commentator Alan Keyes turns 59. Wayne Knight, the actor best known for playing Newman on Seinfeld, is turning 54. And Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is 43 today—at least according to his Wikipedia page. A handful of weekend birthdays—including that of Michael Kors, Chris Cuomo and Dustin Hoffman—follow below.More

Much has been made in recent weeks about TMZ's decision to focus its attention on the financial crisis and corporate misbehavior. When the site revealed that the bank Northern Trust had hosted a golf tournament and a series of splashy parties even after receiving $1.6 billion in taxpayer money, editor Harvey Levin told the Times it was "the most important thing" TMZ had ever done, and one of the site's photographers said that while "Britney is fluff," stories about "Northern Trust, Madoff, and politicians in D.C. really have an impact on the country." It's nice to see TMZ's dedication to hard-hitting investigative journalism continues. Today a TMZ cameraman ambushed Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion outside a juice store near the offices of ABC News did his best to get Champion to utter the world "fruit" on camera. Now they just need to start gay-baiting the sons of disgraced Wall Street execs and they'll get the mix down perfectly. The video of the Cuomo/Champion encounter is after the jump. More

• Following conflicting news reports, it now appears that Natasha Richardson was pronounced brain dead sometime yesterday following her skiing accident in Canada on Monday. She's now reported to be at Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side, where her family members have gathered to hold a vigil and say goodbye. [NYP, People, NYT]
• Rihanna and Chris Brown might be "taking a break," although neither one says it's a "formal breakup," whatever that means. [E!]
• Lindsay Lohan's driver crashed her SUV into a wall outside the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles at 3:30 am Tuesday morning. [E!]
• Graydon Carter has already started inviting friends to visit Monkey Bar, the restaurant he's opening on East 54th Street. [P6]
• Just what the world needs: Justin Timberlake recently returned from Mexico, where he's been working on launching his own brand of tequila. [P6]More

A crowd of nearly 400 made their annual trip to the Bronx last Friday night for the New York Botanical Garden's 10th annual Winter Wonderland Ball. The black-and-white dinner, sponsored by Chanel, featured appearances by the likes of Cristina and Chris Cuomo, Nina Garcia, Marjorie Gubelmann, Byrdie Bell, Poppy Delevingne, Minnie Mortimer Gaghan, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Dalia Oberlander, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Alex Kramer, Alexandra Lebenthal, Molly Sims, Holly Dunlap, Erin Fetherston, Margherita Missoni, Zani Gugelmann, Coco Rocha, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Bronson Van Wyck, Patrick McDonald, Stephen Knoll, Jessica Joffe, Jill Kargman, Lauren Remington Platt, Coralie Charriol Paul, Joe and Nazee Moinian, Kate Schelter, James and Whitney Fairchild, Lydia Fenet, Maggie Betts, Meredith Melling Burke, and Pamela Fiori. [PMc, Style.com, NYSD, The Daily] More

♦  Alexander Wang was the big winner at Monday night's fifth-annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards at Skylight Studios. Wang and fellow nominees like Richard Chai, Jason Wu, Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai, Irene Neuwirth, Alejandro Ingelmo, Juan Carlos Obando, Albertus Swanepoel, Swaim and Christina Hutson, and John Patrick were feted by John Galliano (left, with Charlize Theron), Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Sally Singer, Andrew Rosen, Reed Krakoff, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Julie Gilhart, Julie Macklowe, Daphne Guinness, Sasha Heinz, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Andre Leon Talley, Narciso Rodriguez, Maria Sharapova, Penn Badgley, Zac Posen, Vera Wang, Chanel Iman, Juliette Lewis, Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman, Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo, Lauren Santo Domingo, Peter Som, Piper Perabo, Phillip Lim, Lazaro Hernandez, Maggie Betts, Calvin Klein, Damon Dash and Rachel Roy, and James Franco. [PMc, NYO, Style.com, The Daily]More

♦  The Times has the skinny on "Martin Eisenstadt," the supposed McCain consultant who leaked info to the press. (He's an aspiring filmmaker, not surprisingly.) In the meantime, MSNBC's retracted its story. [NYT, AP]
♦  You might be enjoying CW's Stylista, but the ratings thus far haven't been especially encouraging. [NYO]
♦  Two new cast members, Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliott, will join Saturday Night Live beginning this weekend. [NYT]
♦  Showtime is developing an hour-long show by Stan Lee about a gay superhero. [Variety] More

Spottings | Mary-Kate Olsen taking a walk downtown, iced coffee in hand ... Jennifer Lopez in a GMA interview in Central Park with Chris Cuomo ... Tim Robbins chatting with fans playing hockey in the Village ... Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, and Suri playing in Central Park ... Sarah Silverman walking through SoHo with a friend ... Ed Westwick filming Gossip Girl on the campus of Columbia ... Paris Hilton and Benji Madden holding hands on their way to a waiting SUV ... and John Mayer leaving Nobu with his brother Carl.

Happy Birthday | Celebrating birthdays today: Real estate broker Deborah Grubman—who also happens to be the wife of Allen and stepmom of Lizzie—turns 56. Party planner extraordinaire David Monn is 45. Designer John Varvatos turns 54. Dustin Hoffman is 71. Two former boy band-ers, Drew Lachey and JC Chasez, both turn 32 today. Tennis star Roger Federer is 27. And Robin Quivers is 56. Saturday is the big day for Chris Cuomo (left) who will be celebrating his 37th. Michael Kors will be turning 49. Allure's Linda Wells will be 50. And real estate broker Larry Kaiser and designer Peter Marino will be a year older on Saturday, too. On Sunday: Fashion icon Betsey Johnson will be 66, actress Angie Harmon will be 36, and real estate developer Harry Macklowe will turn 71.

1) The New York City Ballet's 24th annual "Dance With the Dancers" party was sponsored by Elle and Ferragamo. Fabiola Beracasa, Zani Gugelman, Allison Sarofim, Robbie Myers, Joe Zee, and Olivia Chantecaille wore Roman-inspired outfits, while Tatum O'Neal had everyone wondering what was in her glass. [Elle]

2) At ABC Carpet, magazine people like Joe Zee, Linda Wells, Lucy Danziger and Paul Cavaco helped Kate Hudson launch WildAid, the haircare range she's created with Paul Babaii. [Fashion Week Daily]More