Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Happy Birthday | Billionaire financier George Soros turns 79 today. Nina Zagat is turning 67. Writer/comedian Michael Ian Black is 38. The tannest man in Hollywood, George Hamilton, is turning 70. Evelyn Lauder, philanthropist, social staple, and wife of Leonard, is 73. Roger Hodge, the editor of Harper's, is turning 42. NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman is 61. Legendary screenwriter William Goldman is turning 78. Casey Affleck is 34. Interiors man Jeffrey Beers is turning 53. Pete Sampras is 38. Scandal-plagued football player Plaxico Burress is turning 32. Publishing heir Robert Ziff is 43. Rebecca Gayheart is turning 38. Actress Dominique Swain is 29. And the rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot turns 46 today.

• The Costume Institute Gala is a mere five days away. Fashion Week Daily has a roundup of who's going, who isn't, and what everyone will not be eating. (Chicken, in case you were wondering.) [FWD]
• The Observer on Alexandra Kotur, the "Viscountess of Vogue."  [NYO]
• It seems some women are so addicted to the discount designer site Gilt Groupe that they're practically going bankrupt buying stuff they really don't want or need. [TDB]
• It's official: Madonna is attached to Louis Vuitton's new ad campaign. [Grazia]
• Isaac Mizrahi rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. The market has been having a surprisingly solid week so far. Could the two be connected? We'll say yes, if it's okay with you. [Facebook, WWD] More

Chelsea's Lehmann Maupin Gallery played host to Glamour's "Glamour Project" last night, an art exhibit designed to celebrate the magazine's 70th anniversary. Glamour editor Cindi Leive and publisher Bill Wackermann welcomed the likes of Cynthia Rowley and Bill Powers (left), Iman, Lyor Cohen and Tory Burch, Kyle MacLachlan and Desiree Gruber, Yvonne Force Villareal, Thelma Golden, Nicole Miller, Thakoon Panichgul, Gilles Bensimon, Marcus Samuelsson, Alanna Heiss, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Evelyn Lauder, Rory Tahari, Diane Kruger, Amanda Peet, Olivia Chantecaille, Roopal Patel, Jane Lauder, Peter Som, Erin Fetherston and Hedi Ferjani, Gilles Mendel, Michael Stipe, Oscar Blandi, Lisa Airan, Charlotte Sarkozy, Alison Brod, Lela Rose, Patrick McMullan, Kai Kuhne, Waris Ahluwalia, Amy Fine Collins, and Jason Wu, who admired works by Kara Walker, Rachel Feinstein, and Marilyn Minter (among others), pieces that will be featured in the magazine's April issue. [PMc, VF, FWD, GOAG]More

♦  Last night Karl Lagerfeld was in town to celebrate the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition with a cocktail party in Central Park. Undeterred by the chilly weather and/or enticed by the chance to be photographed in Chanel: Kate Bosworth and James Rousseau, Glenda Bailey, Linda Wells, Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr., Zac Posen, Dasha Zhukova, Peter Davis, Helena Christensen, Terry Richardson, Eve, Ann Dexter-Jones, Boykin Curry and Celerie Kemble, Cory Kennedy, Victoria and S.I. Newhouse, Terry Richardson, Julie Macklowe,  Debbie Bancroft, Katie Lee Joel, Tiffany Dubin, Kim Raver, Christopher and Amanda Cutter Brooks, Fabiola Beracasa, Amy Astley, Stefano Tonchi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Carine Roitfeld, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Kate Schelter, Ferebee Bishop Taube, Luigi Tadini, Eleanor Ylvisaker, Jackie Astier, Fran Lebowitz, Justine and Jeff Koons, Genevieve Jones, David Hershkovits, Kate Schelter, Sophie Auster, and Vidal Sassoon. [The Daily, PMc, GoaG] More

♦  The opening of Elizabeth Peyton's New Museum exhibition on Tuesday was full of her friends and fans like Marc Jacobs (with boyfriend Lorenzo Martone, left), Glenn O'Brien, Amy Astley, Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour, Hope Atherton, Cecily Brown, Rachel Feinstein and John Currin, Alex Katz, Kiki Smith, Gavin Brown, Barbara Gladstone, Debbie Harry, and Thelma Golden. [The Daily, PMc]

♦  Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer teamed up with Vogue on Tuesday night to host the launch of Lacoste Pink at Lacoste on Fifth Avenue and shoppers got a first look at the company's pink-themed collection with 10% of the profits going to Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Co-hosts Rose Byrne, Marisa Brown, Gigi Mortimer, and Cynthia Lufkin were joined by Gillian Miniter, Nicole Miller, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Philip Bloch, Anisha Lakhani, Zani Gugelmann, Emma Snowdon Jones, Melissa Berkelhammer, and Alexandra Lebenthal. [The Daily, Park Ave Peerage, Wireimage]More

Happy Birthday | Billionaire financier George Soros turns 78 today. Hope there's a big party planned (with plenty of champagne on hand for Alex.) Also celebrating today: Evelyn Lauder, philanthropist, socialite, and the wife of Leonard, celebrates her 72nd. Civil rights lawyer Donna Lieberman is 60. Harper's editor Roger Hodge will be 41. Screenwriter William Goldman is 77. Casey Affleck is 33. Football star Plaxico Burress turns 31. Publishing heir Robert Ziff is 42.  Jeffrey Beers, the restaurant designer behind China Grill and Japonais, turns 52. Nina Zagat celebrates her 66th today. And both Pete Sampras and actress Rebecca Gayheart are turning 37.

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