Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Happy Birthday | James Gandolfini turns 48 today. Lance Armstrong is turning 38. Jada Pinkett Smith is 38 today, too. Designer Karim Rashid is 49. Comic actor Fred Willard is turning 70. Actor James Marsden is 36. The Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo is turning 33. The rapper Xzibit is turning 35. Senator Bob Bennett of Utah is 75. Actress and former Talk Soup host Aisha Tyler is 39. Singer Frankie Avalon is turning 69. Actress Holly Robinson Peete is 45 today. And Robert Blake, the former Baretta star who was acquitted of murder in 2005, turns 76 today. You'll find weekend birthdays listed below.More

An army of A-listers showed to last night's 69th annual American Ballet Theatre spring gala (and, if they were lucky, got a glimpse of Michelle Obama dressed in a black Alaia dress and Thakoon jacket). Among those in attendance: Anna Wintour, Carolina and Reinaldo Herrera, Chuck Schumer, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, David and Julia Koch, Caroline Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg, Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, Ivanka Trump, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Annette and Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Lorne Michaels, Desiree Rogers, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Renee Zellweger, Sigourney Weaver, Tory Burch, Iman, Grace Hightower, Rachel Roy, Robbie Myers,  Hamish Bowles, Renee Fleming, Lisa Perry, Muffie Potter Aston, Amanda Brooks, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Yvonne Force Villareal, Marina Rust Connor, Marjorie Gubelmann, Nina Griscom and Leonel Piraino, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Blaine Trump, Harry Evans, Hilary Rhoda, Coco Rocha, Mariska Hargitay, Lindsay Price, Kim Raver, Ruben Toledo and Isabel Toledo, Dree Hemingway, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, and Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos (left), a former dancer himself. [PMc, Wireimage, Style.com] More

The New Yorkers for Children benefit attracted a predictably star-studded crowd to the Mandarin Oriental on Wednesday night. In addition to Zac Posen and Coco Rocha in matching ensembles, guests included Josh Hartnett, Emmy Rossum, Andre Balazs, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, Rachel Roy, Rachel Zoe, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Lucy Sykes Rellie and husband Euan Rellie, Andres and Lauren Santo Domingo, Alexis Bryan, Fabiola Beracasa, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Olivia Palermo ...More

Vanity Fair and USA Network celebrated the launch of "The Character Project" photo exhibit at Stephen Weiss Studio last night. Editor Graydon Carter, the mag's publisher Edward Menicheschi, and NBC Cable Entertainment president Bonnie Hammer were on hand to welcome Mena Suvari, Christian Siriano (left), Lucy Liu, Donna Karan and daughter Gabby De Felice, Katie Lee Joel, Rachel Roy, Rosie Perez, Jeff Goldblum, Peggy Siegal, Rose McGowan, Sylvia Plachy, Michael Musto, Gigi Stone, Lisa Anastos, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Paz de la Huerta, Sky Nellor, Jeremy Kost, Josh Bernstein, Yigal Azrouël, Elise Overland, Bettina Prentice, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Kipton Cronkite, Liam McMullan, Izzy Gold, and Gossip Girl's Amanda Setton and Dreama Walker. [PMc, Wireimage, Getty, VF, NYO] More

Valentino and Vogue co-hosted a cocktail party to benefit New Yorkers For Children at Valentino's Madison Avenue store last night. Guests included Fabiola Beracasa and Erin Fetherston (left), Fern Mallis, Tinsley Mortimer, Valesca Guerrand-Hermès, Maggie Betts, Paul Sevigny, Bebe Neuwirth, Jennifer Creel, Selita Ebanks, Alina Cho, Kate Schelter, Antony Todd, Tatiana Platt, Kevin Liles, Denise Wohl, Di Petroff, Felicia Taylor, Erica and Geraldo Rivera, Sylvester and Gillian Miniter, Dori Cooperman, Maggie Rizer, Allison Sarofim, Lydia Fenet, Vanessa von Bismarck, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Susan Shin, Tracy Stern, Melissa Berkelhammer, Stephanie LaCava, and, yes, "Real Housewife" Alex McCord and her husband Simon van Kempen. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, SF] More

GQ held its second annual "Best New Menswear Designer in America" competition last night in conjunction witht he CFDA. Finalists like Andre "3000" Benjamin, David Mullen, Alex Carleton, Robert Geller, Sam Shipley, Jeff Halmos, and Yigal Azrouel were joined by guests like Tommy Hilfiger, Fern Mallis (left), Thom Browne, Jim Nelson, Kelly Cutrone, Phillip Lim, Derek Lam, Peter Som, Rory Tahari, Chase Crawford, Steven Kolb, Ally Hilfiger, Fonzworth Bentley, David Chu, Ryan Leslie, David Lauren, Katie Lee Joel, Glenn O'Brien, Steven Alan, Calvin Klein mens creative director Italo Zucchelli, GQ publisher Peter Hunsinger, and last year's winner, Daiki Suzuki. [PMc, NYO, FWD] More

Happy Birthday | It will probably be a fun weekend for Lydia Hearst: the heiress  turns 24 today. Others blowing out candles today: Jimmy Fallon is 34. Soledad O'Brien of CNN is 42. Richie Akiva is 32, although the invite to his birthday party said it was his 30th. James Lipton is 82. Former HarperCollins chief Jane Friedman is 63. Defense attorney Barry Scheck is turning 59. And model Victoria Silvstedt is 34. On Saturday: Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein (pictured here with Lydia, a first we imagine) will be 54. Financier Joseph Perella will be 67. Sophia Loren will turn 74. Ad exec Scott Goodson will celebrate his 45th. Interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield will be 62. And Jossip's David Hauslaib will turn 25. On Sunday: Jane Rosenthal will be 52. Stephen King will be 61. Bill Murray will celebrate his 58th. Jerry Bruckheimer will be 63. Book publisher Geoff Kloske will turn 39. Natural History museum president Ellen Futter will be 59. Nicole Richie will be 27. Cheryl Hines will turn 43. Luke Wilson will be 37. And filmmaker Ethan Coen will be celebrating his 51st.

1) Piaget launched its new Limelight Paris-New York Collection last night with a party at The Loft & Garden at Rockefeller Center, where Leighton Meester and Emmy Rossum (left) mingled with Liv Tyler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Becki Newton, Mena Suvari, Joe Zee, Lisa Anastos, Lydia Fenet, Allison Aston, Adam Lippes, Roopal Patel, Zoe Kravitz, Philippe Leopold-Metzger, Geoffrey Bradfield, Gillian Miniter, Kate Schelter, Meredith Melling Burke, and Paul Sevigny. [FWD, PMc] 

2) Elie Tahari unveiled his spring 2009 accessories collection with a party last night. Guests included Carson Kressley, Dennis Basso, Meredith Melling Burke, Susan Kellogg, Roopal Patel, Linda Fargo, Simon van Kempen, Alex McCord, Rob Banning, and Basil Corbett, who sipped champagne and previewed Tahari's collection in the courtyard garden. [FWD, PMc]More