Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

It looks like 20 Pine Street and Rector Square aren't the only downtown apartment buildings facing lawsuits from frustrated, angry buyers. Steve An paid $820,000 for an apartment in mogul Lev Leviev's District condo building at 111 Fulton Street back in 2007. Maybe he isn't so impressed with how Amy Sacco's "exclusive lifestyle concept" has been turning out? An filed suit against Leviev's company on Tuesday, and is now demanding his $82,000 deposit back. You can look at the complaint for yourself below.More

A Small Gathering for ASmallWorld | The party for ASmallWorld—the one that featured protests by a group opposed to Lev Leviev's business practices—didn't bring too many socialites out in the rain last night. "The likes of Annie Churchill, Dalia Oberlander, Jennifer Creel, and Gillian Hearst Simonds stayed away—until the private post-event dinner at Serafina, that is," reports Fashion Week Daily's Ashley Baker. Judging by photos Adalah-NY directed us to this morning, it seems the protesters had a bit of trouble generating a turnout, too. [The Daily]

It looks like there will be some additional drama at tonight's splashy "Champagne & Diamonds" party for the faded social networking site ASmallWorld and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. (ASmallWorld informed us this morning, by the way, that Harvey Weinstein will not be attending personally.) A protest is planned by a group that objects to Leviev's record on human rights. Says a rep for Adalah-NY: "It's truly a small world for Leviev, as his companies are simultaneously involved in destroying communities in Palestine, Africa, and New York City. We will protest this outrageous celebration of worldwide human rights abuses and economic catastrophe by Leviev and New York's elites, because it ridicules the losses of homes, jobs and security being inflicted on working people worldwide." Sounds like Annie Churchill, Jennifer Creel, Amanda Hearst, and Annelise Peterson are in for a treat! The full press release is after the jump. More

Harvey Weinstein is the co-founder of the Weinstein Company, the struggling studio that has produced very few hits over the past year, has seen a handful of senior of execs flee for the exits in recent weeks, and has been immersed in a nasty legal spat with NBC over the fate of his one big hit, Project Runway, over the past few months. (Further evidence of his financial woes: He owes Cindy Adams $10,000 and has refused to pay up.) Lev Leviev might be a less familiar name to you. He's the Ubekistan-born, Orthodox Jewish diamond and real estate billionaire who lives in Israel and controls the Africa-Israel Group, which dominates the diamond mining industry in Angola and owns a good deal of real estate, too, including the former headquarters of the New York Times. More

♦  It was the Metropolitan Opera's 125th opening night on Monday and so naturally a long list of recognizable faces trooped out for the occasion. In floor-length gowns and tuxes to walk the red carpet and watch Renée Fleming: Barbara Walters, Howard Stringer, Michael Bloomberg, Helen Mirren, Christie Brinkley, Faye Dunaway, Molly Sims, Taylor Momsen, Martha Stewart, Hilary and Bryant Gumbel, Henry Kravis, Mercedes Bass, Ann Ziff, Georgina Chapman (left), Helena Christensen, Jane Fonda, John Lithgow, Juliana Margulies, Joy and Regis Philbin, John Turturro, Parker Posey, Peggy Siegal, Ellen and Chuck Scarborough, Deborah Norville, Julie Macklowe, and Tory Burch. [Park Ave Peerage, NYSun, Wireimage, PMc]More

This isn't shaping up to be an especially good year for New York's ultra-rich. According to Forbes, Moscow recently overtook NYC as the city with the most billionaires per square mile: Moscow had 74 people worth ten figures compared to New York, which had just 71. But those smarmy bazillionaires aren't staying put in Moscow or even in the de-facto Russian mogul ghetto of London. Many of them are spending time right here in New York: Real estate, oil, and metals scions from Russia and other former Soviet republics have been busy snatching up some of the most expensive apartments the city has to offer. Last month, a 42-year-old fertilizer kingpin named Dmitry Rybolovlev agreed to pay $100 million for Donald Trump's Palm Beach mansion, Maison de l'Amitié. The 59th richest man in the world, worth some $12.8 billion, his purchase includes a 33,000-square-foot home and 6.5 acres of land. But he isn't the only one. After the jump, a list of the novi Russki who spend time in New York—just who these Soviet oligarchs are, how they made their money, and what exactly they're up to in town.More

Are you an extremely plugged-in Jewish business magnate whose newborn son needs his foreskin removed stat? Pull the right strings and you may be able to retain the mohel services of Lev Leviev, the Uzbekistan-born diamond/real estate/chemicals baron who clocked in as Forbes' 210th richest person in the world this year. The scalpel-brandishing billionaire, who insanely opted to circumcise his first son himself despite never having performed a circumcision before, is now apparently open to snipping others' kids: this Sunday he'll be in town to perform a bris on the son of Zina Sapir, the daughter of real estate mogul Tamir Sapir, and Rotem Rosen, the CEO of Leviev's holding company Africa Israel. In addition to currying favor with Leviev, the Sapir-Rosens will enjoy the added benefit of saving a little scratch: Leviev's doing the deed pro bono whereas the average bris runs about $350. Given all the woes besetting the Sapir family's Trump Soho development, every penny helps.