Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Despite all the talk of the impending demise of the TV industry, ratings for last night's Emmy Awards weren't too shabby. The three-hour show was seen by 13.3 million people, which is up 8 percent from last year. [THR]
• Bloomberg LP has officially submitted its bid to buy BusinessWeek. [BW]
• Michael Musto of the Village Voice is hearing rumors that Conde Nast is planning to shutter five of its titles as it looks to slash costs. [VV]
• A group of activists affiliated with The Yes Men handed out copies of a New York Post parody this morning as part of an effort to draw attention to climate change; a number of them were later detained by the NYPD. [DF]
• Despite low ratings and lousy reviews early on, Katie Couric is expected to anchor the CBS Evening News until her contract expires in 2011. [NYT]
• Barack Obama made appearances on just about every Sunday morning talk show yesterday. With the exception of those on Fox News, that is. [LAT, [HP]
• Obama's media tour will continue tonight when he sits down alongside David Letterman on his late-night show, a first for a sitting U.S. president. [NYT]More

Artwalk NY's Junior Committee held its summer benefit on Saturday night in support of Coalition For the Homeless. Hosted by Bettina Prentice at her home in Sagaponack, attendees at the event included Minnie Mortimer and Stephen Gaghan, Michael Musto, Liam McMullan, Dalia Oberlander, Alan Rish, Kipton Cronkite, and Lisa Salzer—each of whom chipped in $25 at the door to benefit the organization. (The $25 allows the Coalition to feed 12 homeless New Yorkers people for a day.) Cityfile correspondent Douglas Marshall caught up with writer and dapper man-about-town Peter Davis to ask him about two very unlikely things: homelessness and his brother and sister-in law, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer.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

Karole Armitage's Armitage Gone! dance company held its annual benefit last night at Capitale. The honorees at the Think Punk! event, Jeff Koons and Earle Mack, celebrated with their wives, Justine and Carole, as well as with attendees like Rufus Wainwright (left), Andre Balazs, Calvin Klein, Fabiola Beracasa, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Nicole Miller, Lauren duPont, Allison Sarofim, Peter Marino, Mary Boone, David Salle, Michael Musto, Dominique Levy, Sandy Brant, Tom Sachs, Todd Eberle, Francesco Clemente, Michele Zalopany, and Jamie Niven. [PMc, VF, WWD]More

Whoopi Goldberg served as emcee at the National Board of Review's annual awards ceremony at Cipriani 42nd Street on Wednesday night. Attendees at the Bulgari-sponsored event included Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber (left), Clint and Dina Eastwood, Ed Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Salma Hayek, Anne Hathaway, Julian Schnabel, Diane Lane and Josh Brolin, Sir Howard Stringer, John Patrick Shanley, Eva Amurri, Tim Robbins, Joy and Regis Philbin, Meredith Vieira, Heather Graham, Amy Adams, Debbie Bancroft, Veronica Webb, Bethenny Frankel, CNN's Alina Cho, Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel, director Danny Boyle, along with a smattering of Bulgaris, including Ilaria, Veronica, Nicola, Natalia, and Beatrice. [PMc, Wireimage, The Daily] More

Michael Musto: Not in a Good Mood | All those layoffs at the Village Voice must be getting to Michael Musto. The usually-cheerful columnist appears to be having a meltdown! "I HATE when people say "Happy new year," he wrote on his blog. "What does it mean anyway? That some arbitrary calendar system devised way before I was born suggests that we are now starting some ridiculous new cycle or other? So fucking what? I'd have more respect if people said something like Happy Life Day." If you pass Michael in the hallway today, a simple "Hi" will probably do just fine. [Village Voice]

Happy Birthday | The eternally youthful Village Voice gossip columnist Michael Musto turns 53 today. Happy birthday, Michael. Julianne Moore is celebrating, too: She's 48. Actor Brendan Fraser is turning 40. Daryl Hannah is turning 48. Legendary French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is 78. Last but not least, the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, is 60 today.

♦  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

McMullan to Page Six Mag | A replacement has been named for Lydia Hearst, who stepped down as a Page Six magazine columnist last week after slamming her family's media empire (and then improbably accusing the mag's editors of fabricating the column). It's professional socializer Liam McMullan, the son of nightlife photog Patrick McMullan and Michael Musto's godson. [VV via Gawker]

♦  Narciso Rodriguez was the man of the hour at Bergdorf Goodman last night, where he celebrated the launch of his new coffee table book with guests like Julianna Margulies (left), Jessica Alba, Linda Fargo, Reed Krakoff, Virginia Smith, Roopal Patel, Jim Gold, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Simon Doonan, Hal Rubenstein, Jaime King, Christopher Wheeldon, Dani Stahl, Linda Wells, Mickey Boardman, Patti Scialfa, and, his dad, Narciso Rodriguez Sr. [Paper, PMc, The Daily] More

Ledger's Ass Was Here | Looking to "own, fondle, and stick your face in a place where Heath's heinie rested for many hours"? The director's chair that departed Aussie actor Heath Ledger sat on while making Brokeback Mountain is coming up for auction. It's officially expected to fetch between $1,000 and $1,500, but as Michael Musto points out, "you can bet your ass it'll go for more." [VV]