Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

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 Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hosted its second annual Spring Ball at the Plaza on Tuesday night. More than 350 people turned out for the NBC Universal-sponsored event, including NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker and his wife Caryn (left), Mort Zuckerman, Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower, Julia and David Koch, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Hilary Geary and Wilbur Ross, Jonathan and Somers White Farkas, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Ginny and Tiki Barber, Sherman and Chris Meloni, Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Peggy Siegal, Natalie Morales, Valesca Guerrand Hermes, Jennifer Creel, Renee Rockefeller, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Danielle Ganek, Kimberly Kravis, Muffie Potter Aston, Hilary Gumbel, Dr. Harold Varmus, Dennis Basso, Heather Mnuchin, Anne Grauso, Sylvester and Gillian Miniter, Gigi Mortimer, Sara Ayres, Shafi Roepers, Leslie Jones, and LL Cool J. [PMc, Wireimage, NYSD]More

Jay McInerney's latest book, How It Ended, was feted at the 21 Club on Wednesday night. On hand for the occasion: McInerney's wife, Anne Hearst, Brooke Shields, Candace Bushnell and Charles Askegaard, Gay and Nan Talese, Morgan Entrekin, Nina Garcia, Pamela Fiori, Bob Colacello, Richard Johnson and Sessa Von Richthofen, Peggy Siegal, Muffie Potter Aston, Bettina Zilkha, Cornelia Guest, Debbie Bancroft, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Nina Griscom, Somers White Farkas, Patrick McMullan, Robert Couturier, George Farias, Tatiana and Campion Platt, Kimberly Rockefeller, Pamela Gross, Harry Slatkin, Dana Hammond, Harry Benson, and Deborah Norville. [PMc, VF, P6]More

Graydon Carter, Robert De Niro, and Ron Perelman hosted a Vanity Fair-sponsored dinner at the State Supreme Court House last night to celebrate the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival. They were joined by Carter and De Niro's wives (Anna Scott Carter and Grace Hightower) and Tribeca Film Fest co-founders Craig Hatkoff and Jane Rosenthal, as well as a long list of guests, including Bono and Ali Hewson, Kanye West,  Diane von Furstenberg, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, André Leon Talley, Fran Lebowitz, Spike Lee ... (continued)More

Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society hosted a screening of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh last night at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Guests at the screening included the film's stars Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard (left), along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Wintour, Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson, Gilles Bensimon, Rachel Roy, Amy Sacco, Rachel Zoe, Beth Ostrosky, Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Jessica Joffe, Zoe Kravitz, Stefano Tonchi, Marina Rust Connor, Jennifer Creel, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richchofen, Carlos Souza, Marcus Schenkenberg, Rosanna Scotto, Emma Roberts, Brittny Gastineau, Irina Pantaeva, Kiera Chaplin, Lisa Anastos, Jackie Astier, Kim Heirston, Nur Khan, Gilles Mendel, Bobby Kennedy III, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Olympic fencers Tim Morehouse and Jason Rogers. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, Paper, FWD]More

The snowstorm didn't stop art and society scenesters from stopping off at the New York Academy of Art on Monday night. Guests at the Tribeca Ball included Liev Schreiber, Justin Timberlake, and event co-chair Eileen Guggenheim (left), along with Bill Clinton, Andre Balazs, Andy and Kate Spade, Adam Weinberg, Jason Wu, Nicole Miller and Kim Taipale, Monet Mazur, Alek Wek, Bettina Zilkha, Poppy de Villeneuve, Jennifer Creel, Jean-Pierre Roy, Ludwig Kuttner and Beatrix Ost, stylist Ric Pipino, Heather Mnuchin, Liam McMullan, Antoine and Maureen Chiquet, and artist Will Cotton. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, FWD, Style.com]More

• There were bound to be a few dramatic moments at the inaugural parties last night: Sheryl Crow had an awkward run in with her ex, Kid Rock, in the lobby of Donovan House. John Legend was forced to make a last-minute stop at Bloomingdale's because his girlfriend didn't have a gown. Susan Sarandon got a reporter kicked out an event for daring to ask a question. And Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony showed up so late to the Neighborhood Ball, they almost didn't get in. [P6, WP, Politico]
• One possible explanation for Lopez's late arrival: She was spotted at the Scientology Center in LA yesterday morning, trying to sneak out of the building without being noticed. [NYDN]
• Another headache for John Travolta and Kelly Preston: A politician in the Bahamas may have been part of a plot to extort money from the couple following the death of Jett Travolta. [OK!]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

♦  As we've heard, the financial crisis isn't stopping the benefit crowd from turning out, and Tuesday night's New Yorkers for Children Annual Fall Gala managed to rake in $1.85 million with the help of Mariska Hargitay, Julianne Moore, Juliana Margulies, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Campion Platt, Lauren Remington Platt, Annelise Peterson, Adam Lippes, Patti LaBelle, Annie Churchill, Oscar de la Renta, Moises de la Renta, Julie Macklowe, Nancy Jarecki, Hope Atherton, Olivia Palermo, Holly Dunlap, Denise Wohl, Frederic Fekkai, John Demsey, Jeff Zucker, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Zac Posen, Lola Schnabel, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Robert and Nanette Lepore, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Olivia Chantecaille, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Julia Restoin Roitfeld (pictured), Zani Gugelmann, Peter Davis, Lydia Fenet, Bettina Zilkha, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Meredith Melling Burke, Muffie Potter Aston, Jamee Gregory, Heather Mnuchin, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Jamie Tisch, Amanda Cutter Brooks, Marjorie Gubelmann,  Poppy de Villeneuve, Jennifer Creel, Marina Rust Connor, Sylvana Soto-Ward, Jessica Joffe, Taylor Momsen, Blake Lively, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Liles, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Gayle King, Gilles Mendel, Maggie Betts, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Monet Mazur and Alex de Rakoff, Joy Bryant, Kelly Klein, Sylvana Soto-Ward, Horacio Silva, Patrick McMullan, Fabiola Beracasa, and Angel Sanchez. [The Daily, Park Ave Peerage, PMc] More

You think the people who have lost their jobs and watched their 401(k) accounts disappear have it rough? Tell that to Muffie Potter Aston and Debbie Bancroft. They're lucky to be alive! At the New Yorkers For Children Benefit last night, reports David Patrick Columbia, a passerby stumbled and "a glass of champagne suddenly flipped over and splashed all over Bancroft and Aston." And, DPC points out, they were wearing brand-new designer dresses, too. But just so you know, Columbia is very concerned about the crisis on Wall Street: "For those of us who have been intense students of the unfolding financials for several years now, it is something to behold." [NYSD]

Last week, Quest magazine, coddler of heiresses, financiers, and other layabouts, published its annual "Quest 400," the exhaustive yet unexplained list of the society fixtures it deems worthy. Originally the "400" represented the number of guests Mrs. Astor could fit into her ballroom. Mrs. Astor is long gone, so how can one land a spot on the list today? We looked through all 20 pages to find out how to make the cut.More

Angelina Jolie might think her new twins are pretty special now that she's earned a cool $14 million for the photo rights. But there are plenty of New York socialite moms who think their kids are pretty important, too. Will any of these kids turn into the Tinsley Mortimer or Peter Davis of 2025? Take you best guess at who these little youngsters are related to, then click through for the answers.More

Married To the Knife | You wouldn't think there'd be a down side to being married to a top plastic surgeon—after all, what could be better than facelifts and boob jobs on tap? But apparently it's not quite that simple. Muffie Potter Aston and Mary Ann Tighe no doubt empathize. [Telegraph]