Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

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

Further evidence it's an election year: One of the biggest unions in the country, Service Employees International Union (or S.E.I.U.) is teaming up with MoveOn.org and Amnesty International to expand its campaign against private equity firms. (This is the same group, as you may recall, that staged protests outside the homes of KKR's Henry Kravis and Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein last year.) They've even roped in comedian Lewis Black, who's now appearing in commercials to rail against buyout firms for downsizing companies, taking on too much debt, and treating employees like numbers on a spreadsheet. Cute! Kinds of sounds like Viacom, the company that signs Black's paycheck, too!

Scientologists do not appreciate it when you protest their LRH-granted right to ruin your life. For the past few weeks groups of so-called Anons—Scientology opponents who wear goofy masks to conceal their identities out of fear of reprisals from Scientologists—have been staked outside the Church of Scientology's New York HQ on West 46th Street, protesting the frighteningly weird religion's policy of Fair Game, whereby anyone who threatens or undermines the Church "may be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." John Carmichael, the president of the Church's New York chapter, abided by the crowd's hectoring for a while but then totally lost it. His meltdown commenced when he ran up to a (male) Anon and screamed "I smell pussy...YOU." Click through to watch him wig out, Xenu-style. More