Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

NYMag's 'Power Dozen' | This week's issue of New York has come up with a list of the 12 most powerful people in town. (Well, the 11 most powerful behind Michael Bloomberg, that is.) They are (in no particular order): Al Sharpton, Howard Rubenstein, Sheldon Silver, Stephen Ross, Jamie Dimon, Herb Pardes, Anna Wintour, Andrew Cuomo, Mike Fishman, Chuck Schumer, and Rupert Murdoch. [NYM]

Happy Birthday | State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver turns 65 today. Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife, Donna Hanover, is 59. Real estate developer Francis Greenburger is 60. Peter Gabriel is turning 59. Robbie Williams is 35. Stockard Channing turns 65. Jerry Springer is 65. And Henry Rollins turns 48. People celebrating their birthdays this weekend—including Valentine's Day birthday boys like Michael Bloomberg and Steve Schwarzman—after the jump. More

Islam Karimov is the autocratic leader of Uzbekistan and a man routinely described as one of the worst dictators on earth by the likes of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. (The group Common Dreams once suggested he's so bad that he made Saddam "look good.") Since taking over the oil and gas-rich country in 1989, he's plundered billions, held fake elections to keep himself in power, censored the media, and tortured those who dare to challenge him, often using some of the most barbarian methods to do so, like submerging them in boiling water. And now he's coming to visit New York! Not really. But we wondered: What would happen if one of the most evil tyrants did decide to come to New York. Would he receive a warm welcome from the local political establishment? We wanted to know. So we did what you'd probably do in such a situation: We printed up some official-looking letterhead and sent out letters to various City Council members and local congressmen to see if they'd take the meeting. And guess what? Lots of influential politicos have no objection to sitting down with one of the worst men on earth. Details on the people we duped—with audio of their calls to Karimov's "office"—after the jump. More

♦  Charges will not be filed against Shia LaBeouf in connection with his car accident in LA in July. He may still lose his license, though, for failing to submit to a blood-alcohol test after the crash. [E!]
♦  Lindsay Lohan is so scared of her dad that she may take out an order of protection against him. [P6]
♦  Last week it was rumored Leonardo DiCaprio and Bar Refaeli had split up. Now it's rumored they're back together. [OK!] 
♦  Robert De Niro is a giant pain to work with who makes "weird midnight phone calls." Or at least that's what Harvey Weinstein and Quentin Tarantino said in a taped phone conversation from 1997 that's just now been leaked. [P6]
♦  Julia Roberts left the Waverly Inn covered up in a pashmina, which means it's time for a fresh round of rumors that she's secretly pregnant. [The Sun]More

Primary Recap | Primary elections took place yesterday. Of course you know that because you went to the polls last night and exercised your democratic rights. Didn't you? In any event, nothing too exciting took place. Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver managed to hold on to his seat. And there will be no former reality TV contestants representing New York in Congress. There's always next time! [NYT, NYDN]