Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

It's official: Being rich is now an embarrassment, so instead of flaunting their wealth by peppering conversation with references to private planes and extravagant spending, the affluent are, increasingly, keeping their status on the down low, so as not "to be viewed as insensitive to hardship around them." Or at least that's the case according to a new survey, which found that only 29 percent of people with "lots of money"—discretionary income of between $100,000 and $5 million—wanted to be recognized as wealthy. Sure, it doesn't feel like 71 percent of rich people keep quiet about their money. But that may be because when the imaginary rich brag about all the things they have, it tends to drown out everything else.

It isn't easy to be a gold digger in a deep recession. You can't just expect to hit a club and find bankers standing on banquettes with a bottle of Cristal in one hand and a handful of $100 bills in the other. And you can't just stand outside the Lamborghini dealership on Long Island and expect to meet that special someone. Conspicuous consumption is out and even the men who could afford a Lambo if they wanted one aren't buying them. Fear not! You just need to make a few small adjustments and boost your chances of meeting an absurdly wealthy man willing to shower you with gifts for years and years—or at least until someone younger, blonder, and cuter comes along. After the jump, a few suggestions!More

Have you been wondering why the rich enjoy spending time with other rich people, especially around the holidays? Us neither. But they do, as professional scion of wealth (and accidental inheritance wrecker) Jamie Johnson kindly points out today on VF.com. "Each year," he says, "committee lists for the grand society balls are indistinguishable from those of past years." But why? Well, it's complicated, but in language that plebs might understand: Rich people like hanging out with other rich people because they're familar, and because they revere wealth and therefore each other. And don't forget the most important point: They have good food and booze at their parties! (Or, as Jamie puts it, "An abundance of food, drink, and amusement facilitates fun.") We know, it's nothing short of revelatory.

Tough Times for Goomahs | Forget the wives who can no longer afford to go wild at Barneys with their husbands' AmEx Platinum cards. The women who are really going to suffer in these turbulent economic times are the mistresses of cheating husbands. According to a new survey of men worth at least $20 million and who have had an extra-marital lover for at least a year, 80 percent said they planned to cut back on gifts, allowances, and certain perks like jet rides and vacations in light of the recession. [WSJ]

Steve Schwarzman's 60th birthday party last year may go down as the last, great party before the fall. Days after closing on what was then the biggest leveraged buyout in history, the $39 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties, the billionaire chairman of the Blackstone Group invited 500 people to the Armory on Park Avenue for a party that cost an estimated $3 million. A very long list of notables turned up—Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Barry Diller, Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon—as did many of the people who have now become poster boys for the global financial crisis, like former Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal, ex-Bear Stearns chief Jimmy Cayne. Rod Stewart was paid $1 million to perform for the assembled guests; Patti LaBelle sang "Happy Birthday." And the room was designed to replicate Schwarzman's $40 million co-op at 740 Park Avenue. So does Schwarzman have any regrets now the economy has crumbled and he was depicted as a real-life Gordon Gekko in the relentless press coverage that followed? More

Feeling a little poor now that your 401K is in ruins? How about a change in scenery? US News helpfully has done the math and calculated just how much money you have to make to be considered rich in various cities across the country. As you probably suspected, New Yorkers need a good deal more to keep up: A family of four in Manhattan has to bring in $718,989 to be considered in the top five percent. The good news is that for a lot less you can be a big fish in just about every other city in the country. Like, say, El Paso, where you only need to make $350,321 a year to be considered wealthy. No, you won't have access to all the fabulous cultural institutions that New York has to offer, but we all know you haven't been to a museum in about five years (and we're pretty sure Project Runway airs in El Paso). And we hear the Mexican food down there is delicious!