An ex-New York mayor flipped off a protester today at Charlie Rangel's birthday party. Alas, it wasn't Giuliani. It was David Dinkins. Remember him?

Adrian Grenier turns 33 today. Jessica Simpson is turning 29. City comptroller (and mayoral wannabe) William Thompson is turning 56. Former mayor David Dinkins is turning 82. Times film critic A.O. Scott is 43. Showtime chief Matt Blank is turning 59. Author and marketing guru Seth Godin is 49. Writer Alice Munro is 78. Actress Sofia Vergara is 37. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is turning 88. The Office's Phyllis Smith is 58. Socialite Lisa Anastos is 41. Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is turning 52. And Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys is 55. Weekend birthdays below!

The Four Seasons celebrated its 50th anniversary last night and a predictably large crowd of media personalities, politicos, and powerbrokers turned out for the occasion. Just a few of the people on hand to celebrate the event with co-owners Julian Niccolini and Alex von Bidder (left, Erin Fetherston): Barry Diller, Nicole Miller, Ralph Lauren, Mort Zuckerman, Ray and Veronica Kelly, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., David and Joyce Dinkins, Henry Kissinger, Aby and Samantha Rosen, Dolly Lenz, Tim and Nina Zagat, Steve Schwarzman, Fern Mallis, Jay McInerney, Jeffrey and Linda Chodorow, Steve Newhouse and Gina Sanders, Albert Maysles, Ruth Reichl, Robert Burke, Linda Fargo, Star Jones and Herb Wilson, Thom Browne, Don Marron, Drew Nieporent, John Gutfreund, Chuck Scarborough, Cindi Leive and Howard Bernstein, Terry Allen Kramer, Marjorie Gubelmann, Marina Rust Connor, and Salman Rushdie and girlfriend Pia Glenn. [PMc, Wireimage, NYO, Paper]

Ex-mayor David Dinkins is currently listed in critical condition after undergoing heart surgery this afternoon at New York Hospital to replace a damaged heart valve. But he's expected to make a full recovery and hopes to "get back on the tennis courts" in the near future. [Newsday]

At last night's opening night party for the New York City Ballet's David H. Koch Theater, guest of honor David Koch and wife Julia mingled with Candace Bushnell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alicia Keys, Al Roker, Debbie Bancroft, Lisa Falcone, Mary Alice Stephenson, Alexandra Lebenthal, Zani Gugelmann, Annie Churchill, Peter Martins, Veronica Webb, Mark Indelicato, Blythe Danner, Valentino, Rachel Roy, Derek Lam, Peter Som, and Vanessa Williams, who all ate, drank, and danced to inaugurate the new Lincoln Center venue. [Wireimage, PMc, Style.com]

Entourage hottie Adrian Grenier turns 32 today. Former mayor David Dinkins is 81. Jessica Simpson is turning 28. Gallerist Andrea Rosen is 46. Ex-Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal is 57. Times film critic Tony Scott is 42. Theater attorney Freddie Gershon will be 69. Web marketing guru Seth Godin turns 48. Social fixture Lisa Anastos is 40. And Jeffrey Greenberg, the former CEO of Marsh & McLennan and son of billionaire Hank, is 57.

New York's 106th mayor—and first black mayor—Dinkins wrested the mayoralty from fellow Democrat Ed Koch in 1989, but lost his bid for reelection in 1993 to Rudy Giuliani following a gloomy term marked by the Crown Heights riots and out of-control crime.

This weekend the Times took a look at former mayor Rudy Giuliani's tenure at the helm of the city through the prism of race. While candidate Giuliani reached out to the African American community in 1989, he lost that race (the mayoral race!) to David Dinkins. By 1993, things were different—Giuliani was almost a different person. The paper relates this telling anecdote:

Truly, it's the most wonderful time of year! Pretty lights twinkle down Fifth Avenue, ice skaters hold hands, couples cuddle over cups of cocoa, and, under the influence of this holiday cheer (or a few flutes of sparkling wine), politicians and the press, like lions and lambs, make peace to make party. Last night, we sent walking tragedy AngelinaWilliams and Gakwer shutterstud Nikola Tamindzic up to the New York Palace Hotel to witness this sign of the Apocalypse, also known as the New York Press Club's Holiday Party. Singing clerics can be found after the jump.