Kate Spade turns 47 today. Hedge fund manager Jim Chanos is turning 52. Former Observer owner Arthur Carter is 78. Jonathan Benno, Per Se's outgoing chef who will soon be opening a restaurant of his own, is 40. Annette de la Renta, the wife of Oscar de la Renta and a charity gala fixture, is turning 70. Ryan Seacrest turns 35. Ricky Martin is celebrating his 38th. Author Mary Higgins Clark is turning 82. Heiress Marylou Whitney is 84. And actor Mekhi Phifer is 35. A few people with Christmas birthdays are listed below.

Annette de la Renta, the gala staple and wife of Oscar de la Renta, turns 69 today. Designer Kate Spade is 46. Hedge funder Jim Chanos is turning 51. Former banker and Observer owner Arthur Carter is 77. Per Se's Jonathan Benno is turning 39. Heiress Marylou Whitney is turning 83. Ryan Seacrest is 34. Author Mary Higgins Clark is turning 81. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 34. And singer (and new dad) Ricky Martin is celebrating his 37th birthday today.

· Authors Robert Creeley, Michael Chabon, Richard Ford, and Charles Johnson are all part of the State Department's new Charlotte Beers-designed rah-rah-America campaign. [Page Six]
· Tina Brown invites both Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to her send-off for Bill Bratton. [Page Six]
· Creepy "magician" David Blaine is working out at the Duomo gym on East 26th and taping the sessions for later use in a documentary. [Page Six]
· Cardinal Egan tells Mary Higgins Clark that 2002 has been "the worst year of [his] life." [Page Six]
· Celeb overseas ad sites (i.e., Leo DiCaprio hawking Suzuki's Wagon-R: "Go, Wagon-R! Don't give up, my little friend!") threatened with lawsuits; mobbed-up New York ex-club kingpin Chris Paciello's life will be chronicled in a movie directed by Kimberly Peirce; and Pamela Anderson is teaching Sunday School. [NY Daily News