Got chillier in New York yesterday with the sudden appearance of overcoats and scarves. Down at Michael’s in the garden room, Liz Smith hosted a luncheon for Annette Bening celebrating her performance in “Running With Scissors.”

After lunch I went back with my little Digital to see what I could find. Very glam guestlist for New York or Hollywood, besides the guest of the honor: Candice Bergen, Hamish Bowles, Christie Brinkley, Janie (Mrs. Jimmy) Buffett, Anna Scott-Carter, Liz Cho, Claudia Cohen, Cristina Cuomo, Mica Ertegun, Linda Fairstein, Ellen Futter, Florence Grace, Louise Grunwald, Kate Gubelmann, Jenny Conant, Cynthia McFadden, Natalie Morales, Gigi Mortimer, Deborah Roberts, Ryan Murphy, Brooke Neidich, Esther Newberg, Diane Sawyer, Anna Quindlen Nora Ephron, Jane Rosenthal, Cynthia Rowley, Jane Sarkin, Lynn Sherr, Peggy Siegal, Kate Snow, Lesley Stahl, Hannah Storm, Annette Tapert, Faye Wattleton, Sherrie Rollins, Jada Yuan and Paula Zahn.

These women write books, host television shows, own businesses, run philanthropies, raise families, take care of husbands and still have time for lunch with their peers. Of course a lot of them have assistance with their tasks too, but that usually means they have more time for more industry. If you could harness the creative energy and brainpower in that room yesterday, I can think of more than a few of the world’s problems that could be solved that are not being solved by the people in charge. Just a thought. The luncheon had started to break-up when I got there but there were still lots of conversations that hadn’t quite finished.

A lot going on last night in New York. Beginning in the late afternoon, over at the American Museum of Natural History, they were holding a “family party” and dinner. While over at the Rainbow Room way up top of Rockefeller Center, The American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust held a champagne reception and dinner in the presence of Sir David Manning, the British Ambassador to the United States. Down at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street, City Harvest staged a “Bid Against Hunger 2006 Tasting fund-raiser featuring some of the top chefs in New York in action laying out their culinary delights for foodies and “VIPs” as well as an exclusive tasting of Dom Perignon and select wines presented by Peerless Importers. At $250 a ticket – a real bargain considering the talent and the choices.

I started out at the Forbes Gallery on Fifth Avenue and West 12th Street, where there was a kick off for the upcoming Palm Beach International Fine Art and Antiques Fair that will be held early next February in PB, which included a preview of some of the artists who will be featured in the Fair. The Forbes Gallery also has other fascinating exhibitions including one of model ships that someone said was one of Malcolm Forbes’ first collections, as well as the ongoing Masterpieces of French Jewelry from American collections that was installed last month and runs through December 31.

From the Forbes Gallery, I moved on with JH and the Digital up to Eleven Madison Avenue, on the corner of 25th and Madison where the Municipal Art Society was holding its annual gala and honoring Arthur and Janet Ross with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, the society’ highest honor awarded annual to an individual or individuals whose work and deeds have made an outstanding contribution to the city of New York.

For more than a century, the Municipal Art Society has served as urban watchdog “understanding the growth of our dynamic city, evaluating new developments and educating, critiquing, re-imagining, testifying, and promoting to public, government, business and media a vision of an increasingly proud future for New York.”

Many of usremember that Mrs. Onassis became involved in the MAS’s activity when, a couple of decades ago, there were plans to raze Grand Central Station and construct some developer’s idea of more more and more office space. Her presence alerted the public to what was going on and the result was that Grand Central remains at the center of the city today. Mrs. Onassis’ influence continued when there was talk of razing Lever House, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed first modern office building on Park Avenue. She successfully persuaded then City Comptroller Jay Golden to support the designation of the Lever House as a landmark, thus saving a Modernist landmark for the first time. Mrs. O was so pleased with Comptroller Golden’s decision that she kissed his cheek as she emerged from their meeting. The next day the press carried the photo of “the Kiss That Saved Lever House.”

Today Lever House is owned by Aby Rosen who with his wife Samantha Boardman, were dinner chairs of the Society’s gala, along with Audrey and Danny Meyer, the restaurateur who owns Tabla and 11 Madison, both in the building where last night’s dinner was held.

Municipal Art Society dinners are full of some of New York’s most distinguished and dynamic citizens. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Annan were honorary chairs of the evening. Honorary co-chairs were Ambassador Robin Duke, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Marian S. Heiskell, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith and Ambassador William J. Vanden Heuvel. Dinner co-chairs were Christine Cachot Williams, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, John Moore III, Alex Sapir, Zina Sapir and William H. Wright II. Vice-chairs were Kitty Hawks and Larry Lederman, Ian Schrager, Angela and Wade Thompson, Helen Sonnenberg Tucker and the Gramercy Park Foundation.