Selma Blair turns 37 today. Frances McDormand is turning 52. Famed conductor (and Met artistic director) James Levine is 66. Real estate tycoon Jerry Speyer turns 69. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 61. Dermatologist Nicholas Perricone is also turning 61 today. Jason Mraz is 32. American Idol's Randy Jackson is turning 53. Musician KT Tunstall is 34. The singer Duffy is turning 25. Writer/director Joss Whedon turns 45. Retired soccer star Zinedine Zidane is 37. And Vint Serf, the computer scientist you have to credit for the Internet, turns 66 today.

Katherine Farley, an senior managing director at the real estate giant Tishman Speyer—and the wife Tishman Speyer chief Jerry Speyer—has been named the new chairwoman of Lincoln Center. [NYT]

The Observer sits down with attorney Jonathan Mechanic, widely considered to be one of the city's best-connected real estate attorneys. His clients? How about Jerry Speyer, Steve Roth, Stephen Green, Mike Bloomberg, Bruce Ratner, Doug Durst, Mort Zuckerman, Harry Macklowe, Miki Naftali, William Zeckendorf, Gary Barnett, Bill Rudin, Donald Trump, Kent Swig, Joe Moinian, and Larry Silverstein. We're exhausted just reading that list. [NYO]

Some of the biggest moguls and powerbrokers in New York just can't seem to figure out who the next mayor should be! According to the Times today, heavyweights like Martin Lipton, Steve Rattner and Jerry Speyer—as well as other members of the Kathryn Wylde-led Partnership for New York City—have been scratching their heads, debating which way to tug on the strings. Do we try and overturn term limits so Michael Bloomberg can stay on? Do we find another mega-wealthy businessman to fill his shoes? But Dick Parsons doesn't want the job, goddamit! Maybe John Catsimatidis? We're guessing Kevin Sheekey has already made his opinion known.

Frances McDormand turns 51 today. Hope Joel got you something nice, Fran. Also celebrating today: Met artistic director and legendary conductor James Levine turns 65. Real estate mogul Jerry Speyer is 68. Singer Jason Mraz is 31. Selma Blair turns 36. And skincare aficionado Nicholas Perricone is 60, although what with all the firming mists and wrinkle creams he uses on an hourly basis, he doesn't look a day over 57 or 58.

What do you do if you're a billionaire real estate developer, you've just taken over one of New York's biggest housing complexes, and—despite early promises that you wouldn't force out rent-stabilized tenants—you've already generated bad press for doing exactly that? Offer up free rent on the radio, naturally.

Speyer is the chief of real estate behemoth Tishman Speyer, owner of the MetLife Building, Rockefeller Center, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, among other properties.