Twenty-five percent! One fourth of the whole pie! This scary number's being kicked around everywhere as the worst(?) case scenario for the looming Conde Nast budget cuts. Every perk is being trimmed—even the ones for little old ladies.

A tipster tells us the following story, and we don't need to spell out its implications: For decades, the New Yorker gave its longtime employees (those with, say, 20 years or more on the job, or those who retired) a small perk: a lifetime subscription to the New Yorker. Pleasant, but hardly profligate. A few weeks ago, our tipster's mother—who'd gotten this perk—suddenly stopped receiving her copies of the magazine. She called around to her friends who'd also gotten the perk, and they'd also stopped receiving their free copies.

Apparently, Conde's already slashed this expense. Don't feel bad, retirees; your loss is Conde corporate's incredibly minor gain.