You know the economy is in dire shape when highly-paid models moving in with their rock star boyfriends can't come up with the cash to hire movers (or even buy a suitcase.) [Bauer-Griffin]

You may know Chris London (or Christopher Dwight Mejia London, Esq. as he prefers to be known) as the man who hovers at benefits and other social gatherings with his camera in hand, snapping pics that he posts to his quirky website Manhattan Society. It turns out London isn't particularly optimistic about the future of New York's society scene, at least judging by his recent rant on the faded social networking site, aSmallWorld:

Some 21 hotels may be planning to open their doors in 2009, but there's at least one high-profile project that will probably never see the light of day: the hotel that Jay-Z was planning to construct in Chelsea with developer Charles Blaichman. The former Time Warner Cable warehouse was due to be razed to make way for the hotel. It's still standing, though, and now Blaichman is now looking for a tenant to lease the space. [Curbed]

All those paparazzi pics of Tom Cruise leaving his East 13th Street apartment building with Katie Holmes? He's just visiting, apparently. According to British tabloids, Cruise "now lives in a separate location" from Katie Holmes and their daughter Suri, and the family travels by "bomb-proof car," due to death threats by groups opposed to Scientology. Just in case that sounds like a perfectly sensible reaction on Cruise's part, you may want to keep in mind that it's also rumored he spent $8 million to construct an "underground bunker" on his property in Colorado. [Telegraph]

From left to right (click photo to enlarge): 1. Madoff Canvas Tote Bag; 2. Madoff Securities Cap; 3. Bernard Madoff Gray Fleece Blanket, 4. Bernard L. Madoff Backpack; 5. Bernard L. Madoff Emergency Kit; 6. Bernard L. Madoff Golf Umbrella; 7. Bernie Madoff Beach Chair; 8. Bernard Madoff Cigar Humidor; 9. Madoff Binoculars with Case; 10. Bernard L. Madoff Insulated Travel Bag; 11. Bernard Madoff - Actual Trading Statement (Copies); 12. Madoff Flashlight

Those three months of work really paid off nicely for Peter Kraus: The ex-Merrill Banker—who collected $25 million for laboring at the bank from September until the end of the year—closed on the purchase of Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel's co-op at 720 Park last week for $36.63 million. [Real Deal, previously]

Don't tell local hoteliers that the city's tourism industry is slowing down amid the recession: A mere 21 new properties are scheduled to open their doors in 2009. [NewYorkology]

• More cuts at Condé Nast could come when Si Newhouse returns from his European vacation next week. Among the possible victims: Domino, Details, and staffers in the company's web division. [NYP]
• Berkley Books has cancelled plans to publish Angel at the Fence, a Holocaust memoir that the author admitted contains fabrications. [NYT]
• NBC is producing more webisodes to make up for programming gaps. [NYT]
• Ad spending in '09 is expected to drop to its lowest point since '03. [AdAge]
• CNBC's Conversations with Michael Eisner is no more. [NYP]
• An interview with CNN prez Jon Klein, who scored big ratings this year with AC360 and Campbell Brown's new show, but will also go down as the genius responsible for giving D.L. Hughley his own cable news program. [HuffPo]

Steve Cohen's Greenwich estate might be expanding, but things aren't looking quite as rosy for most residents of the tony suburb. According to a new report, the number of foreclosures increased by 42 percent between January and the end of November. Not that the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression is sinking in much: Local real estate agents claim "there was little empirical evidence to show a direct link between Wall Street's woes and new mortgage defaults." [Greenwich Time]

As far as luxuries go, it's not exactly up there with designer clothes and vacations in the Caribbean, but now it seems that even vitamins that supposedly help fight off colds have fallen victim to recessionary scrimping. But that's a good thing, according to killjoy doctors who point out that once you've caught a cold, nothing's going to make much difference. Much better, they say, to focus on prevention, which means adopting a Howard Hughes-ish policy of not touching people and obsessively hand-washing: "When people cough, they cover their mouths with their hands. Then you shake hands with them." We also think that it's about time germ masks became socially acceptable street wear.

• Michael Waldorf, who works for one of the very few hedge funds that will actually record gains for 2008—he's a senior vice president at John Paulson's Paulson & Co.—has closed on an apartment at Riverhouse (left), the new development in Battery Park City. Waldorf and his wife, Julie, paid $6.175 million for a 28th floor apartment in the building also known as 1 River Terrace. [Cityfile]
• Fashion designer Domenico Vacca has dropped the price of his condo at the Museum Tower. Vacca and his wife paid $6.15 million for the unit in February and first listed the apartment for $9.5 million this summer. It's now been reduced to $8.9 million. [WSJ]
• Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Thani of Qatar has listed his three-bedroom apartment at Trump Park Avenue for $14 million. Al-Thani paid $6.1 million for the 3,300-square-foot condo in 2005. [WSJ]

One more unanticipated victim of the meltdown on Wall Street: boldly patterned shirts and ties. It seems that wearing a loud, striped shirt and clashing tie isn't quite as popular now that bankers aren't the big swinging dicks they once were (and yesterday's investment bankers are today's commercial bankers). "When money gets tighter, people refer back to basics," a London tailor tells CNN. Don't think, though, that shirt and tiemakers are going to have any difficulty accommodating the sartorial switch-up. Thomas Pink, you'll be happy to hear, now has 19 different varieties of plain white shirts on sale.

Real estate marketer (and housing bubble emblem) Michael Shvo turns 36 today. Jude Law is 36 today, too. Paramount CEO Brad Grey is turning 51. Ted Danson is 61. Matrix director/writer Andy Wachowski is 41. Mary Tyler Moore is 72. Writer Paul Rudnick is 51. And actor Mekhi Phifer turns 34 today.

• Tom Cruise says he loves flying, hockey, football, skydiving, horse riding, mountain climbing and scuba diving. Oh, and he also says he'd like to have seven more kids with Katie Holmes. [The Sun]
• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony plan to end their marriage "right after Marc's show at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 14," which sounds like excellent timing, if you ask us. [NYDN]
• Is Mariah Carey pregnant? Yes? No? Do you care? [P6, Fox News]
• No one is quite sure if Tom Brady proposed to Gisele last week. [NYDN]
• Whitney Port, you'll be shocked to hear, rarely turns up to her "day job." [P6]
• Heather Mills' former nanny is suing her for having to "blow-dry Mills' hair, work unreasonable hours, and spray-tan a naked Mills." [MSNBC]
• Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend may be slashing staff, but he's still charging the company for private jet flights. [P6]
• Assuming you have access to a very good house cleaning service, the Kardashian residence in LA is now on the market for $3.395 mil. [TMZ]

• Lawyers for Madoff may be planning to mount an insanity defense if the case goes to trial. [NYDN]
• Madoff has until Wednesday to provide a list of all investments, loans, lines of credit, brokerage accounts and other holdings to the SEC. [Bloomberg]
• In the meantime, forensic accountants are looking into whether Madoff sent large sums of money to offshore accounts in places like the Caribbean. [Guardian]
• Not surprisingly, l'affaire Madoff should keep a long list of lawyers very busy for a very long time. [NYP]
• Although Latin Americans are believed to have been big losers in Madoff's scheme, very few have come forward to acknowledge the losses. [WSJ]
• A burglar stole a $10,000 statue from Madoff's Palm Beach estate. [NYP]
• Bernie Madoff's most famous neighbor, Matt Lauer, isn't so thrilled by the reporters camped outside their building on East 64th Street. [P6]

Got some gossip, useful info, or suggestions you'd like to share with us? You can email us at tips@cityfile.com. Thanks and happy holidays!

Click here for a larger photo.

Author/humorist David Sedaris turns 52 today. Jared Leto is 37. CNN's Candy Crowley is 60. AOL chief Randy Falco is 55. Senator Evan Bayh is 53. America's Most Wanted's John Walsh is 63. Chris Daughtry is 29. And record producer (and possible murderer) Phil Spector celebrates his 68th today. Weekend birthdays after the jump.

• Jennifer Aniston's secret to looking so good on the cover of GQ? Photoshop, of course. [NYDN]
• In his new book, Donny Deutsch recommends people stay faithful to their spouses, which is a little bit ironic considering he was involved in the breakup of a marriage just weeks ago. [P6]
• Tom Brady proposed to Gisele Bundchen on Christmas Eve. [TMZ]
• Lindsay Lohan says she may have a half-sister, although her father is denying it. [People]
• Michael Moore is trying to lose weight, you'll be happy to hear. [P6]
• John Costelloe, the actor who played "Johnny Cakes" on The Sopranos, has been found dead in an apparent suicide. [People]
• Paris Hilton says the heist at her LA home was an inside job. [NYDN]
• Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day at the age of 81. [Us]

Holiday cards seem to be a little less popular now that being eco-friendly is so trendy, you can just as easily email your seasonal greetings, and these days there aren't quite as many people interested in spending $2,000 engraving their names on cards that will be tossed into the trash precisely 30 seconds after they're removed from their envelopes. But the practice lives on, especially with certain couples who'd like to maintain some semblance of a healthy marriage, and disgraced public figures who'd really like everyone to know they're still alive and well and keeping a stiff upper lip. After the jump, a random collection of cards sent out this year by a bunch of celebrities, politicians, and the odd porn magnate.