Remember David Pajcin, the Goldman Sachs analyst who conspired with a bunch of other bankers (as well as workers at a BusinessWeek printing plant) to carry out an insider trading scheme that earned him $6.7 million? He appears to have fled the country! [Bloomberg]

If you haven't voted yet and you're wondering if you're going to have to wait for hours, there's good news: the crowds appear to have subsided at some polling stations around town. Unfortunately, that's not the case at some of the busiest spots, as you'll see in this clip from NY1. And if you do ending up cooling your heels for an hour, just remember that it could always be worse: At least you didn't get into an argument with election officials like Tim Robbins and almost get arrested!

When Diddy promoted "Vote or Die" in 2004, there were rumors that he didn't even bother to go to the polls himself. Guess there won't be a question this time around: He posed for photographers outside his local polling station in Midtown this morning. Click through for photos of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton performing their civic duty.

Keith McNally isn't selling out—not yet, at least. The restaurateur behind Balthazar, Pastis, and Morandi tells Vanity Fair he's "resisting" a $100 million offer from British dining tycoon Richard Caring to take his New York-based restaurant empire global, mainly because he's worried duplicating his eateries would be like "ripping the soul out of the original." [Page Six]

So Starbucks announced a few days ago that it would give away free coffee today to anyone who voted. It turns out that doing so constitutes a felony under election law in many states: Apparently, it's illegal to offer a gift to someone to induce them to vote. So the coffee at Starbucks is now free for everyone today, not just those who assure the barista they waited an hour on line at the polls this morning. If you want to finish off your coffee with some ice cream, Ben & Jerry's is giving away free scoops between 5pm and 8pm.

♦ Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire Tamir Sapir (pictured with the couple's son, Alex), paid $8.895 million for a penthouse apartment at the Veneto at 250 East 53rd Street. [Cityfile]
♦ Andrew Madoff, managing director of Madoff Investment Securities, paid $4.38 million for a five-bedroom spread at 433 East 74th Street. [Cityfile]
♦ Rumi Contractor, a senior exec at HSBC, picked up a two-bedroom pied-à-terre at 14 East 33rd Street for $1.67 million. [Cityfile]

This is going to be the saddest holiday season ever! Not because so many people have been laid off in recent months, real estate values have plummeted, and stock portfolios are underwater. Even those who still have jobs can no longer look forward to one of the few remaining perks in corporate America—the holiday party with a neverending supply of free food and drink. Companies have been canceling their annual shindigs left and right in recent weeks, thus dashing the dreams of countless mid-level executives who have been dreaming of getting the cute assistant in human resources liquored up and making out with her in the coat room since, well, last year's party. After the jump, a list of local companies that have canceled their Christmas festivities thus far. Are we missing some? Email us at tips@cityfile.com.

Ivanka Trump chats with Lloyd Grove over at Portfolio.com about the turbulent real estate market, her silly new lunch venture with ConAgra, and where she sees herself in 20 years. (Answer: The same place as today, just with more experience.) She also tells us who she's voting for: John McCain, just like her dad and unlike her boyfriend, in case you were wondering. [Portfolio]

Unsurprisingly, there aren't so many people wanting to invest millions in pretty (or not so pretty) pictures at the moment: At Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art auction last night, only 64 percent of the lots sold. Still, it's not quite time to get the violins out: The overall tally was $223.8 million, which included $37 million for Henry Kravis's Edgar Degas ballerina pastel and $60 million for a Kazimir Malevich painting. [Bloomberg, Reuters, previously]

There have been reports of very long lines at the polls this morning. More than 400 people were already assembled outside P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights when the polls opened at 6 a.m. Confusion reigned outside the Hell's Kitchen polling station at 520 West 45th Street, where lines reportedly snaked around the block. Elected officials have had to patiently wait their turns. Chuck Schumer passed the time on a Brooklyn sidewalk chatting on his cell phone. Michael Bloomberg was No. 270 in line when he turned up on the Upper East Side this morning and he spent 45 minutes chatting with reporters and aides before getting a chance to make his pick. One person ahead of him? Eliot Spitzer. [NYT, WNBC, NYP, NYO]

Not only does Diddy get to vote or die today, he gets to celebrate his birthday, too. He's 39. There probably won't be much to celebrate in the White House today, but Laura Bush will have one reason to. She's turning 62. Also celebrating: Literary agent Andrew Wylie is 61. Playwright Jon Robin Baitz is turning 47. Book publisher Jonathan Galassi is 59. Matthew McConaughey is celebrating his 39th. Kathy Griffin is 48. Disney/ABC president Anne Sweeney is celebrating the big 5-0. Walter Cronkite is 92. Survivor host Jeff Probst is turning 46. Author Charles Frazier is 58. And the Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio, is 47.

Newark is getting a Zagat guide of its very own: It will be 16 pages long and include just 34 restaurants. At least now you'll know where to eat if you're carjacked on the way to the airport and the assailant asks you for some dining recommendations. [AP]

♦ Horror of horrors: The average Goldman partner may take home a bonus of $1 million or less this year. [FT]
♦ One of Goldman's flagship hedge funds, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, has lost close to $1 billion since January. [FT]
♦ UBS posted a third-quarter profit, but it still laid off 700 U.S.-based employees last week. [CNNMoney, NYP]

The polls in NYC will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today. You can find your local polling site here, or you can call 1-866-VOTE-NYC. (If you're outside the city, check here.) Not sure if you're registered to vote? You can look yourself up here.

♦ André Leon Talley urged fashion students at the Art Institute of Philadelphia to vote, "no matter who your candidate is," and said of Anna Wintour: "She is not that person in 'The Devil Wears Prada.' She is like Catherine the Great of Russia. She has kept that magazine on top, raised money for the Met and for the Democratic party." [WWD]
♦ Election eve shocker! Donna Karan and Diane von Furstenberg are voting for Obama. [WWD]
♦ Michael Kors could care less which network Project Runway winds up on: "I just want people to watch the show." [The Cut]
♦ In the new Agent Provocateur campaign, Helena Christensen doesn't look very happy in cheap red lace, and we don't blame her. [The Mirror]

Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died this morning. She was 86. [CNN]

What's becoming really big now that the economy is screwed? Budget beer, apparently. Low-end brews like Busch and Keystone have seen sales shoot up in recent weeks. [AdAge]

♦ Jean-Georges Vongerichten is opening his first "green" restaurant inside ABC Carpet. [NYM]
♦ British chef Fergus Henderson is cooking at Momofuku Noodle Bar tonight as part of his annual "FerguStock" publicity tour through New York City kitchens. [Eater]
♦ New York's Adam Platt tasted seven different coffees and ranked Abraço's the best and Starbucks the worst. [NYM]

Two weeks ago the news surfaced that Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and his second wife, Paula Fortunato, were divorcing after five years of marriage. Much was made of Redstone and Fortunato's 39-year age gap and the couple's pre-nup, which will provide Fortunato with a $5 million fortuno for the five years she spent by the not-so-healthy billionaire's side. But she's hardly the only one who has been married to someone who could easily pass for her father or granddad. After the jump, a list of famous New York couples and their equally famous age gaps.

With the presidential election just hours away, it's worth taking a moment to reflect on what George Bush will miss most when he goes from running the most powerful nation on earth to becoming the most hated president in modern American history. Will it be the power? The ability to twist the law to suit his own political agenda? Not according to his former chef, Walter Scheib. What he's really going to miss are the delicious huevos rancheros whipped up for him on Sunday mornings. Fortunately Scheib was willing to share Bush's fave recipe with Fox News, which you can see for yourself in the video to your left.