• More than two years after she first put it on the market, Gisele Bundchen has officially disposed of her triplex penthouse at 347 West 11th Street. The 1,700-square-foot apartment, which originally hit the market for $10.9 million and was listed for a much more modest $4.5 million when it went into contract late last month, sold for $4.4 million to a buyer identified in city property records as Lower West Side Manhattan R.E. [Cityfile]
• Steven "Mac" Heller, the former head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs, has sold his three-bedroom apartment at 14 East 75th Street. The 7th-floor co-op, which hit the market for $5.425 million in February, sold for $4.725 mil. to real estate investor Fred Schwalbe and his wife, Ruth. [Cityfile]

Chloe Sevigny turns 35 today. Project Runway winner Christian Siriano is turning 24. Owen Wilson is 41. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly is turning 39. Former MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby turns 45. Elizabeth Perkins of Weeds is 49. Singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik is 40. Comedian Kevin Nealon is turning 56. The Office's Oscar Nunez is 51. The rapper Fabolous is 32. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett turns 47. Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is turning 86. And former Dynasty star Linda Evans is 67.

If Joe Biden ever offers you a ride in his limo, politely decline and find another way to get where you're going. The vice president's motorcade was involved in a traffic accident late yesterday, his third in under a week. Biden was heading over to The Daily Show when one of the advance police cars in his motorcade crashed into a livery cab on 49th Street. Unlike his accident on Nov. 11, though, no one died this time around. While the unmarked cop car was a little worse for the wear, none of the cars' occupants were seriously injured. And the drama didn't prevent Biden from doing a smash-up job when he sat down with Jon Stewart either, so that's nice. [WCBS, NYDN]

They're back, baby! After killing six magazines and banishing hundreds to the unemployment line, Condé Nast has decided to go through with its annual holiday fete.

• Taavo Somer and the team from Freemans are opening a "classic American diner" in the old Kelley & Ping space on the Bowery. [VV]
• Ryan Skeen and his team have been ousted from Allen & Delancey. [GS]
• Midtown Italian eatery Bice won't be forced to close, after all. [Crain's]
• Donatella Arpaia's revamped, Psilakis-less Mia Dona has reopened. [GS]
• Does Michael "Bao" Huynh have yet another spot in the works? [TONY]
• Rooftop lounge 230 Fifth will be handing out Snuggies to its patrons. [Eater]
• ABC News treated the Heene family (of Balloon Boy fame, yes) to a "fabulous sushi dinner" at Ocean Grill last night, just so you know. [TMZ]

Photo: Flickr/rottenronin

• A big round of layoffs landed at the Associated Press today. [BI, NYT]
• Budget Travel isn't shutting down, contrary to rumors. But its owner is looking to sell the magazine or find new investors, however. [AdAge]
• Time.com's managing editor, Josh Tyrangiel, will become the editor of BusinessWeek when Bloomberg LP takes over next month. [BW, WWD]
• The NYPD raided four newspapers as part of a union corruption probe. [AP]
• Is Newsweek's new Sarah Palin cover sexist? Or just funny? [HP, Wrap]
• Because print media is booming and newspapers will be around forever, Mort Zuckerman's Daily News spent $150 million on a new printing plant. [NYT]
• A documentary about media reporters at the Times? Oh, yes, indeed. [NYO]
• Bonnie Fuller's new Web venture launched today. [HollywoodLife.com]
• TV: Oprah GBF Nate Berkus is getting his own daytime show; and Bob Saget will host an A&E reality series in which he'll "explore strange subcultures."
• Rupert Murdoch probably isn't very popular with the blind today. [Gawker]

Sy Syms, the founder of the Syms discount clothing chain and the man responsible for imprinting the company's slogan in all of our brains thanks to a million TV commercials ("an educated consumer is our best customer"), is dead at 83. Syms was a savvy showman till the very end, clearly: He died on the very same day the company's 50th anniversary sale ended. [AP]

Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka have given up on their bid to regain control of Trump Entertainment Resorts, the bankrupt company that controls the three crumbling Atlantic City casinos that bear the Trump name. In other not-so-encouraging news for the family, it's now considered "likely" that lenders will soon foreclose on Trump Soho, the epically troubled condo/hotel on Spring Street. Some good news? If you're feeling drowsy this afternoon, a visit to the Trump Soho website will wake you up and that's totally free of charge. [WSJ, Curbed]

Ten days ago, John Reed apologized for his role in creating Citigroup. Now Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein is apologizing for anything Goldman did to precipitate the financial crisis: "We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret," Blankfein said at a conference today. "We apologize." Then he stunned the crowd by announcing that Goldman would be turning over its fourth quarter profits to feed America's neediest, which would still leave the firm with about $16 billion to pay out year-end bonuses. Just kidding! He's not that sorry! [Bloomberg]

Courtney Love bid $120,000 at last night's Elton John Foundation benefit lto go out on a date with Bill Clinton. Fortunately for the former president, Love didn't end up winning the auction. But that's okay. She has fond memories of meeting Hillary Clinton a few years ago: "I had breakfast with [Hillary Clinton] once at the Chateau Marmont in about 2004. We have the same hairdresser. We had a great breakfast—she's great, she gossips. We gossiped and we talked about corporate mergers. She's a lot more fun than you would think." [NYM/Vulture]

One of the nastiest and longest-running feuds in fashion history has been revived. Since the mid-1980s, Ralph Lauren has been doing his damndest to prevent the U.S. Polo Association from marketing products bearing a horse-and-rider logo. It's a case that has taken the two sides to court on numerous occasions over the past 25 years, with Lauren suffering a stinging defeat in 2005 when a federal jury decided that the USPA had the right to produce a own clothing line since its logo featured two horsemen with mallets, as opposed to the solo player depicted in Lauren's version. Now the two sides are squaring off once again.

Considering Mayor Bloomberg won a third term in office by such a slim margin, perhaps it's time for New York's dictator-in-chief to show off a less arrogant, more humble side? That's what some people are suggesting, such as Lauren Solomon, the president emeritus of the Association of Image Consultants International:

Did you happen to catch Maria Bartiromo's interview with Snoop Dogg on CNBC yesterday? (He was in town to participate in something called Global Entrepreneurship Week and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.) After the jump, listen to Snoop as he discusses his "brand" and tackles questions like whether you need venture capital financing to start a career as a rapper (you don't!) and whether he had any difficulty "breaking into the culture of hip hop" (he didn't!).

Halle Berry walking downtown with a friend yesterday ... a grumpy-looking Ron Perelman leaving Bar Pitti on Sunday... Alex Rodriguez walking to lunch at Da Silvano ... Mary-Kate Olsen getting coffee with Nate Lowman in Tribeca ... Phoebe Cates getting breakfast with a friend yesterday at Yura on Madison Avenue ... Nicole Kidman walking on Park Avenue ... Naomi Watts shopping at Lilliput on Lafayette Street ... Chaz Bono arriving at JFK ... Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich walking with their daughter and dog in the West Village ... Taylor Momsen filming scenes for Gossip Girl ... Hugh Jackman bowling with his kids at Lucky Strike on Sunday alongside Vincent D'Onofrio and his son ... Luke Wilson leaving Nello's on Sunday with a lady friend ... Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt arriving at JFK ... and Keith Urban leaving his apartment building with his daughter.

Lou Dobbs appeared on his pal Bill O'Reilly's show last night in his first interview since leaving CNN $8 million richer last week. And O'Reilly asked him the question that's been on many minds in recent days: Is Dobbs thinking about running for a U.S. Senate seat?

• Rod Aldridge, the founder of the leading British outsourcing company Capita Group, has picked up a place in New York. Aldridge, whose company managed London's congestion pricing program and who was forced to resign as Capita's chairman amid a bribery scandal in 2006, paid $13.75 million for a 4,116-square-foot condo at the Superior Ink building on West 12th Street. [Cityfile]
• Doug Von Allmen, the Florida-based venture capitalist and victim of alleged Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, has put his duplex apartment at the Time Warner Center on the market for $18.45 million. [NYO, BHS]
• Bank of America portfolio manager Raymond Cubero and his wife, Kathleen Comerford, have changed brokers and dropped the price of their Trump Tower duplex. The four-bedroom "smart house," which the couple listed with Paula Del Nunzio for $14.995 million in June and cut down to $12.995 million earlier this month, is now listed with Corcoran's Carrie Chiang, Loy Carlos and Janet Wang for $95,000 less. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Architect Dean Maltz has paid $3.4179 million for a four-bedroom apartment at the Metal Shutter Houses at 524 West 19th Street. [Curbed]

Could this be the most annoying/dangerous billboard in the city? It sure looks that way, but do decide for yourself. [NYC the Blog]

Two men turning 65 today whose glory days have long since passed: Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, who has announced he'll step down as the firm's chief at the end of the year; and Saturday Night Live co-creator Lorne Michaels, who hasn't produced a season of SNL worth watching in years, but has yet to retire, unfortunately. Others celebrating another year today: Martin Scorsese is turning 67. Lauren Hutton turns 66. Howard Dean is 61. Danny DeVito is turning 65. RuPaul turns 49. Daisy Fuentes is 43. Diane Neal of Law & Order: SVU turns 34. Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas is 65. House Minority Leader John Boehner is turning 60. And Isaac Hanson (of the Hanson brothers, yes) turns 29.

• The feud between Al Roker and America's most despicable couple continues. After the Today show canceled an interview with Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Spencer took to Twitter to air his rage: "I thought you were out of town getting your stomache [sic] staped [sic] again... Do you always look like your [sic] about to die?" One thing that's clear here: Spencer should have paid more attention in English class. [Us]
• Brat Packer Anthony Michael Hall—who is about to kick off a guest stint on NBC's Community—has been ordered to stay away from his ex, Diana Falzone, a "relationship expert" who writes for the Huffington Post and hosts a show on Sirius. Falzone was granted a restraining order after Hall allegedly broke down her door last week and "bashed her head against a wall." [P6]
• Nicole Richie and Joel Madden secured a restraining order against two paparazzi who Richie says have been harassing her. Is it just us, or are restraining orders becoming all the rage? [TMZ]
• MTV has premiered Beyoncé's new video for "Video Phone" featuring a special guest appearance by Lady Gaga. In a surprising twist, it's Lady Gaga who looks fairly normal and Beyoncé who looks a little freaky. [MTV, NYP]