• It's been two days since Condé Nast announced plans to shut down four of its magazines, but the bad news continues to trickle in. According to some number-crunching by Newsweek, the magazine giant could see ad revenue drop by $1 billion in 2009; rumor has it additional layoffs went down today; and the decision to shutter Gourmet is still generating controversy.
• CBS execs must be breathing a sigh of relief. Despite the insane media attention focused on David Letterman's sex scandal over the past week, Late Show advertisers appear to be sticking by him. [NYT]
• TV news: NBC has canceled the cop drama Southland. And ABC is picking up three show for the full season: Modern Family, Cougar Town, and The Middle.
• A Project Runway videogame is coming to the Wii next spring. [Variety]

After a 47-year career in city government, Nick Scoppetta has announced that he'll step down as New York City's fire commissioner at the end of the year to take up teaching. [NYDN]

President Obama's graying hair has been covered since the very early days of his administration. But Paul Bedard of US News & World Report is now suggesting he's getting even grayer now that "successes haven't been as easy to grab," and he's had to deal with so much angst over the situation in Afghanistan and the battle over healthcare reform:

The trial of Brooke Astor's son, who was charged with defrauding her because he's a greedy old prick: that was still going on, this whole time! Until now, because the verdict's in.

Brace yourselves. The nation's airlines and airports are about to get even more dysfunctional. The downturn in the economy has forced airlines to slash their flight schedules and swap out larger planes with smaller ones, which means you can now look forward to longer delays and even more crowded flights this fall. The silver lining: Bathrooms on planes still exist for the time being, even though at least one airline has figured out that it can save a few bucks if it gets you to do your business before you get on board. [WSJ, NYDN]

NBC's legal team has one more headache on its hands. On Tuesday afternoon, the company was served with a lawsuit by the Font Bureau, one of the country's leading typographic design firms and the company responsible for crafting typefaces for the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and the New York Times Co. What would prompt a company that designs fonts to wage a legal assault on the media conglomerate? It seems NBC didn't secure the rights to use a handful of Font Bureau's trademarked typefaces. The same ones, we should add, that have been used as part of NBC's fall marketing campaign to tout shows like The Jay Leno Show, Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Mess with Jamie Dimon and you do so at your own risk. Last fall, during the bleakest moments of the financial crisis, the JPMorgan CEO began receiving threatening letters from a man who was angry about losing money a chunk of money following JPMorgan's acquisition of Washington Mutual. The anonymous letter-writer didn't just threaten to kill Dimon and promise to "McVeigh" the bank's New York office building. He also included a bit of white powder in one of the envelopes, which set off an anthrax scare at JPMorgan HQ. Duff McDonald recounts the episode in his new book on Dimon, Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase:

And the verdict is in: Brooke Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, was found guilty of more than a dozen charges moment ago, including grand larceny, which carries a mandatory prison sentence. Francis Morrissey Jr., Astor's estate lawyer, was convicted of forgery charges. [NYT]

Put the paramedics on standby: Anthony Marshall's fraud trial should be coming to an in a few minutes: "Jurors in the epic Brooke Astor fraud trial told the judge Thursday they have a reached a decision in the case against the socialite's son, Anthony Marshall, and his lawyer buddy, Francis Morrissey, sources said. It's unclear if they reached a verdict on all 18 counts counts against Marshall and Morrissey - or just on some of the counts. It will be announced around 2:15 p.m." [NYDN]

When Eliot Spitzer isn't denying reports that he plans to return to politics, teaching classes, or living the life of an ordinary New Yorker, he manages the real estate company founded by his father. Back in March, as you may recall, he cut his first major deal since taking over his dad's firm when he acquired an office building in Washington, DC for $180 million. Well, he's still doing deals, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. Yesterday he sold off a parking garage on East 38th Street for $10.2 million. And he's a joy to work with, in case you were wondering. The man who bought the garage from the former governor describes him as a "total gentleman." [NYO]

Natalie Portman arriving at the Broadhurst Theatre for opening night of Hamlet ... Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts riding a scooter downtown ... Blake Lively arriving on the Gossip Girl set in Tribeca ... and Ed Westwick shooting scenes in Central Park ... America's No. 1 dad, Jon Gosselin, shopping on the Upper West Side ... Hugh Jackman carrying his kids' scooters in the West Village ... Pete Wentz standing in front of his hotel in Midtown ... Hilary Duff arriving at Silvercup Studios in Queens ... Khloe Kardashian arriving at JFK to catch a flight back to LA ... Sienna Miller partying at a club and signing autographs ... and Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf filming scenes for Wall Street 2 at the Central Park Zoo.

Larry Gagosian's new "art store" (or museum gift shop on steroids) debuted last night. Looking to treat yourself to a Marc Newson marble credenza ($375,000); Richard Prince "Nurse Hat Chair" ($175,000); or Jeff Koons-designed puppy-shaped vase ($7,500)? Look no further! [WSJ]

• Whoopi Goldberg is headed to Jersey. Two months after she put her Soho loft on the market for $3.99 million (which still happens to be up for sale, incidentally) comes word that the comedienne and View co-host has picked up a 9,486-square foot Colonial on 2.4 acres in West Orange, NJ. Originally listed for $2.999 million, Goldberg closed on the house for $2.8 million. [Real Estalker]
• Paolo Pellegrini, the Italian-born hedge funder who worked for John Paulson until recently and who generated a 80% return this year by betting the economy was going to tank, has a new pad. He's paying "close to" $10 million to buy an apartment at 88 Central Park West from writer Ray Errol Fox and his wife Jean Thomas, a backup singer for Ella Fitzgerald in the '60s. [NYP]
• Walter Cronkite's former apartment at the UN Plaza will soon be up for sale. Joanna Simon, the broker who landed the listing, says the two-bedroom co-op will hit the market "within the month" for $2.995 million. [NYO]

Actor (and Michael Bloomberg supporter) Matt Damon turns 39 today. Soon-Yi Previn, or Mrs. Woody Allen, is turning 39, too. Chevy Chase is 66. Rev. Jesse Jackson is turning 68. Sigourney Weaver turns 60. Former presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich is turning 63. Director Ed Zwick is 57. Children's author R.L. Stine is turning 66. Netflix founder Reed Hastings is 49. Comic book writer Harvey Pekar turns 70. Nick Cannon is 29. Jeremy Davies is 40. And actor Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame turns 70.

• The gloves are off in the divorce between ex-model Stephanie Seymour and mogul Peter Brant. He claims she blows through $257,000 a month (including $50K a month on clothing alone); has been stealing and/or smashing some of his "pricey art objects"; has a history of abusing drugs; and has been bringing her boyfriend to the house. Team Seymour has yet to respond with its side of the story, but you can be sure it's going to be equally salacious. [P6]
• In other news of warring exes, Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook are back at it. Cook's lawyer says Brinkley violated the couple's divorce settlement and should go to jail because of it. Brinkley's team says it was Cook who is at fault and he should be put in jail. At least they agree on one thing! [NYP]
• Madonna supposedly has real estate brokers hunting for an apartment for Jesus Luz, since she's not ready to have him move in with her. Meanwhile, ex-husband Guy Ritchie has finally gotten around to responding to Madonna's comments that he's "emotionally retarded." In an interview with Esquire, Ritchie responded, "I still love her. But she's retarded, too." [Sun, Esquire]
• Did you know that Dina Lohan has a "celebrity" shoe line called Shoe-Han? She does! And it will be unveiled today at Trump Plaza. Exciting! [P6, People]

It looks like someone's Christmas vacation just got a whole lot more exciting:

• The critics: In his last review as the Times' interim critic, Pete Wells upgrades Brooklyn's Saul to two stars; New York's Adam Platt is very disappointed by what he finds at the new iteration of Aureole; TONY's Jay Cheshes gives Joseph Leonard four stars out of five; Lauren Collins of The New Yorker describes her visit to SHO Shaun Hergatt as "painful"; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton checks out the eats at Yankee Stadium; and Restaurant Girl pays a visit to Bia Garden.
• Want to shut down that noisy club in your neighborhood? All you need is a lawyer, publicist, blog and Twitter account. After a barrage of complaints from locals, The Jane Hotel's Ballroom is now closed until November. [Gothamist]
• The duo behind Sant Ambroeus open Casa Lever in the old Lever House Restaurant space (located in Midtown's Lever House!) next week. [NYP, GS]

• David Letterman appears to be through discussing the little sex scandal he now finds himself in. The subject doesn't come up on tonight's show. [NYP]
• Gourmet may have gone down, but the editor of Saveur says the mag is doing well (and that she's been flooded with resumes, not surprisingly). Meanwhile, while Condé Nast is laying off staff at Brides, a brand new bridal magazine is now preparing to launch. The dream lives on, clearly. [Forbes, NYO, Gawker]
• Related: Condé Nast's digital division is facing issues, as well. [NYO]
• The remaining bidders for BusinessWeek, now that Mort Zuckerman and a private equity firm have dropped out: Bloomberg LP and ZelnickMedia. [NYT]
• Barbra Streisand has scored her ninth No. 1 album, beating out Mariah's new record. It makes her the second-oldest living artist to top the charts. [Reuters]
• Famed fashion and celeb photographer Irving Penn has died at age 92. [AP]

The big round of cost cuts and layoffs at Condé Nast isn't just being felt at 4 Times Square. The gloominess has also made its way to Paris Fashion Week. Instead of spending their days observing the action on the runway, some Condé editors have been forced to remain in their hotel rooms to take part in a "dizzying" number of "budget-related conference calls and team meetings," reports The Daily. This could be why Vogue editor Anna Wintour hasn't "been spotted since Dior on Friday." Budget cuts could also explain why poor Anna has been forced to make do with a single snakeskin coat at Fashion Week in London, Milan and Paris. [FWD]

For a big, swinging master-of-the-universe type, a three-decades-younger Eastern European bikini model seem like an ideal accessory. But according to new research, there are all sorts of hidden risks involved. Not only will she walk from the marriage with a fat settlement when she decides to dump the aging mogul for the Peruvian pool boy, she may end up contributing to his premature death, too. [ABC News]