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A Little Legal Birdy forwards news that a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Scores East alleging that New York City and the SLA used trumped up charges of prostitution as grounds to take away their liquor license. This is a major blow against the gentleman's club, which was once the biggest name in male entertainment, but has seen the bloom come off its rose over the past year. It's much heralded Scores West has closed down, many of it's franchises around the country have been sold, and Lonnie Hannover, who many credit with making Scores what it once was, has jumped shipped to rival Rick's Cabaret, bringing his high profile rolodex (and Ricky's Man) with him. There is still a lawsuit in state court that has yet to be heard, but things aren't looking good for the former king. Full excerpt from the judgment after the jump. More...

No better time than Labor Day weekend for Sunday Styles to cover Dune Southhampton. The story is beyond average - young NYCers go east, drink and make out. Snooze. But what is fascinating is host Kevin Bulla's claim that "One client even brings stacks of $1,000 in singles so he can make it rain." Make it rain? In the Hamptons? In 2008? Really? We are issuing our first ever DBTH challenge, demanding the name of this mystery Duner who has been making it rain this summer. Responses welcome via the Birdy wire or comments section, and the reward is quite exciting. More...

Hey everyone, DBTH here. It's been a great summer, and to celebrate, we are going to enjoy a nice long weekend. We deserve it. We'll be back Tuesday with more Birdys, more news, more parties, more everything. Ya heard? Have a great weekend. Humbly, DBTH More...

Starring Robert ‘Batman†Bookman And David “Robin†Rabin (See Part One) This is the last of a nine part interview which deals with the legal climate and crisis facing the New York club industry. The slaughter has just begun. With a few exceptions, nightclubs are going through some hard times and the uncalled for harassment by city agencies will result in a bunch of closings this fall. That means out of work porters, bartenders, security guards, waitrons, accountants, etc. Loss of tax revenues, taxi receipts, beer, liquor, napkin orders, and eventually loss of some tourists. Almost every city in the states wants these dollars, but this and the previous administration seem determined to snuff out responsible adult fun. The agenda seems simple: a coddling to the real estate interests which see clubs as problems. I urge organization, use of the considerable marketing skills and tools available to our society to identify and campaign against lawmakers who are not club friendly. Come election time we will identify the evil do’ers so you can make educated choices. I am constantly reading in other blogs and periodicals about Matt Levine. I tip my hat to the young stud as in a very short time he has gotten his name and that of his project out there. Although some of the press has been unfavorable, and some of the blogs would rather be snarky and tell him to go to helldridge rather than give him a chance to be right or wrong, I personally would like to weigh in and say that I think it’s gonna be fun. Maybe it won’t be right for me or lots of the contributors to super trendy blogs, but as a small place with what I perceive as a dedicated core crowd, I think it’s going to be all things to some people. Isn’t that true with most places anyway? Those who love Marquee probably aren’t the same people who pledge allegiance to Santos. One place is all about selling tables while the other has no tables to speak of. One of the best bottle hosts in town told me, ‘Matt is going to kill it. He has a large crew of spenders and certainly enough people to buy into his shtick to ensure success.’ Matt is attacked for having an ego, for talking about himself and his project for dropping celebrity names… so what? What promoter worth his weight hasn’t been through this stage? I commend him. Although he has taken a few hits and has put his foot in his mouth a few times… so what? People are talking and I will, if he lets me, be glad to check out the place and make up my mind when I’m there. The club industry is packed with people just like Matt, but he’s getting grief cause he’s young and brash and has dared to be self promoting. That‘s his gig. Its what he is supposed to do. I like him. I find him to be respectful, honest, and most important enthusiastic. These are qualities decidedly lacking in most of the players today. The sense of entitlement so common in most promoters is not found in Mr. Levine. He’s out there pushing, working hard, and even though he’s been taking some hit’s he has never hit back. Indeed, I read something the other day where he humbly admitted to making some misstatements and felt he had learned a valuable lesson. A club owner admitting wrong? Now that is something new! He is certainly an easy target but at least he’s a moving target. I’m thinking of making him my vice presidential running mate. Go get them Matt. I can’t wait for the Eldridge. Steve Lewis: How do I go further with this? Is there an officer in charge of this whole thing? Is there a policeman? Can he sit down, you being there, can we sit down? Robert Bookman: They’re not going to talk to us. SL: I mean, that’s what I’m finding. RB: I sent an email this morning with the name of the assistant commissioner who is in charge of civil enforcement, Robert Nessner. When you speak to the NYPD’s Public Affairs office, at least you have the name of the person you’d like to interview. SL: I think we will use this interview to get this all out, and maybe there are more questions to answer. I started it because I feel that I’m outside in the industry enough and know enough about it to raise questions. And if I’m raising questions, maybe I can get some answers from the police department, who are elected. We elect these guys. I think they’re obligated to enter in a debate with us. David Rabin: You bring up the police. The PBA really wants to do paid detail, obviously. The officers all want to do it. The only person blocking it is the head of the police department. SL: Well, commissioner Kelley is very against it, very much, and that I’ve know for a long time. Josh you had a question you wanted to throw in. Josh: Yes. Our situation now, we’ve talked about the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea; the opening salvos have been fired. It doesn’t look like we’re going back. Buildings are starting to be put in the ground and stuff is going up all around, and at the same time you said these neighborhoods were sort of by default. And you were also talking about the people on the sidewalk because of the smoking ban, they’re on their cell phones. Cell phones aren’t going away, the smoking ban is probably not going away. What’s next? What happens? RB: I don’t think there’s anything you can do to change things. These are huge economic forces that are at stake, and I think it will require it to get a lot worse before it gets better. I think that there needs to be a continuation in the reduction of the number of liquor licenses in the city, which we’ve started to see in the last year for the first time since prohibition. There’s actually a decrease in the number of liquor licenses in the city. I think it’s one point something percent, but I think that’s dramatic. SL: The city will cite the tragedy of the World Trade Center as the year we lost the most liquor licenses as the statistic. RB: Yeah but they have more than recouped. We’re gonna need to see a reduction in tax dollars and the numbers of employment that are paid by the hospitality industry. Josh: Would that economic downturn help? RB: Well, no because they’ll just chalk it up to the economic downturn. It’s when our economic times are good because our industry is retrenching in size and tax dollars and number of people employed. When things are on the way up, then I think people will start listening to us. I don’t think there necessarily needs to be legal changes. There needs to be attitudinal changes on the part of the elected officials saying, ‘Listen, this is important. It maybe a nuisance but it’s important.’ SL: There has to be a Las Vegas approach. RB: Even Giuliani said how to present nightlife stuff; he would tell these people in these cool Manhattan neighborhoods where a lot of filming is going on that it would be obtrusive to them. Streets would be closed off. He would say it’s an important industry for our industry. You’re going to have to take it and live with it. DR: We’ve asked for that office. We’ve asked for the equivalent office to the office of television and film. They have the mayor’s office of television and film. We’ve asked repeatedly for a mayor’s office of nightlife so there’s someone paying attention, some overall agency that we can go to and say, ‘Hey look, we are a $10 billion economic engine.’ The film industry is a $5 billion engine, by the way. ‘We need a hand. We need someone to cut through the red tape. We need someone to listen to our problems and to help us navigate the system so we can be good neighbors, provide these jobs, and provide New York City with this reputation as the city that never sleeps.’ Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. More...

Coke goggles trick of the bea prowling trade [Gawker] KW den boasts longest soft opening ever [NYM] Forget 1oak and buy a condo in Battery Park [Curbed] Light at the end of Femme Fatal tunnel [Eater] More...

Last night at Gemma, Viridian Spirits, the country's premier absinthe producer and import company, hosted a rather intimate tasting and dinner party for some esteemed guests. We're not going to get into all of nitty gritty, but we will tell you there was a whole bunch of absinthe going around, and the company is quite pumped to be pumping the U.S. full of wormwoody goodness. The star of the evening was Claude Alain-Bugnon, a Swiss absinthe expert who is a pioneer of the clear absinthe method. Claude has teamed with Viridian to create Clandestine, a clear absinthe made from his original recipe, to the U.S. market. In addition, Viridian has also launched Nouvelle' Orleans, another high end label that was created through the magic of reverse engineering. Amazing. We sampled numerous cocktails, including the refreshing Vincent Van Gogh, made new friends, and learned a hell loadabout absinthe. Not bad for a Wednesday night. More pictures after the jump! More...

As we told you earlier, the former Opus 22 is poised to become Mr. West, a new lounge by nightlife veterans Danny Divine and DJ Jus Ske. Thankfully, they have dropped the gimmicks to bring us a straight up nightspot, with the press release claiming Mr. W is a "relaxed,yet trendy, locale that will transition flawlessly from happy hourhotspot to high-energy lounge each night. " Well that's nice. And for those who demand bottles, Mr. West will offer "Personal mixologists will attend to the needs of bottle service clients." But will the drinks be served the way they were meant to be served? Apparently it is open this weekend for anyone who is in town. Full release after the jump. More...

Apparently, we are cool enough to get a bit of time with the management of El Bano. We would love to share our conversation with you: Is this for real? I assume you mean the name, which we get a chuckle out of as well. We think it's a great name considering how our club is set up. You must enter through a bathroom. I can't say any more about that though. Do you have any previous nightlife experience? Are you involved in any other venues? I've run many clubs through the years, some in new york and some in Europe. This was kind of a just for fun project a few business associates and I decided to put together. I will say that we are heavily bankrolled...I'm talking real money from real players in business and we play hard. More...

Yesterday we posted part one of Steve's conversation with editor Tricia Romano; they discussed how she got her start at the Village Voice as well as Tricia's take on LA nightlife versus how it is perceived. If you missed day one, read it now. Otherwise keep on reading for day two. Tricia and I have a mutual friend, Matty Silver, who is just about as whacked as both of us. Matty, from time to time, has booked Perry Farrell and his bags of tricks into clubs. Matty’s promoted, thrown mega events, and seems always up to some majestic scheme or another. We connect once in awhile and chat about our lives. I once met up with Matty and casually asked him what he was doing. He answered, ‘I’m helping out the government of Peru.’…Or was it Paraguay? I don’t really remember as my brain sort of stopped for a couple of hours, but that’s the kind of answer you’ll get from Matty if you asked him a question like that. This club world is filled with succeeders and dreamers, and best of all, those who succeed with their dreams. The common thread of these interviews is the players who are succeeding with their dreams. I’m sure not all their dreams, as we have some heavy sleepers out there. But you look at an Eddie Dean, that saloonkeeper from Brooklyn who now runs Pacha NY, or Mark Baker, who through good times and bad still controls Mansion - a not too shabby place. The DJs entertaining thousands making music, and the actresses, artists, singers and such supporting themselves amongst likeminded souls, as they dream of stardom. It’s the dreams that keep us tucked into nightclubs sometimes way past our bedtimes. Tricia Romano’s dreams have taken her to L.A., and I miss her so. I remember the first time I went to Los Angeles. I was nineteen and had longish hair, and was seeking surfer girls or hippie chicks as either one would do. I had split from my girl in St. Louis; she hitched northwest, I drove southwest. I was to meet a friend on his birthday, July 23rd. I arrived near his Hollywood commune early morning, and had some time to kill. I parked the VW camper by Hollywood and Vine and got out to take a look around. I crossed the street and a police cruiser chased me to the curb. A LAPD officer slammed me against a fence, then to the ground, issued me a ticket for jaywalking, and gave me some great ideas about my hair do. I had been in L.A. for five minutes and had already been rousted, tossed, and ticketed by a cop. I walked to the famous corner and spotted Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched scolding a silly man who was running along next to her. So I was in L.A. for ten minutes; got ticketed, tossed, and saw a celebrity. I sat on a bench and a cute girl came up to me and chatted me up. I was there fifteen minutes and I been ticketed, tossed, seen a celeb, and now was California dreaming with a hippie chick. Maybe I just never learned to go with the flow and let the culture take me for its ride, so I came back east and tried to create my own little fish ponds. I gotta go back there soon as someone has asked me to design something, and I guess I’ll stop by that corner - but it won’t be the same I guess…except for the cops. Steve Lewis: Now you’re with Defamer, and tell me about that. Tricia Romano: I write once or twice a week on night out types of things with Defamer. The good thing about it is it’s a really wide range, I’m not totally pinned to clubs. Usually a lot of what I’m writing about starts at 7 o’clock in the evening and ends by 11. It’s just a little less based on being out at one in the morning. It encompasses a lot on movies, art openings, music shows – it’s a range. I’m just doing that one or twice a week, and then I’m the managing editor of a website called Popandpolitics.com. I just started that about two weeks ago. It’s a website slash blog started by Farai Chideya. She’s a really prominent journalist, and she’s on NPR News and Notes. She started this in 1996, I think. It’s grown over the years and now its part of the USC Annenberg journalism program. I’m also a regular contributor to the Advocate. SL: That’s amazing Tricia. You’ve come a long way. L.A.’s been a land of opportunity for you, and you seem happier. Things are going well, and you really seem to be getting good, solid work. When you were in New York you worked for the Village Voice. Now, I’m at this Good Night Mr. Lewis site which I have over here at JoonBug, and JoonBug really doesn’t get in my way at all. I write what I wanna write and they don’t even question what I’m writing about, or who I’m interviewing. I sort of have free hand. Now when you were at the Village Voice, was there always a layer of politics above everything you wrote about? TR: Not really. I mean, you have to pitch features and then you must get approved. You have to plead your case in some sense, and you have to sell your feature to the approving editor. That last year and a half that I was there it was so tumultuous; we had six editors-in-chief during that time. SL: You had six editors-in-chief in a year and a half? TR: Yeah, it was insane. Don Forst resigned, then Doug Simmons was an intern who became our managing editor and then our acting editor in chief. He was fired after about a month or two, I think after the Nick Sylvester fiasco happened… SL: So all these changes happened while you’re writing a column, and each one of these editors wants to put their own stamp on the publication. TR: Right. The good thing for me during that time was that I was dealing directly with Rob Harvilla, who was the music editor. Rob was sort of like a protective shield, and he was really good about keeping all the drama that was going on away from his writers. He was just a great editor in general who encouraged changing the format of things so that it was almost like mini features every week, rather than a list of events that I had been to. It was less about who I saw and more about a story or a trend or a personality profile. So in that sense I think the column got stronger. But everyone was distraught that year because every time we had a new editor or editorial change, it was like everything happened in slow motion. At the Voice, every time a new person came we’d all have a couple weeks of like, ‘Ok, maybe we’re safe.’ But then there’d be a mass layoff of ten people. So we were all a nervous wreck as each editor would be fired and then a new person would come in, and then we’d have to go through it all over again. SL: Well you managed to get a bunch of covers in all this turmoil. One of the covers, I remember because I was in it, was the Sober Hipsters article. What other covers did you have while at the Village Voice? TR: I won an award for that story. It is the only award I’ve ever won. SL: You won the Sober Hipsters award? TR: No I won the best feature from the Newsmen’s Club of New York. It’s something like a ninety year old organization that’s really distinguished. SL: Amazing, and what else did you have covers for? TR: I had covers for Ultra Girl; I did a cover on the anti-bottle service movement with all the clubs down on the Lower Eastside, and in Brooklyn. Wow, I can’t even remember them all… SL: Well you know, the purpose of this sit down was for everyone to know that Fly Life did exist, and that at one time there was someone writing about nightlife that wasn’t Steve Lewis, Down By the Hipster, and a few others that still do. I don’t know if you read any of our blogs, but we are humbly trying to fill your shoes, and not even close because you’re a real writer. Now you’ve gone to L.A. with my ex-wife and half the other people that I know in the world who have moved out there, so there must be something going on. And I do read your blog because you make me. TR: Cause I make you? SL: Well you did make me initially, and now I read it on my own. The point is that I wanted to thank you for starting me in this mess. And that’s what happened. I mean Tricia Romano was the one who we’d go out to dinner sometimes and you’d say, ‘Why don’t you write, why don’t you write?’ I said, ‘You know, maybe I’ll write someday.’ Then when you left New York I basically called you up and said, ‘I’m going to do this,’ because you were gone and I didn’t want to do it while you were around. TR: Well you’re doing some pretty interesting stuff. You’re schooling everybody; it’s Steven Lewis’ nightlife school. SL: I’m not sure it’s a school. Well, there are a lot of teachers with different views. A lot of people are writing about nightlife. The reason I write this blog is because I actually did all this, I run clubs and I’ve been there. Most of the blogs written about nightclubs are written by people who’ve never run them, and I think I have a very unique position. I think I have the most fun at this when a bunch of the blogs are running with the same story and taking excerpts from each other, and each one gets a little bit more info from a completely new source. The story just keeps growing and it’s happening so fast, faster than a newspaper or other printed publication. I also enjoy the different attitudes of the different blogs; love DBTH, Eater, Grub Street, GOAG. Even though it sometimes gets a little testy, I enjoy reading those blogs and now yours… Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. More...

Yesterday we received a mysterious package from the folks at the Strategic Group. Hmmm, what could it be? We unwapped the package to find a 1/2" thick piece of engraved glass, inviting us to a little shindig in Las Vegas to celebrate the grand opening of Lavo, the new restaurant, bathhouse and nightclub that Noah, Jason, Mark and the rest of the team are poised to unleash on the world. We're flattered, and hoping that if there are naked bodies sitting around, they look a bit better than our invitation friends. Opening is set for September 13 - brace! More...

The right stuff still scores at Beatrice [NYM] Some quality ice is in our cocktails [Gothamist] Matt Levine breaks his [hour] long silence [Eater] Ds gives Aa an F [DivisionStreet] More...

Our crack team of scientists has indeed cracked the first code of El Bano. So what is behind door #1? A key! We knew it! And the key comes with another clue, saying: El Bano is a secret club, and like all things secret it's only known by few. To gain access to the club you must first possess a key. You see, firstyou go into a lovely little bodega and enter the bathroom with yourkey. You will see a bouncer in the bathroom guarding a stall. You givehim the nod and he'll open the door and a wall will slide openrevealing the club. Getting a key is easy. If you're our friend youalready have one. If you're famous or strikingly beautiful, you alreadyhave one. We make mistakes though, and may want to offer you a key. The plot thickens! Tomorrow, we will bring you a special interview with the secretive El Bano management, who will unveil some more details about their super secret hideaway lounge. More...

Being the diligent journalists that we are, we decided to email the reservations line at El Bano to try and get the low down on this secret bastion of exclusivity. The result? El Bano is even more exclusive than we could ever imagine! We got an immediate response back, saying: Thanks for your reservation inquiry. Due to the exclusivity of our club, it's impossible for us toaccommodate all requests. If you feel you really belong, please E-Mailus back and let us know why.Well, how could we ever come up with a reason as to why we belong in the Toilet? We couldn't. But our scientists are still working on answering their brain teaser, and we will have a location shortly. More...

Can there possibly be a more exclusive club than the most exclusive of them all? Apparently, there can be. Brace yourselves for El Bano, a place so exclusive that it calls itself "New Yorks Most Exclusive Nightlife Experience." Fascinating stuff. According to their dizzying website, El Bano comes complete with a Famous Mixologist and a Famous Chef, none of which you are allowed to know about. As per the location, you aren't allowed to know that either, with El Bano saying "that if you’re supposed to know where we are, you know where we are." Douchey. But if you can solve their puzzle, you will find out where they are located. We have hired a crack team of scientists to work on this riddle immediately, and will provide an update soon. And just in case you cared, The Toilet will be open in time for Fashion Week. More...

“I’d move to Los Angeles if New Zealand and Australia were swallowed up by a tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in England, and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.†- RUSSELL CROWE “I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.†- ANDY WARHOL TRICIA ROMANO is the former writer of ‘Fly Life’ a nightlife centric column that used to be in the Village Voice, a paper I used to read. I still tune in to Michael Musto’s column once in awhile, but not like back in the day. There was a time when staying up late on Tuesday to get the Voice was a social necessity. I had to read what Michael felt about this or that, him or her, and what was being whispered in dark corners by creatures of the night. Tricia’s column, for awhile, presented a different viewpoint and I became a regular reader of her as well. I also was a secret source for her as I was of course not yet a blogger, and found myself with a scoop now and then. Tricia and I had some sushi dinners where we discussed me writing this sort of stuff. I thought the Voice might be right for me but didn’t like the editorial interference that defines most magazines and newspapers, and I eventually opted for the free form of the blog. Yeah, so now you know who to blame. I would like to thank Tricia for giving me advice and confidence to give it a try. This interview was done via phone as she now lives in L.A. She makes me read her Defamer online posts, and I’m finding out all about the left coast. A lot of my friends are making the move, settling in Venice and Echo Park, and places with even weirder names than Brooklyn. This town ain’t what it used to be and it’s becoming hard to argue that our culture is better than anyone else’s. Still, I hang on to as much of the old New York as I can still find. I get my egg creams and rickeys from Ray’s on Avenue A, my pizza from Ray’s on Prince Street, and even though I can’t afford the calories, very often I still pop into Luger’s or Katz’s when I need a fix. September is sporting a whole bunch of new clubs with new approaches, and I am still optimistic that there is something happening here… Steve Lewis: I’m here with Tricia Romano, a dear friend of mine. She has been, among other things, the writer of Fly Life for the Village Voice, and now she has moved to LA. Tricia why don’t you give us a little bit of your background? Tricia Romano: I officially moved to New York in 1999 after I originally had come to New York for a few months as an intern at Village Voice in 1997, where I interned for Frank Owen. SL: And you’re laughing about Frank Owen because Frank Owen and I have beef. TR: I know you guys have beef. I’m staying out of it. SL: I have beef with Frank Owen, who was supposed to be my friend, but instead of being a friend when I needed him most, Frank Owen actually wrote something that was completely untrue and unnecessary. When I confronted him about it, he said he would correct it in the London release of his book, which did me no good at the time. I’ll get into that at another time, but yeah, Frank turned his back on me when I needed him most, and that’s the facts. So anyway, you worked for Frank Owen, and that’s over at the Village Voice. TR: Yes, we were fellow nightlife people. He did actual investigative reporting on nightlife so I was really excited to work with him, and definitely learned some things from him. But then I went back to Seattle where I had been living before my internship, and worked for the Seattle Weekly for about a year and a half before I came back to New York. I originally came to New York for CMJ Magazine which lasted about six weeks, until I got a phone call from The Voice. They had a couple openings, and I jumped at the chance to go over there. I was initially a fact checker, and then I was a columnist writing short nightlife listings. Then about a year after that, myself and a fellow writer, Jose Germosen, were asked to come in and do a column about clubs and nightlife. Apparently our marketing department had done a survey, and discovered that our readership had gotten a little bit older than desired, so we were asked to bring the youth market back into the fold. SL: Michael Musto’s was perceived as the nightlife column, but his column had evolved into a little bit more than a nightlife column. It was not dealing with that everyday issue kind of thing, so they wanted to fill in a niche for that younger crowd, yes? TR: Right. It was a little weird because in our mind, Michael Musto was the person who was already doing that. When they described the column, they actually sold it to us as being kind of like this column that a woman out of L.A. was doing at OC Weekly, Commie Girl. We read it and then kinda looked at each other and were like, ‘But don’t we already have somebody on staff who does this?’ So then we asked Musto if he knew about it and he didn’t. He was really upset, which made us upset that he was upset. In the end it was explained that we would not touch on similar things, that we would concentrate more on the music aspect of nightlife and much. SL: And that column was called Fly Life. TR: The columns called Fly Life; Jose had a half page and I had a half page. Eventually Jose left and I was doing the column on my own. It was a half page for a couple of years and then ran as a full page for the last year I was working on it. That was a really good year as my editor Rob Harvilla wanted more club coverage, and really supported it. SL: Fly Life was basically how we met. You would call me up. In fact, I was a secret source for many of your stories. I guess, right? Now I’m revealing myself… TR: Yeah. SL: You’re laughing, but you as a writer, are not supposed to reveal your sources. TR: You’re like a crystal ball. You and Matty Silver are like little crystal balls. It was very fun. I remember it was 2002 or 2003 and we were at Baktun for a Cabaret Law meeting. SL: Yes. TR: And it was like, you know, all the lunatics, some of whom were really on it, and the other ones who weren’t making any sense. But you were there while they were having this big meeting, you and Matty turned to me and said, ‘This whole area is going to be like Miami.’ SL: I was referring to the Meatpacking District, I was a predicting the future that was known to me. TR: Right, it was the Meatpacking District and the 20s, 30s area on the West Side. You two were like, ‘This is going to be the center; they’re going to zone it to be the center of nightlife, and it’s going to be huge,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ You know, cause I thought, ‘Who’s going to go all the way out there?’ And what do you know? About a year later Crobar was announced, then Marquee, and before you knew it, the Meatpacking District had arrived. I could not believe my eyes. SL: Well that’s what happened. In all fairness, a lot of people were in the same position as me, where you have a little bit of knowledge and could apply it to what the city is trying to do. I had an advantage also, as I was going to be designing Marquee, so I knew that Marquee was moving in there with Noah and Jason. That was in its’ early conceptual stages, I knew about the area being developed. I also knew that Crobar was coming in from Miami because groups that I knew about wanted to take over that Mezmor building, and I knew they were going to get it. Amy Sacco, being the leader in that area, I knew that the outer Chelsea thing was going to happen, and certainly the Meatpacking. I gotta give that to Jeffery Jah, who actually told me that was happening. When he was looking into the Lotus space, he took me around to meet realtors and the spaces were incredible. At that time, they were out of the way. It doesn’t take a crystal ball, it just takes a little bit of knowledge. But thanks, I appreciate it. And that is how our relationship grew because as I would tell you things off the record, or as an anonymous source, and they turned out to be true. You and I developed a mutual respect, and I would always tell you I wanted to one day become a writer, and I guess this Good Night Mr. Lewis blog is a result of that. TR: You have so many stories, it’s amazing. I think my favorite story is the one where you’re getting shot at, at the World. SL: Oh yeah. I’ll tell that story, that’s another Jeffery Jah story. I don’t actually tell that story often… Val: Let’s hear it. SL: Well Jeffery Jah tells the story better than me, because I’m a little confused on what happened as I was in the middle of it. But apparently there were some people shooting at some other people outside the World on East 2nd Street. It was a summer night, and I had walked outside. Now I have a really big yawn cause I’m up all the time, as everyone around here knows; I do like two hours of sleep a night. So I walked out of the building on that summer night and I yawned really hard, and when I do that, my ears shut down. Apparently I had walked right into a shootout, and there were bullets flying all around me, and Jeffery says he looked over and he saw the bullets flying all over while I just stood there yawning. It was all over in a few seconds and everybody thought, ‘My God, he’s just standing there being shot at and he’s yawning at them.’ But the reality of it was that I just didn’t know it was happening. TR: That’s a great one. SL: Yeah. What’s it like living in L.A.? TR: Oh, it’s awesome. SL: It’s awesome? I mean, is it really cool? I can’t imagine as I’m a New Yorker. You wrote New York nightlife as well so I want your perspective. TR: Well it’s perfect every single day. There are no thunderstorms, lightning, snowstorms, cold weather, nothing. I can’t stand any of that. I work from home and live by the beach, and I drive a pretty minimal amount. I’m from Las Vegas so this is not a foreign concept to me, this lifestyle. It is just way more mellow, this lifestyle is way more relaxed. The most interesting part about L.A. is that there’s so many different neighborhoods; so many different parts of town. It’s just like New York in the sense that you get to go around and explore every one of them, just experiencing what each has to offer. SL: You were over New York and you were over New York nightlife when you left. TR: I honestly really hated it. SL: And that’s pretty bad, when the nightlife writer for the Village Voice is hating nightlife. TR: Well after a while, I hated going out. I was thirty-five or whatever, and I didn’t really feel like spending my hours at two in the morning with people that I can’t really understand what they’re saying, because it’s so loud. God I sound old; I’ve been doing it since I was about seventeen in Las Vegas. I was writing about them back then when I was in college at the University of Nevada, and that continued when I went to UW in Seattle. I was writing about nightlife even then, reporting on crack downs at the clubs. We had all those S&M clubs in Seattle. There was a club in Seattle called Catwalk that was having S&M parties, doing piercings and tattooing which was against health code. They were raiding these kinds of clubs and trying to shut them down. I was doing all of this back in my early twenties, so by the time I was doing Fly Life, none of my friends could or wanted to go out with me anymore. I would be leaving my house at midnight or 1 o’clock on a Wednesday, it would be twenty degrees outside, and I’d be lugging my heavy cameras around. You can’t really get drunk or even a little wasted cause you have to be kind of lucid and aware of the pictures you’re taking, and of what people are saying. SL: Yeah, welcome to my world. It was the same with running them, I had to stay sober. What’s the difference between New York nightlife and L.A. nightlife? TR: I mean, I haven’t really done the L.A. nightlife per say. I went to one party called Mustache Mondays which was very New York-y. I wrote something about it for Defamer.com, and in fact there were a lot of people there from New York - Mario Diaz who ran The Cock. SL: Wow, Mario was there? TR: Mario’s in L.A. now. SL: Yeah I forgot, say hi for me. TR: Yeah, I will, I love him. But yeah it was all like drag queens and house music and weird performance art type of stuff. SL: So you felt at home? You felt like it was good because it was like New York. Is it that you have not yet acclimated into what an L.A. party is, that you’re not traveling at that speed? TR: Well, I think that there is a stereotypical notion of what an L.A. party is, and then there’s the reality of what an L.A. party is. Just like anything, there’s the cheesy clubs in Hollywood that you can go to and I guess call that an LA party, but there’s also all the East Side parties; all the Silver Lake and Los Feliz parties. They’re like the East Village, or they’re like Capitol Hill in Seattle… SL: Downtown. It’s a downtown vibe? TR: They’re sort of common thread, you know. They’re the edgier, more underground side of things. But the pictures of those parties aren’t in Us Weekly, so people don’t really realize that they’re here. And one of the things that I find to be really hysterical is when people are like, ‘Everybody in L.A. is dumb. Or you know, L.A.’s too shallow etc.’ I can’t even tell you how many of the people that I know out here who have moved from New York. Also people that I’ve met that I didn’t know when I got here are from New York. So it’s funny cause New Yorkers are essentially what half of L.A. is comprised of. SL: You know, my perception of L.A. comes from that movie A Night at the Roxbury, that’s about what I think of when I think of L.A. nightlife. I’m sorry that that’s the case, but it’s actually one of my favorite movies, I thought it was great. TR: That’s funny SL: And that’s my perception of L.A. nightlife. I hear that song and think of those posers bobbing there heads and I feel so culturally superior. I used to travel a lot, I don’t very much anymore. I used to think that Paris was closer in almost every way except for the language, than L.A. Los Angeles to me was far more foreign an experience than Paris was. TR: Yeah, that’s true. Well, I mean it’s not foreign to me because of I grew up like this, as I was saying earlier. I grew up in a place where it was warm and everything was wide open and spread apart and you’re in your car driving all the time. The major difference is that L.A. actually does have culture and cool stuff going on, whereas Vegas, especially when I was growing up, was absolutely a dead zone, I mean there was nothing. SL: Yeah my environmental theory is to turn off the lights in Vegas for a week and we’ll save all the oil, gas, and electricity this country needs for a year. I really do hate Vegas. I don’t like L.A. much, but I really dislike Vegas. What have you been up to recently? TR: Well this past weekend I went out to this weekly film screening that was really fun called Cinespia. I wrote about it for Defamer yesterday. SL: I read it. TR: They have a series of film sessions and screenings every weekend. They do it outside of the Hollywood Forever cemetery, which is a famous cemetery in Hollywood. SL: Yeah I read that, it sounded great. I actually wanna go but I have to go to L.A. to do it. It sounds amazing. TR: Yeah. You have to go there early though, score your spot and picnic with food and wine and such. They project the movie on this huge wall. SL: I’ve never eaten in a cemetery. I’ve never seen a film in a century…hmmmm. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. Check back on Thursday for the second half of Steve's conversation with Tricia Romano as they explore her work now that she has moved to the west coast, as well as her many awards and acclamations throughout her career. More...

After seeing our little tidbit on the future of Opus 22, a second Little Birdy follows up with the rest of the details. According to LB, "the old opus is being opened by Evan fFrost, of 3 steps (19th & 2nd) and formerly of the short lived duke & duchess. heard it's going to be called 22s." If 3 Steps is any indication, we may be getting a West side version of an "extraordinary cocktail lounge offers a much-needed reprieve from the ostentatious club scene. It's the cool, hip spot that the typical New Yorker-used to over-crowded nightclubs, pretentious party-goers and velvet-rope madness-has been craving." Sounds positively groovy. We guess. UPDATE: A Little Birdy tells a different tale, saying "The new Opus space is NOT going be called '22's - it's going to be called Mr. West. Indeed, Evan is involved, but it's not his place - he is managing it. The space belongs to Danny Divine and DJ Jus-ske." Anyone have the final word? More...

Just 8 weeks after being closed for re-tooling, the former Cafe Socialista space at 505 West Street is ready to re-introduce itself to NYC. Stans, a new Thursday night event, is poised to take over the former Cuban cafe beneath the Jane Hotel, and the organizers believe they have a one of a kind location. How do we know? It's on the invitation, saying "It is revered by experts in their field as a classic party location that just now has resurfaced." They promise $6 beers, dancing, and potential kissing - not too shabby. Most importantly, it seems to make the situation at the Jane Hotel a bit more interesting, considering the still going Socialista lounge and Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson's two planned spaces in their sailor friendly hotel. More...

Cougars to the rescue of our bankers (subsequently, our nightlife) [Dealbreaker] Something high and hip planned for barren Flatiron [NYM] Our two faves are besties [GNML] Elected officials in need of throw down lessons [Radar] More...

The record player having, soon-to-open, super cool Ace Hotel seems to have everything put together. With a hip brand opening its first NYC locations, Rudy's barber shop, gourmet coffee, Ken Friedman backed restaurants, and guitars in the rooms, how could it possibly fail? Well, they still have to get rid of the SRO tenants, and it looks like things are getting a bit desperate. A Little Birdy reports that "there are some tenants that have simply refused to take a buy out, and the people from the Ace have repeatedly raised the offer. It started out at $5,000 and has doubled several times. I have heard the remaining tenants are being offered around $100K just to get out!" Do you hear that people? We suggest finding yourselves a room in one of the few Manhattan SRO's left and hunkering down until some fancy hotel developer "discovers" an opportunity. More...

We know it's just a website, but it's just a wee bit ironic that the Eldridge has already made it onto the World's Best Bars without even being open yet. We mean, come on. The website even notes that almost none of you will ever get in (or want to), saying "It’s, unsurprisingly, a reservations only joint and, even then, chances are you’ll have to know somebody who knows somebody (who knows Levine) to even stand a chance of gaining entry." Something very strange about being so great that no one can go, but that's just us. More...

Blondes have more fun at the Hudson Hotel [Gawker] Last party at the pool [Gothamist] Preview of Apotheke [NYM] Kurve lives [Eater] More...

This past weekend, a DBTH family member checked out Sacha's latest spirits destination, the White Star, and filed this fun filled report: It was pretty uncrowded with an easy door. They literally only serve absinthe and beer and there are NO cocktails as I was sharply informed by the bartender. They also do the absinthe service with the sugar and water like at Hotel Delmano. the inside looks similar to milk and honey - narrow and dark and there's also a bigger room in the back. More...

Joshua David Stein, New York's busiest and most influential reporter, delivered a tour de force article in Page Six Magazine this week on the former queen of New York City nightlife, Amy Sacco. You may recognize some familiar names. Ahem. Ahem. Best part is Amy's comment that she has gone "into hedge funds and finance." So have we. And we also enjoyed the comments about London's Bungalow 8, with one Londoner commenting “I would rate the club lounge at Heathrow Airport higher than this place.†Ouchy. More...

We have to hand it to our friends at A Continuous Lean - they always come prepared. So when ACL made their way to Vegas for some R&R before the Project Trade Show, they decided to ship out a case of Barritts Ginger Beer to enjoy some refreshing Dark and Stormy's. ACL - always styling. More...

Matt Levine, owner of the amazing Eldridge, is going to be one busy beaver during Fashion Week. He tells Radar that he "came off sounding like a jackass" a few weeks back, that jackassedness resulted in a business boom. Good for you Steelo. But just how is all of this business going to result in any profit? Lucky for us, a Little Birdy who also was interested in the Luv space sent us the specs on the building, and we would love to share them with you. The big question is - are you ready for 14 years of the Eldridge? You may not have a choice. More...