guestofaguest

[President and Mrs.Obama on their New York Date Night. Photo via HuffPo]. Getting a (relatively sane) date in New York is definitely a challenge, but honestly, figuring out where to TAKE your date is a whole new hurdle to surpass. Don’t worry, Guest of a Guest is here to save your love life. By making some sweeping generalizations, our guide makes it easy to decide where to take your date in the city. Click below… Where To Go In New York If…. Your Date Never Wakes Up In Time For Brunch Permanent Brunch, 1st Ave btw 5th and 6th Be the first to take her/him to this new East Village restaurant that serves brunch all the time. This restaurant is rumored to have the city’s best and most extensive bacon menu, and, let’s face it, most guys love bacon. Go on a Saturday night! Go on a Wednesday afternoon! Go any time you feel like mimosas and waffles! Your Think Your Date Might Actually Be Gay Brandy’s Piano Bar, 84th between 2nd and 3rd Fans vehemently dispute Brandy’s status as a “gay bar”, claiming it’s a place where young and old, gay and straight can get together to have a good, rowdy time. Fair enough. But, if you get there and your date is greeted by name and/or is all too eager to belt out a lusty version of “Season’s Of Love” or “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, you might consider it a red/rainbow flag.* *Not that Brandy’s is a gay litmus test. Obviously there are many gay men for whom spending even ten minutes inside a joint like Brandy’s is akin to being waterboarded. Your Date Never Travels Above 14th Street Wine And Roses, Columbus btw 73rd and 74th Very carefully explain to them how the 1,2,3 works, and then meet them outside this romantic, intimate wine bar on the Upper West Side. Order a Malbec, order another, and see how pleasantly surprised your date will be to find there is life above Union Square… You or Your Date Have An Impressive Knowledge Of Beer Songs Bohemian Beer Hall, 29-19 24th Ave, Astoria If your ability to knock’em back and still sing in tune is your best selling point, take your date to a place where at least you won’t embarrass yourself. If you feel things are getting too rowdy, you can regain some credibility by turning to your date and saying “You know, Vaclav Havel came here”, then solemnly sip your beer. Dropping V-Havel trivia always impresses. Oom-pah-pah! Your Date Doesn’t Drink And/Or Is Amish Central Park, in the middle of the city You could go on a carriage ride, but they’ll be used to that. A better option is renting a rowboat on the lake. As soon as you paddle away from the tourists, you can find some relatively secluded and romantic areas of the pond. You can feed the ducks. You can re-enact the “Kiss The Girl” scene from The Little Mermaid. Idyllic, innocent, and very, very sweet. Your Date Is So Hipster And You Are So Square Archive Cafe, Bushwick Be sure to act as if you only go to independent coffee houses, no matter how many Starbucks runs you make a day. You won’t have to worry about hipster conversation topics: your date will see the dvd collection of art-house films and instantly start pontificating about this and that. It closes at 11, but if the date goes well, you can easily seque into renting a movie and taking it home… Your Date Moved To New York After Seeing Breakfast At Tiffany’s Tiffany & Co, 727 Fifth Ave Ok, likely your date is a girl for this one. (If not, see “Brandy’s” above). And fair warning: You’ve got to be really charming to pull this off without having it seem like cringe-worthy schmaltz. But if you bought her a danish. And brought her to Tiffany to window shop. And then maybe strolled down to the Public Library where you would impress her with checking out a book that you conveniently wrote. Then, sigh…you’d have it made, sir. You’d have it made.

The dinning /clubbing combo has always been a curious one at best.* Those who are familiar with the old adage “Don’t shit where you eat”, can probably sympathize with the fear of finding a discarded cigarette butt in their ravioli.* Ok perhaps an exaggeration, but eating among vodka drenched floors and smoked pit carpets can be disconcerting.* So this of course begs the question, why are so many clubs like the fronting as restaurants and vice versa?* So is there really a trend?* Intern-backed reporter Foster Kramer seems to think so. Back in the early 2000s, Lotushad full out dining on their dance floor until 11pm prior to the eventual evening shit show of bottle service madness.* Cipriani’s Downtown has occasional dining upstairs early on in the night, and Richie Akiva’s Butter refined the niche, focusing on cornering the Monday night scene. The list goes on an on including the now defunct Socialista, and the ever infamous Merkato 55 “brunch” that is light on the food and heavy on the booze. But there is now a new wave emerging, lead again by Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano.* They plan to open up a new combo in the old Plumm space.* And don’t forget Noah Tepperberg’s Avenue that’s fronting as a “gastro lounge”.* And now there’s Jon B who is teaming up with Todd English to open up a combo in Chelsea shortly. So what gives?* Has the word “bottle” become the pariah of the new economic club model that it single handedly built handle by handle the past ten years (no pun intended)?* We hear the words “table”, “lounge”, “restaurant” but very little mention of the word “club” if at all.* It appears that even the word “club” itself is persona non grata at this new party.* shhhh…it’s a restaurant. The reasoning behind this new packaging could be the economy, or that the idea of large clubs are now passé and there is a new thrust for more discrete, smaller affairs.* Or maybe it’s as simple as the current set of owners/doormen have been in the game for a while, and don’t want to deal with the hassle of a larger spot anymore.* Hassles being large crowds, community boards, personal injury, and the other externalities that now plague 27th Street.* If you can make the same coin, and deal with a much smaller intimate set that you have defined of the previous decade, why not? So while the marketing may have changed, and you won’t see a large room filled with Club Kids anytime soon, there will still be plenty of clubs to be had hiding in those restaurants that we probably won’t be eating at anytime soon.* Just make sure you know its a club before you decide to eat there next to someone’s vomit from 3am the night before.* Remember, as Ace Ventura found out the hard way, Finkle is Einhorn, and Einhorn is Finkle!* So as you grab a tube of Crest and a plunger to douche your mouth, don’t say we didn’t warn you about the semantic games.* Where there’s smoke there’s a club. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSPtSEIlp8A

[birds of a feather flock together?] The closing of Home and GuestHouse last week looked to be the coup de grâce for club alley on 27th street that has over the past 3 years devolved into a Coney Island of NYC Nightlife.* Bungalow 8, Marquee, and Caindefined the best of the best four years ago, but the spot jumped the shark when famed B-list promoter Jon B appeared on the scene, milking the proverbial teet of a low watt crowd for all of their worth. B then moved onto “greener” pastures, openingGreenHouse, touted as the first “green” club.* It has suffered from the same crowd ailments of his previous projects.* But Jon has another ace up his sleeve, this time in the form a restaurant project with chef Todd English.* A tipster writes: Jon B - owns space on 21st street, some old Opera House, he will be teaming up with Todd English to do a restaurant. There you have it.* So where exactly is this old Opera House?* We will be updating you shortly with the address.

After recently getting community board approval to open up a restaurant and downstairs club/lounge in the old Plumm space, Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano are set to open up what might be the next NYC hotspot at 246 West 14th Street.* Think Butter, their previous dinning clubbing combo designed by Steve Lewis that cornered Monday nights. This new spot could very well be an interesting new chapter for this storied space.* Steve Lewis wrote that he likes to refer to the space fondly as Nell’s, the knockout spot that preceded Plumm.* But many may remember it more as the place where Axl Rose tried to knockout Tommy Hilfiger.* What started as a slap fight, resulted in a Hilfiger karate chop, and a very memorable NY Post cover.* In any event, suprise suprise, uncle Stevie is going to be designing this new space as well, and we called him to get some details: “The Design is about 80% done. * This place is going to rock, and will be very cutting edge.* I can’t give anymore details right now, LA PR firm will not be happy with me.* Suffice it to say Richie and Scott run a very solid operation, have a huge track record of success, so expect big things soon.” That is all for now, we will keep you update with the progress.

[The famous "Man in the Moon with a Cocaine Spoon,"* from Studio 54. Photo via Disco-disco]. They say change is the only thing that remains constant, and nowhere is that more true than our fair city. Throughout the years, New Yorkers have bid fond farewells to the city’s most venerable and seemingly indestructible institutions: Studio 54, The Plaza Hotel, CBGB, some would even argue Times Square is not the same place it once was. Now, we’re hearing rumors that Tavern On The Green is struggling to stay in business; sure, Tavern on The Green can only be considered nightlife when you go there on your twelfth birthday, but still, we’d be sad to see it go. 2009 has been an especially tough year as scores of clubs and venues have bitten the dust. Of course, new “it-spots†will continue to pop up and replace them, but, sigh, things just won’t be quite the same. But let’s just imagine that a genie granted you one wish, one club to resurrect from the dead and into eternal New York (night)Life: What venue would you bring back? Would you want to party with Liza Minelli and baby Anderson Cooper and Drew Barrymore at Studio 54? Or just revive your glory days at Socialista? What single club in New York’s formidable history is worthy of a second go around? Tell us in the comments!

After the death of Home and Guesthouse nightclubs on 27th street, there have been rumors today that Cain is the next club to go. Is it true?* With the success of the Surf Lodge (the Montauk hot spot that Jaime Mulholland and Jayma Cardosa opened only a year ago) and Goldbar, perhaps it was time to close down the venue that started it all? It seemed highly unlikely - the team just redid the entire space into “Cain Luxe” last spring. But, just to make sure, I emailed J and J this morning and just received the official word from Jaime: “The rumours are not true and we are still going strong.” Phew. We will be awaiting more “Best $2k” photos from Cain Luxe this fall!

[The Standard Grill. Photo via HC] If the Jane Ballroom is saving NYC Nightlife (in the West Village at least), what is The Standard doing for Meatpacking? André Balazs’ Standard Hotel was the city’s most anticipated opening of the year. Declared the Municipal Art Society’s Best New Building of 2009, and sitting on valuable real estate at the edge of the Highline, everyone was excited to start throwing their parties, and their pants off, at the newest hot spot.* The opening of the hotel’s restaurant, The Standard Grill, caused even more excitement, as things like this tend to do. Beyonce and Jay-Z, Anna Wintour, Rick Owens; these were just some of the faces spotted in the first weeks of the restaurant. Bruce Willis was doing a porny photoshot for W Magazine in the space before the stoves were even installed. And just when you thought the buzz surrounding the space was going to start tapering off, today word comes that the Standard has teamed with Quicksilver to bring you swimwear. The limited edition boardshorts will be available for purchase from high-tech vending machines located in the hotel starting August 8th. PERFECT! Right after brunch we can get Stanley in a pair of boardshorts and head over to the pool! There’s just one problem, the Standard DOESN’T HAVE A POOL. Oh, details, details….there’s always the Gansevoort, or Soho House right across the street. This is the Meatpacking district, remember. Am I missing something? Is the Meatpacking district in style again? My intuition tells me that the fact that I would want to spend my Thursday evening on Little W.12th probably means that I am really in need of a vacation, but last night at the Standard Grill, I wasn’t alone. Upon entering I ran into Steven Kamali and his crew.* Later on, I saw Charity:Water’s Scott Harrison breezily walk in, entourage in tow. The group of people that helped start the buzz years ago were circling back to grace it’s newest resident with their coolness. But can the Standard save Meatpacking? Matt Oliver, who was among Harrison’s clan, tweeted “NYC’s Meatpacking District is beyond gross. I wish they’d bring back the trannies and cow carcasses.” Cow or no cow, there was many a beautiful carcass to gaze at, last night. “I have never seen this many beautiful people in a room at once,” said my dinner date - in from L.A. -where apparently their version of the Hotel doesn’t have comparable counterparts (alas they no doubt, have a pool at least)? I walked out to get a cab home. There was a gaggle of girls heading over to Hogs and Heffers. Oh. Right. I’m in Meatpacking. Questions left unanswered. Please help….Is Meatpacking cool again?* Was it ever?* Will the Standard’s new boardshorts be the catalyst that keeps the whole neighborhood from sinking?? The comment section is open for you to tear up!

[The Jane Ballroom via] Think you’re cool because you were at the same party as Dree Hemingway? Think again. If you are ANYONE in this town, you are going to hang out with Jane. She’s cool, she’s hip, and she confidently holds her head way above the rest of the crowd. Jane has quickly become the talk of the town. Her friends are superstars, (but not the ones that need ego stroking), and her taste in music is brilliantly refined. She doesn’t care if you’re done up or down, she just wants you to be….interesting…and she is here to save us all. Okay this is a bold statement to be making. But I’m. not. alone. And, let’s face it, the fact that I’ve been to the Jane Ballroom twice this week is reason enough for you to believe me. This place is hot. Late to the game? Perhaps. The Hotel boasting the $99 rooms opened in January. I did visit the place once when it first opened, but brushed it off the next day. But lately, the steam coming out of 113 Jane Street is heating up the West Village, and many a gofg reader. The resounding question of the night last night was why in the world we hadn’t covered the place more. (It’s not like we’ve ignored it guys). But I get it. Jane deserves some shilling. I don’t care if this makes me a “wannabe Midwesterner” or a “Enthusiastic idiot,” or even the least important person in Nightlife, I will go on record saying that NYC nightlife is becoming a lot more interesting, and Jane is absolutely a factor. I think Simko sums it up nicely: “I’m not sure why (assumably because of the potted plants, balcony, lack of light and crowd) but the Jane Hotel’s Ballroom is starting to really remind me of Bungalow 8 during its heyday. I suppose that the comparison is even more appropriate given the Ballroom’s close proximity to Armin Amiri (former gatekeeper of Bungalow)’s now-closed Socialista spot. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly suggest that you check it out…” Email me telling me why I’m stupid, why this isn’t a well executed venue, (the owners have had some practice), and why I am a total wannabe without a life. Because maybe I am just drinking the koolaid… But the unpretentious Jane has won me over, (I waited patiently to get in to the spot both times with a gentlemanly doorman overseeing the doors); and that’s something to get excited about. A plain Jane, this one is not.

GO HERE for photos by KAT CHENG and to TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! Socials were throwing down Hearts and Spades until the early hours of the morning at Hudson Terrace’s Casino Night last night.* The place was decked out with Poker and Blackjack tables, slot machines and a side of board games for entertainment.* One lucky winner won a VIP limo service for week - and the rest of the crowd enjoyed a gorgeous Hudson Terrace view, great music, food and drinks. The proceeds from the night will go to benefit the campaign of Mr. Sal Ejaz for NYC Comptroller, who was there and open to conversation.

[The Limelight was the club to be seen at in the 80s-90s. Photos by Brooks Osman] With the announcement of the conversion of Limelight into a retail space, we have to wonder if there will ever be any mega clubs again in New York. The empire of Peter Gatien came crashing down in the nineties– Limelight, Tunnel, Club USA and Palladium– but name any other nightclub owner who worked with such a stellar diverse lineup of talent — Moby (DJ), Eric Goode (designed several of Gatien’s clubs), Jason Strauss (promoter), Chazz Palminteri (doorman), Mark Ronson (DJ), Funkmaster Flex (DJ), Biggie Smalls (performed at Tunnel), Vin Diesel (security), Pearl Jam (performed at Limelight), the list is endless. Click below for more story, and the first online photos from inside Limelight…Each night was like a Broadway production involved lighting technicians, DJs, doorstaff, security, bartenders, barbacks, graphic designers for the invites, drag queens, club kids, event directors, bathroom attendants, promotors, receptionists, accountants, art department. The NY Times asked the question of what comes next in nightlife, and no one seems to know the direction of what will come next– lounges, gastropubs (?), bars. However, the nineties were the decade of the mega clubs where celebs mixed with drag queens in the VIP rooms, there was no bottle service, models did not make a scene cool, and artists got in for free and got drink tickets, Wall Street guys were rejected at the ropes and there was a sense that the more diverse the crowd, the better a time was to be had. In recognition of a sad farewell to the iconic clubs of the nineties, we are posting some photos from Limelight which will never be a club again. And while the neighborhood may have a sigh of relief, there was time when Chelsea was not the retail row it is today (hello Bed, Bath and Beyond) and was not yet developed into the multimillion dollar lofts and brownstones.

Go HERE for MORE PHOTOS by JT WHITE and TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! DJ Questlove of The Roots rocked Super-Fly at Kiss and Fly last night, and following last week’s analysis of total tool-ish interesting hand gestures, I can’t help but notice what’s going on, here. Is this guy purposely doing some sort of Star Trek thing? The best part is that the girl standing next to him seems to have picked up on it, and is like, “Alright, you’re a loser.” Apparently, even though the velvet ropes are still swinging, one or two always manage to slip through, and party like a rockstar. Good for them, although maybe they should try and leave the nerd at home, and the hands where they should be: on the hips of a sweaty target, or on the cocktail. Not really sure what’s going on here, but it’s totally cracking me up. This guy is sooo throwing any game he had going on, before. Pointing is just weird and annoying. Cool moves, LOLA shirt. DUDE, take a picture of me pouring a drink! Riiiiiiight.

[Photos courtesy of Danny Disaster Photography] GO HERE for more photos by Danny Disaster and TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! Last Friday night, Cellar Bar hosted a beautiful bash located in the depths of the Bryant Park Hotel. Celebrity sightings included Cole Bernard, and Charlotte Bobcats NBA player, Emeka Okafor, who held down the DJ table. This ultra chic gem is unique of its kind…to say the least: located in the cozy, beautiful basement of the Bryant Park Hotel, Cellar Bar features a vaulted gray brick ceiling, majestic medieval chandeliers, trendy tapioca loveseats, and a cavernous descending bar. As the clock struck the notorious hour of midnight, the bottles began flowing and the crowd quickly thickened as the devious dancers alighted the bar in lustful lingerie while enchanting the eyes of menageries of men, As the evening ensued, attendees devoured sparkling flutes of champagne and bumped to beats as the seductive sounds permeated the petit dance floor. Hosts included Jordan Liss, Jourdan Davis, Matt Wiener, and Brett Weithorn. Jordan Liss, Brett Weithorn Emily Hannett, Stefanie Vuotto, Eugenia Chahda, Jenn Shaffran Emily Hannett, Stefanie Vuotto, Eugenia Chahda, Jenn Shaffran, Michelle McKelvey Emily Hannett, Stefanie Vuotto, Eugenia Chahda, Jenn Shaffran, Michelle McKelvey

[sebastian Mun, Talia Eisenberg, Annabel Vartanian. All photos by PATRICK MCMULLAN for PMc]. Patrick McMullan himself snapped the shots of Collective Hardware’s Harlot Nights, and we think the “Best” factor is pretty evident: strange props including a very large pig torso (where was the lower half?), a general absence of clothing, people sprawled on beds, nightlife authority Steve Lewis talking to a hot, young thing, Izzy Gold and sunglasses at night…the eclectic scene rocked the Bowery (obvi) with four flours, part of Heist Gallery’s Manhattan Motorcycle Mayhem after party. Harlotting. SO recession 2k. Liam McMullan, Stewart Braunstein, Gabriel Friedman, Chloe Norgard, Kevin Halpern Desiree, Steve Lewis, Minos Magnin, Flora Scernadel Sam Bassett, Semeli Economou, Benjamin Beavan Amy Levillier, Leah Wichler Billy LeRoy, Sebastian Mun, Jackie Douppe De Ker Martin Liam McMullan, Aesha Waks Claire Arman, Stewart Braunstein, Sara Lindelmon Elizabeth Bolognino, Mark Davies, Sorin, David Izzy Gold Tina Abrams, Damien Abrams

[Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr.] Go HERE for more photos by SCOTT BUCCHEIT and TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! Wednesday night, I started the evening early in order to attend all the events I had scheduled. My first stop was the white hot Avenue for the Swatch launch of their 2009 CreArt Collection. The party had what I am guessing is an 80s theme complete with rainbow rubber bracelets and Lollipops on Swatch Lollipop Holders. Note to the guys, this really isn’t a good look and girls, a warning, one of my friends was horrified after sucking hers for a while to find that she had a stained blue tongue! The party was manned by PR dynamo Mike Heller and was hosted by Swatch President Patricia Higgins. The DJs were Alexandra Richards and the hardest working man in show business right now, Nick Cohen. There was also a scheduled performance by the stars of Rock of Ages. Although I couldn’t stay for that, as I had my own party to host down the street. I grabbed a gift bag that included a cool new Swatch and headed out the door. Others seen at the party included: Rachel Heller, Naeem Delbridge, Constantine Maroulis, Grace Gomez Brea, Jackie Marie, Tim Morehouse, Constantine Maroulis, Mario, Nick Cannon and Wendy Lerman. The next event on my list was the Friends of Cy Vance fundraiser held at the Griffin. Cy is the democratic candidate running for District Attorney, and in my opinion, the best man for the job. That’s about as political as I get. Guests were treated to an open bar and lots of appetizers although I would strongly suggest that someone work on the air conditioning situation in the club as it got to be pretty toasty there. Others supporting Mr. Vance included Claudio Ochoa, Peter Davis, Kipton Cronkite, Billy Gilbane and Emma Snowdon Jones. My final stop was the MAC event to celebrate the collaboration between MAC and the painter Richard Phillips at his studio at 601 West 26th Street. The party featured lots of alcohol, some kind of musical performance and the hunkiest wait staff I have seen in quite a while. The party was well attended but most of the guests drifted into the hallway because again the air conditioning was just not cutting it. Others seen sweating it out: Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick and his squeeze Jessica Szhor, Patrick McMullan, Amy Finlayson, Carlos Motta, David Foote, Rachel Sheedy, Nick Hunt and Amy Sacco.

[Nick Cannon. Photos by Getty] Wednesday night, an interesting mix of reality tv personalities, scenesters, and, perhaps most oddly, Broadway actors gathered together at club stamping ground Avenue for the launch of Swatch’s new CreArt line, designed by Billy The Artist. Nick Cannon was there, briefly. America’s Next Top Model’s CariDee English and Jaslene Gonzalez attended. So did Adrienne Bailon of, uhm, The Cheetah Girls. Guests were treated to a performance by Rock Of Ages stars Constantine Maroulis and Savannah Wise, whose fairly impressive performance went mostly ignored (partygoers continued talking throughout, Christian Siriano yawned repeatedly.) Still, it would have been a pretty good party had the lights not turned on promptly at 10:00 pm and the lingering crowd forced out. Even Maroulis (somewhat awkwardly) announced to the crowd “It’s kind of f***ed up to get here so early…” Agreed, Constantine, but after 10:00 pm, carriages turn back into pumpkins and Avenue once again becomes Wass’s territory… Adrienne Bailon***************************** Constantine Maroulis Billy The Artist, Jaslene Gonzalez ************** Mario Savannah Wise******************************** CariDee English Sean Kingston

Go HERE for more photos by JT WHITE and TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! Asher Roth’s rap set at Hudson Terrace got the crowd moving, smiling and from the looks of things generally feeling the love. Discovered on MySpace with flows about “middle-class minutiae,” the man behind the rhymes embraces his unconventional look for someone bumping the beats. A skinny, t-shirt wearing white boy? Love it. The kids grooving to the tunes seem to agree. Picking each other up, drunk i-love-yous, loss of clothing, sparkler bottle service, hands-up dancing, laughing at people dancing (possibly my own favorite pastime)…totes a Best 2k night. This is such a drunken, “I love you. You are the best friend, ever,” kiss. See right: loss of shirt. Again, see right: loss of shirt (maybe part of it fell off?). I loooooooove dancing with you. Omg wait, I just got an email! He he. Favorite pasttime. Another skinny white boy. Sparklers - are we at Pink?

For those hoping for a quasi resurgence of Club Kids and a subsequent “rescue” of NYC Nightlife lead by the return of Michael Alig will have wait.* Parole officers dashed hopes earlier this month when they denied his parole, and set a July 2010 hearing as the next data point for guidance in his release from prison.* The famed party-promoter, junkie, and murderer was apparently dinged for prescription drugs and moved to solitary confinement.* Uncle Steve Lewis predicted 4 years in solitary after Percocet was found in Alig’s system.* A recent comment on GofG claims: He just got another 3 years for being found with prescription drugs…” Whatever the exact number is, don’t expect the languishing scene that has come to be NYC Nightlife to change anytime.* And don’t expect Alig to change either.* He’s still up to his same old tricks.

Southside’s door-worker Timmy Sheldon broke with his polite streak by copycatting the velvet-rope-swinging ways of Marquee’s Wass Stevens.* We’re not exactly sure why his Ascot got into a bunch, but we hear that Southside’s owner and adled bottle-monger Anthony Martignetti decided to let go of Sheldon after the incident. The recent rise in door person violence might be some indication that times are tough in clubland….Clubs or the word “Club” seems to be going the way of the dodo, bottle hawking is out, and so is the pomp and circumstance of a velvet rope.* Bridge-burning Martignetti has found no takers for his upstairs restaurant space and with the weather turning around this July its hard to imagine anyone wanting to enter the Southside’s underground bar chamber.* Alas,* there might be a silver-lining for Timmy after all. A photo reenactment of the “altercation” Get out of my club or I’ll headlock you…

Go HERE for more photos by SCOTT BUCCHEIT and TAG YOURSELF and YOUR FRIENDS! Last night found me uptown, downtown, midtown…basically all over town. I started the night uptown at the Museum of Natural History for the Louis Vuitton party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s lunar landing. What better setting than the Rose Center for Earth and Space, with its moon rocks and scales that tell you how much you weigh on Mars and Venus? Although we have yet to find proof of intelligent life outside of our planet, Lance Bass was there to prove that there is a possibility. Guests were treated to the musical styling of the ubiquitous DJ Cassidy. Others reveling in the lunar experience included: Tim Morehouse, Jason Rogers, Tim Garcia (wearing the season’s must have accessory), Danica Low, Bryant Gumbel, Deborah Norville, Kristian Laliberte, Carol Han, David Chines, Tia Walker, Rachel Heller, Yoni Goldberg, Wendy Lerman, Cassie Ventura (Step Up to the Streets 2) and many, many more. The party ended surprisingly early so I headed downtown to the Cinema Society party for the film “The Loop.” Andrew Saffir’s party drew the usual eclectic mix of celebs and socials including James Gandolfini, Famke Jansen, Tom Arnold, and newly minted celebrity, Alan Garner (The Hangover). Guests were treated to cocktails by Veev as well as the excellent cuisine of Scuderia. Afterwards I headed to Avenue. I was admitted by the always dapper, Richard Thomas and celebrated Maria Christina Vignaud’s birthday along with “Rock of Love’s” Constantine Maroulis. Besides that, I really can’t say anything about Avenue. What happens at Avenue, stays at Avenue, otherwise you get blacklisted. Ask Lindsay Lohan… Naeem Delbridge, Rachel Heller, David Chines

[Photos via Greenhouse] What do you get when you mix hundreds of environmentally-conscious club goers with equally fervent U.S.A. activists?* A smashing party at the Greenhouse nightclub.* Just because we were out east this Fourth of July doesn’t mean that the clubs in the city didn’t celebrate our Independence day with their own sparklers (coming out of rose bottles) and fireworks (in the form of high heels). A male version of the Statue of Liberty even showed up, dressed to support the reopening of the original’s crown to lucky tourists that weekend. More photos of party below… Today may be Bastille Day, but we’re still in the mood to celebrate America….

[Don't even think about calling this "bottle service." It's "Table Service" at Avenue. Photos via NYT] If you read Allen Salkin’s article in the Sunday Styles this week, you know high-school English teacher Amanda Hunt is PISSED. She came all the way from Port St. Lucie, Florida in the hopes of having to wait in a long line outside a club, be scrutinized by the likes of Wass Stevens or one of his croonies, pay $18 for a cosmo, have the cosmo spilled all over her when some sweaty guy bumps into her, get separated from her friends, dance wildly to “Umbrella”, find friends crying in the bathroom, and stumble out at 4:30 am with smeared makeup, bump-it askew, but one hell of a story to tell her English class. Instead, at Bar 675, she found a pinball machine. And books. And worst of all, she could hear herself talk. Not good. “You don’t open a bar in the meatpacking district and make it low key.” She said, disgusted. We’re sorry, Amanda. We hope you made it to Kim Kardashian’s Vodka party at Greenhouse, which would have surely lived up to your NYC club expectations. Speaking of clubs, Noah Tepperberg wants you to know that Avenue is not one. No really, it isn’t. Gastro-lounge? Yes. Recreational Socialization Point? Sure. Meetinghouse, With Alcohol and Dancing? Okie Dokie. But it really, definitely, absolutely, is not a club. If it were a CLUB, it would have BOTTLE-SERVICE. Wait, what? Oh, you mean that thing where you can order $350 bottles to your table in silver buckets? Omg, that is SO not bottle-service! That is TABLE service! Guys, it’s totally different! Avenue has Vinyl tables! It’s like Cheers! At least Ms.Hunt didn’t accidentally find herself at Superdive, a bar which celebrates Manday (wait, isn’t that every day of the week?) with bottle-service kegs of EKU Pils. This is getting out of hand. People are going to get the wrong impression of New York night life. It’s time for Guest of a Guest to intervene on behalf of the city. - Dear Rest Of The World, You may have read, in our esteemed New York Times this Sunday, about a certain club-that-is-not-a-club, and a certain bar that actually celebrates something called ManDay. Rest assured, this is NOT an accurate representation of our city’s nightlife. There are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of other places to choose from. We promise we won’t ever let it get THAT bad. Sincerely, Guest of a Guest p.s. Do not be caught calling Avenue a club in front of Wass.

Go HERE for more photos of this party by JT WHITE. DJ Cassidy celebrated his birthday (28th) in style last night. What does that even mean? Well, when you’re one of the hottest dj’s in the world, it means taking over the NY Public Library for friends like Jay-Z and Bobby Brown to come help you celebrate. And, in his custom Paul Stuart red linen tuxedo and custom Stubbs and Wooton black velvet shoes (with red music notes), he was the most stylish Birthday Boy we’ve seen in a long time. A taste of photos below, more to come today! [Interview With DJ Cassidy] A natural phenomenon Jay-Z stopped by Bobby Brown

Well, if you’re ex-boxer from Brooklyn, slash ex-District Attorney from the Bronx, slash struggling actor, slash beleaguered doorman, your crisis of identity is gonna catch up with you sometime and you’ll crack. This is what one can assume happened last night, when GofG favorite Wass Stevens, once of Marquee, now of Avenue, allegedly hit someone with the metal end of a velvet rope when some poor kid from UCSD refused to leave after getting rejected. As if waiting in line wasn’t intimidating enough, now people have to fear getting beaten as well as turned away? We maintain Wass’ innocence. [Who Is Wass Stevens] [Wass Would Never Make This Mistake]

Don’t stop til you get enough. Beer and moonwalking combined. We were all waiting for someone to start planning the MJ pub crawl, and it looks like the Village Pourhouse will be one of the first to organize. Playing it safe by waiting until the Saturday after the 4th, you have more than a week to prepare yourselves to “moonwalk your way up 2nd and 3rd Ave of NYC in memory of the legendary Michael Jackson.” Beginning at Village Pourhouse, you will be rewarded free white gloves just for showing up. Each bar you pass will celebrate the musical genius by showcasing our favorite MJ albums in order of release date!

[Photos via Greenhouse]. We know that going green is trendy, but is there something about being environmentally conscious that turns people on? LEED certification as an aphrodisiac? We ask only because the kids spending their late night hours at Greenhouse seem to be, well, feeling something. Homeboy on the left is probably waving his hands in the air like he just doesn’t care because he sees some of the vibes thrown around, which are conveniently captured, below. We won’t be judgy wudgy, but you might want to take a breather from the hot and heavy when someone is TAKING PICTURES OF YOU. Just a thought… We’re embarrassed for you. Is he squinting? Is this a Barbizon commercial? We’re not sure, but we think so…