David Rabin, a pioneer of MPD, is itching to enter back into the neighborhood's fray with a new Double Seven.  The Lambs Club owner sat down with GofG for an exclusive at his other hotspot, Jimmy, to talk about Double Seven's opening and the nuanced evolution of club life in New York. More»

Union Square used to be a nexus of bleeding edge nightlife. 33 Union Sq. West housed the second incarnation of Andy Warhol's Factory. His favorite LSD-saturated haunt, Max's Kansas City, was a few blocks north. And the late Palladium (now an NYU dorm, natch) was a stone's throw away on 14th St. Now, a team of nightlife vets hopes to revive the magic with the Union Square Lounge. More»

Back when we eulogized The Annex, we knew little about its fratastic replacement, Doghouse Saloon, other than the beer pong and free hot dogs on offer. (Talk about a swiney combo!) Now comes word that alleged uptown socialite Tinsley Mortimer graced the Orchard Street sports bar while shooting Empire State, her upcoming CW reality show. More»

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?  More»

David Rabin has been a lot of things: Lotus nightclub owner, president of the New York Nightlife Association, "25th most hated New Yorker" by the NY Press, etc.  Along with Lotus he's owned, Union Bar, Double Seven, and Los Dados  He's been called the "Mayor of Meatpacking" and is a friend of Uncle Steve's, and I can't wait to have dinner with him at his newest venture: Soho joint Delicatessen. More»

Fresh from the tip box, former manager of Pink Elephant will be working with Tenjune group to open up new space in the old Lotus:

Josh Kiaser, General Manager of Pink Elephant getting a new job at the as yet unamed space that Tenjune is putting together at the old lotus space

In late August, we started hearing rumors of the TenJune boys looking into buying up the newly "on-the-market" Lotus in meatpacking...Yesterday, the deal was confirmed. Mark Birbaum and Eugene Remm (pictured above), our favorite little birthday buddy duo are taking over Lotus, and thus adding on to their Meatpacking playgrounds collection. David Rabin, and the team behind Lotus, the club that made the area six years ago are officially giving up their reigns and will focus on other projects such as their newly opened Mexican restuarant, Los Dados and the re-opening of their more exlusive joint The Double Seven. We are curious to hear how Richie Rich and Amanda Lepore feel about the change of owners, as they are practically the only ones still throwing parties there. In an article published November 1st this month in AMNY titled "Down Days for NYC Nightlife", David Rabin made the following statement:

"There are a lot of reasons why the days of Studio 54 and other great clubs of the '70s are not here anymore, for one thing, crowds have become much more self-separating. When I first started gong out in the late '70s and early '80s, everyone was under the same roof. Straight, gay, black, white, male, female, it was awesome."

Today, money wins out over creativity in every case. I mean this is old, old news. And, in a way, Rabin has himself to partially blame. Lotus was one of the first clubs to offer Bottleservice, which was a huge catalyst in this change from an ecclectic mixed crowd, to models and their banker boyfriends. With the torch being officially handed down to the new kids on the block, this guarantees another season of fresh guidos in meatpacking. Happy spotting.

Cause Tyra Banks be in town! Last night the Harvard University class of 2007 had a party scheduled for 7pm at Lotus (the once hip club in the meatpacking district), but were bounced to 10pm by the modelzilla.  The ivy-leaguers weren't too happy, but what could they do?  Obviously there wasn't enough room in the club for the both of them...oh snap!

Tales from our night on the way....