Did Luann De Lesseps Screw Apotheke?

She didn't start the fire, but it's no longer burning--maybe thanks to her. Cops arrested Albert Trummer, Apotheke owner and self-proclaimed artist, Sunday morning after one of his boozy pyrotechnic displays atop the bar. A recent episode of Real Housewives of New York brought attention to the fiery venue. Coincidence? Or curse?

I vote for curse. Although at least its most recent victim landed someone outside the show in (bankruptcy, divorce, criminal) court. The Times has the scoop:

"Mr. Trummer, who is 40 and Austrian born, also gained notice for occasionally pouring alcohol along the bar top and setting it aflame. This delighted patrons, but not the Fire Department. Early Sunday, fire marshals arrested Mr. Trummer at the bar, at 9 Doyers Street, minutes after he drizzled various liquors and, apparently, ignited them."

Apotheke, the lush home for upscale lushes that may or may not have ruined Doyers Street, closed following the bust, but reopened last night just as Mr. Trummer was released. So the incident was not as disastrous as the date between Luann and a supremely creepy suitor that took place there in front of the cameras.

But the timing makes you wonder if the basic cable exposure led to the lounge's woes. (I hear dozens of fires blaze unchecked whenever the FDNY is glued to a RHONY marathon, so clearly they saw the episode.) If so, Luann shouldn't be too hard on herself. It seems that every time a bar makes a media splash, it is promptly shut down.

Even prestigious call outs end in disaster. Just think of BKLYN Yard, forced to close, albeit for a week, days after a glowing writeup in the Sunday Times. More ignominiously, a Styles section exposé on cigarette-friendly nightspots led to a reinforced smoking crackdown. On the very opposite end of the spectrum, renowned literary salon Doghouse Saloon closed for a month--sadly it reopened after renovations--following an appearance on High Society. Maybe someone watched High Society after all!

As for Apotheke, its flame extinguished, Trummer vows to find "a different stage" for his work. As Luann might say, elegance is burned.