Last we checked in the with kids of 126 Rivington — the LES building where all the tenants are besties, and they're all getting a TV show together — rumor was they were on the verge of a deal with HBO. That seems confirmed by this email, which arrived unbidden — and, we should be quick to note, entirely unverified — this afternoon:
Spotted on Orchard Street last night. Because sometimes it's just too much work to call your friend's friend to get a new dealer's pager number.
Remember our friends at 126 Rivington? It's the Melrose Place on the Lowest East Side, where all the residents are friends with everyone else, and they work together to achieve great things, like a Sunday Styles profile back in January. Soon Alan Salkin's piece ran, we heard rumors that the kids were in talks with The WB for a reality show. But now we hear it's gotten much, much worse.
In an incredible scoop, today's Post informs us that crackhead rocker Pete Doherty is currently "the arbiter of cosmopolitan sartorial chic." While other generations get Coco Chanel and Jackie Kennedy as their fashion icons, we're stuck with the Olsens and Sienna Miller and, now, a British musician best known for the open sores covering his face. It just doesn't seem fair.
The other night, several Gawker correspondents went to the Lower East Side's latest un-secret venue, the Back Room. The bar is owned by Tim Robbins, and he's usually there, slinging drinks and flirting with waitresses. There's a sort-of hidden VIP room in the back of the Back Room (which, y'know, is the real "back room"); civilians are denied access unless they know the password. Naturally, this is where all of Robbins' famous friends go to hide from the likes of you. There's one major drawback to the VIP room, however, and that's the lack of bathroom. So if a luminary needs to break the seal, he has to venture back out amongst the unwashed masses and use the plebeian urinals.
• Behold Philippe Starck's Downtown Chandelier of Insanity, to be housed in his Broad Street condos. Luxury units still available, if the lighting fixture doesn't scare the shit out of you. [Curbed]
• After five cold, long years, Fabio is back and still completely in awe of that margarine. [AdAge (reg. req'd)]
• The perfect singles mixer: Girls meet, get wasted, bitch about dating and men. Men show up 2 hours later and are promptly torn to shreds. [LWE]
• If you're anything like us, you saw Brokeback Mountain and immediately wanted to be a Gay cowboy. Now a ranch in Montana is offering a vacation that will allow you to be exactly that. [Mirror UK]
• There was once a time when it was OK to say "Ayds helps you lose weight." [YouTube]
• A little too Donnie Darko for comfort. [CNN]
• First Grilled Cheese NYC closes its doors, and now 71 Clinton is nearing the end. A moment of silence, please, for the death of the Lower East Side's original gentrifier. [The Strong Buzz]
• A numerical study of the popularity of the phrase "more cowbell." Fittingly, it comes out on top of Clay Aiken — but who doesn't? [Parenthetical Remarks]
The delightful Great Cigarette Plague of 2006 continues, with more readers reporting free packs of smokes raining down on them like locusts. Two new tales arrived overnight. First:
[Copyright Jennifer Verdon]
Wherein we bring you back to the halcyon past of 24 hours ago and augment a few of yesterday's stories:
Of course you saw Allen Salkin's Sunday Styles piece about the Lower East Side's answer to Melrose Place, 126 Rivington. And of course you were duly horrified by this monstrosity of an apartment building — New Yorkers are supposed to be quite happy to remain blissfully unaware of our neighbors, thank you very much. And of course you were also just a touch jealous — wouldn't it be nice to live a sitcommy existence, you thought, in which Chandler and Joey from across the hall are always popping by and being amusing?
We hear that last night at about 11:30, none other than Lindsay Lohan and Kate Moss sauntered into the Dark Room during the Tarts of Pleasure DJ set. Apparently the BFFs were looking for a venue where they wouldn't be noticed, so Last Year's Favorite Blow Bar seemed an appropriate choice for two "recovered" drug users. The ladies stayed there for the remainder of the night (presumably because they love hanging out with folks like Carlos D and My Chemical Romance); over the course of the evening, Lohan expressed her fondness for Gang of Four while Moss laid low and acted model-like.
Bad news for the herbal infusion-addicted denizens of the Lower East Side: This morning electronica sell-out Moby announced to his troops that today would be the last day of operations at his Teany tea house. We're not quite sure what the reasoning is behind closing up shop; it's not as if we ever saw the joint looking particularly empty. Perhaps Moby was just tired of the imminent threat of violence on Rivington Street.
"You know that charming little cafe on New York's Lower East Side that just closed after a mere six months in business where coffee was served on silver trays with a glass of water and a little chocolate cookie?" No, but I guess it doesn't matter now. [Slate]
Because Brits have been following our lead since 1783, it should come as no surprise that London Underground workers are set to strike on New Year's Eve. Tell me again why we should be pro-union? [BBC]
If you need a J. Lo 2005 retrospective, direct your attention away from us and go here. [OAN]
The Corsair details every little thing that happened in 2005. This is just Part One. [The Corsair]
If I had a hammer, I would say shut the fuck up with it in the morning. Be glad you're not one of these philosobloggers. [Fake Barn Country]
Will your book sell? Statistically speaking, who knows. Realistically, no. [Maud Newton]
• First twin Jenna Bush loses her wallet, complete with a shitload of cash, at Lower East Side hipster den Happy Endings. Apparently the innocent girl was merely fleeing someone's greasy advances. The poor thing just can't have a peaceful night hanging out by the venue's bathrooms, can she? [Page Six]
• Contrary to other reports (reprinted here, to boot), former HarperCollins PR director Paul Crichton did not leave under investigation for unauthorized spending. Like any good overlord, Judith Regan just prefers to smear him as such. [Lowdown (2nd item)]
• The assumedly faux TomKat wedding registry at Neiman Marcus just might be real. How painfully budget. [Scoop]
• Bungalow 8 gatekeeper Armin Ariri now has an acting career, presumably because some ugly producer just wanted to get past the velvet rope. [Page Six]
• Actress Heather Locklear and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora may be headed for divorce, perhaps because Locklear refuses to try for another child in lieu of reviving her career. As if there were any hope after LAX. [R&M]
• French Vogue and its editor Carine Roitfeld are, of course, the hotness, which is why they didn't back down from letting Kate Moss guest-edit their December issue. You can't keep a hot bitch down. [The Daily]
• You can, however, keep her on-and-off boyfriend, Pete Moss, under arrest for posession of Class A drugs, a category which includes all the good stuff. [AP]• Because 50 Cent is into having sex ain't into making love, he plans on creating big, blue dildos in his own likeness. How thoughtful. [FemaleFirst]
• How to deal with the loud late-night Disneyhell that is the LES? Says one Curbed reader: "I'd suggest that instead of an earlier last call, they simply stop PATH train and Staten Island ferry service, and increase the bridge/tunnel tolls to $100 at 2 AM." [Curbed]
• As it turns out, Elaine Van Hoorne — the much-photographed hipster carnie and partner of One-Half NelSon — is just another damn Cornell grad. Figures. [Cornell]
• Who's really stealing Christmas? The politically correct, godless freak-monkeys, that's who. Praise Christ and his Mas! [Zulkey]
• Do we believe that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes would really have their wedding registry at Neiman Marcus? And that the most expensive item is only $430? [Just Jared]
• The breakup of Nick and Jessica leaves no man unscathed. [The Post Show]
• CBS is wooing Katie Couric with promises of that which makes a morning show host truly great: body oil and Manolos. [LAT]
In a story that features no dateline, the Post tells of a panel called "Indie Night School: Lawyer Edition," held at the standard Lower East Side venue for such a bizarrely titled gathering, Pianos. Tom Sean, a 26-year-old member of the Black Spoons, introduced the speakers, noting that the entertainment lawyers were "also TOTALLY COOL! Because even lawyers are indie."
A wall collapsed on East Houston and Eldridge yesterday, taking with it the livelihood of newish neighboring diner LoSide. While the establishment looks fine, the building has been condemned and the vacate order notes the conditions inside are "imminently perilous to life." Which is what one might say about a lot of the neighborhood venues — but LoSide's food was particularly shitty.
According to Time Out New York's Essential NY issue, the essential birthday bar is LES standby The Magician:
It seems like just yesterday, that fateful August morn when we first lost our innocence. We'd barely adjusted to the site of the gargantuam green awning and the (interestingly) graffiti-free siding — but, just like that, it was upon us. At some point last week (strangely, we're not quite sure when), the Lower East Side Apocalyptic Pumpkin Spice Latte Mothership opened its doors, finally making the downtown gentrification cycle more official than you ever thought it could be.
At left, The Man's explanation of the Dark Room's recent closure. At right, the Dark Room's explanation.
