Now, almost twelve years after the closing of the West 43^rd St. location, Club New York is set to re-open, with a new space and (hopefully) a cleaner image.

“I always had a plan to reopen,” drawled Michael Bergos in his thick New York accent. “This was always going to happen.”

The nightclub owner, who also owns a few other sleazy late-night locations in the Big Apple, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, told The Observer that he has been scoping out venues downtown, citing Meatpacking as a potential location for Club New York, part deux.

After some snooping, we discovered that in 2000, only a few months after three people were brutally wounded inside of his now-famous establishment, Mr. Bergos trademarked both the phrase Club New York (for bar and nightclub services) and Club NY (for clothing, and most specifically, t-shirts).

When asked why he chose to protect the rights to his defunct club’s name, the club owner said that title is “worldly recognizable” and that it was important to preserve the “history” of the Midtown lounge.

Has the club owner talked to Diddy about his plans for the new nightspot? Mr. Bergos was dismissive, saying simply: “He has nothing to do with me. He has no control over this.”

Let's hope there will be better security control at the new Club New York™.

The Parisian Dîner en Blanc

It’s been a while since Diddy (né P. Diddy/Puff Daddy/Diddy Dirty Money/Sean John Combs) hosted his annual White Party in the Hamptons, an indication that the era of the white carpet has come and gone.

On August 25^th, a different white-clad crowd will gather, this time in a secret location in a public space somewhere in Manhattan, for New York’s first Dîner en Blanc (“Dinner in White”).

The exclusive dinner, part picnic, part flash mob, is limited to 1,000 guests who only receive the event’s location at the last minute. Unlike Diddy’s Hamptons fête, there will be no hordes of camera-toting, notebook wielding reporters, no limousines and no waitstaff. Instead, Dîner en Blanc’s attendees will arrive with their own chairs, tables and prepared meals, wine, and table decorations at the designated outdoor location ready to schmooze and booze (classily, of course).

The rules are simple, but strict. You must wear head to toe white. No uninvited guests. Upon departing the dinner, attendees must leave the space spotless.

The original Dîner en Blanc is the brainchild of Parisian François Pasquier, who threw the first dinner party with a few friends in 1988 at the Bois de Boulogne. Since then, the covert affair has grown into an annual event that hosts thousands of guests, and has inspired similar gatherings in cities such as Amsterdam, Munich and Zurich. Three weeks ago, the Parisan Dîner boasted 10,600 attendees garbed in white suits, hats and dresses: 4,400 at the Notre Dame Cathedral and 6,200 in the courtyard of the Louvre.

The New York City Dîner en Blanc’s model follows Pasquier’s original mission: to bring a medley of strangers and friends together in a secret setting to enjoy food, the city and good company. The dinner in August is limited to guests who have either been invited or pulled from the waitlist, which is accessible via the event’s sparse website.

We’ll admit it: We added ourselves to the list. A spontaneous late-summer evening spent at a candlelit table in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by a sea of white, sounds pretty perfect to us.

Photo by Kennet Havgaard for Getty Images

Something monstrous has set down roots in the Empire State. Threatening to blind, burn and blister unwitting victims from Lake Erie down to Long Island, it is creeping ever closer to New York City.

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) has arrived in the state for the fourth summer in a row. The plant, which has been federally deemed a “noxious weed,” can to be up to twelve feet tall, with enormous leaves and umbrella-sized flowers. The plant’s corrosive sap, in combination with moisture (think: a hot summer day’s sweat) and sunlight, has the ability to burn skin with even the slightest touch, and has been noted to cause scarring, severe skin damage, and even blindness.

The weed is native to the Caucasus Mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas (near Turkey) was first introduced as to North America during the early twentieth century as an ornamental garden plant.

A recent New York State Department of Environmental Conservation map shows that major populations of the flesh-eating plant are concentrated in the North Eastern regions of the state, but that crops of the weed are moving southward and have been found as close by as Nassau County.

The DEC has posted a fairly explicit warning on their website, stating that “If you think you have giant hogweed on your property, do NOT touch it.” The Department recommends that all plant discoveries should be reported to them directly, and has set-up a (wait for it…) Giant Hogweed Hotline (1-800-554-4501 Ext. 58760).

When The Observer called the hotline during normal business hours (8:30am-4:45pm) to see what exactly a report entailed, we reached an automated voice message that suggested that they “may be experiencing a large number of calls” and were “unable to receive the call at this time.”

Perhaps the DEC was swamped with calls reporting populations of the massive toxic plant, which may or may not be coming to a backyard near you.

Photo from Getty Images

Last Friday night, a group of friends gathered at a bar in Bed-Stuy. There was laughter, there were stories, and there was wine. “A lot of wine,” recounts local writer and director Bex Schwartz, laughing. And then someone checked his or her phone.

“We all went crazy when we got the text. We were all just like, Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s happening. It passed!” Ms. Schwartz enthused. Bex and her friends, perhaps slightly under the influence of a bottle or two of chardonnay, but mostly giddy with excitement over the news that had already sent New York into a frenzy of celebration, began to cook up a plan.

It was software developer Josh French who said "Let’s find a way to do free weddings,” said Ms. Schwartz, who became an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church in 2006. “That’s how we came up with the crazy idea of a pop-up chapel.”

The “crazy idea of a pop-up chapel” went from being a boozed stroke of brilliance to a fully formed project when Bex and Josh met the next day to work on their plan. The duo were joined by writers Tyler Coates and Lindsay Robertson, and Gothamist editor Jen Carlson, who together all started to bring the two friend's original idea into fruition.

Schwartz, French and company worked quickly to get the project off the ground. “We wanted to strike while the iron was hot,” said Ms. Schwartz. The undertaking, now officially called the Pop-Up Chapel, began to take form almost immediately. Within days, the project had a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter account (91 likes and 92 followers, last we checked). The Chapel is slated to “pop-up” in Central Park on Saturday, July 30^th; one month after Cuomo signed the historic piece of New York legislation and the first weekend same-sex marriage will officially be legal in the state.

Ms. Schwartz explains that the event has been planned for the 30^th (as opposed to July 24^th, exactly one month to the day of the marriage equality vote) because “We want to give people time to get licenses. We know city hall will be swamped!”

According to their Facebook page, the Chapel promises to wed “…anyone who wants to get married, on the first weekend the same-sex marriage law takes effect.” Bex estimates that, with five wedding ceremonies happening simultaneously, they will be able to facilitate between thirty and forty weddings on the 30^th. All ceremonies are non-denominational (the term “Chapel” is something of a misnomer), are slated to last about a half and hour, and will be customized to each individual couple.

In order to be the lucky recipient of a pop-up wedding, husbands and brides to-be must reserve a slot ahead of time, either via e-mail (info@popupchapel.com) or through contacting one of the organizers directly. Thus far, eleven couples have already reserved spaces for the big weekend in July.

“I’m just so blown away by New York City right now, by the incredible outpouring of support we’ve received,” gushed Ms. Schwartz, who stated that both friends and strangers have come out of the woodwork to offer photography services, freshly baked cupcakes and volunteered time for the day of the ceremonies.

“This is the most beautiful thing about New York right now,” commented Bex about the newly passed legislature. “We thought, what could we possibly do to celebrate this?”

“We want to make sure everyone has the most beautiful wedding possible.”

"I'm a Pornstar!"

If you thought Weinergate was the end of crotch shots, dirty talk and Internet voyeurism (all with the rosy glow of a history in politics!), think again: the situation is now x-rated.

Meet Samantha Kogelman, working name Sammie Spades. The “About Sammie” section on her Facebook reads: “I'm a Pornstar! I love having sex, partying and cooking delicious food! I'm also a full time college student and I regularly dance at the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas!” The self-proclaimed “Pornstar!” had been working in relative obscurity (“hits” include Wanna Fuck My Wife Gotta Fuck Me Too 3, I Fucked You & Yo Mama 5, and Internal Injections 7) until early this morning, when news broke that the 24 year-old used to be an intern for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The intern-cum-adult video actress first met Ms. Clinton at a banquet in 2006, where she inquired about an internship opportunity with the then Senator. In a statement on TMZ.com, Kogelman (er, Spades?) says that she was accepted into the summer 2006 internship program at the New York Senator’s Buffalo office where she performed miscellaneous office tasks. The overnight star states that she "…was planning on becoming an attorney and then going into public office" but that financial troubles impelled her into a career in pornography.

The small-time star was thrust into the spotlight when photos of her with Secretary of State Clinton, from her days as a lowly intern, were tied to her current identity as Sammie Spades and leaked to TMZ.

In a call with The Observer this morning, Kogelman’s publicist Kevin Blatt said that the actress was “shocked” when the story came out but that now “she’s embracing it… It is what it is.”

It certainly seems as if the overnight star is making the most of the situation. In a Twitter post from around nine o’clock this morning, she writes “Look! Someone thinks I'm interesting today :oP” and included the link to the TMZ article. Later, her feed is updated with: “Well, its definitely been an interesting morning! Check out the story on TMZ if you don't know y :o)”

Blatt’s relationship with Kogelman appears to be somewhat suspect. During this morning’s conversation, he admitted that he has only represented the former intern for two days. He explained that he “has friends at TMZ” and that they gave him the “heads up that the photo leaked” after which time he approached the actress. “I told her she needed representation,” said Blatt, who markets himself as a “celebrity news maker” on his website.

Sounds sketchy to us, but it would appear that all of the buzz around Sammie Spades’ (albeit brief) history in politics has been good for her career. According to her newly acquired publicist, he has been fielding calls from photographers and magazines all morning.

In a final statement, the actress asserts that she doesn’t “think Hillary would be too happy” but that she has “nothing but respect for Mrs. Clinton."

Perhaps Weiner should take a page out of Sammie’s book and consider pornography as his next career move. After all, with those photos, he’s well on his way to becoming a “Pornstar!”

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman spoke to the 200 assembled guests.

Optimism was plentiful last night, as partygoers discussed real estate's comeback with us—many insisting that the dark days are over and the market is looking up.

Stay tuned for more coverage in next week's Commercial Observer.

Photo via Patrick McMullan.

At the Edison Ballroom last Wednesday Judah Friedlander stood awkwardly by the door, looking out at the dance floor where guests gyrated and boogied to Michael Jackson. In his outfit – like always, a trucker hat, jeans, and a ratty tee-shirt -- he looked out of place, as if he wasn’t invited. It turns out he actually wasn’t.

“I crashed the prom” he said.

It had been a while, but The Observer remembered that, yes, this is what prom was like --  the ‘80’s synth tunes, the awkward dancing, the forced mingling of boys and girls, the massive platters of assorted finger foods. The attendees, high schoolers none of them, came to the Edison Ballroom to support the Urban Arts Partnership, an organization that seeks to promote and advocate for the arts in underserved public schools. The night’s event, “The Prom of Your Dreams”, raised both money and awareness for the organization.

“I love the theme!” said actress Rosie Perez, Urban Arts’ Artistic Board Chair, “This is just amazing…I’m overwhelmed tonight.” Perez has worked with the organization for nearly twenty years, and her involvement has inspired other entertainment industry majors to become involved.

“Rosie is how I got interested in the program,” said Michael Kenneth Williams, star of HBO’s The Wire and UAP board member. “She had me go to the high schools with her, then she got me on the board of directors, then I gave her my first born, and then I was like, Okay, my whole life is dedicated to Urban Arts Partners.”

As cocktail hour ended, hip hop artists Dres and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels bounded onstage, the hype man bellowing exclamations into the microphone. During his performance, DMC said that, thanks to the efforts Urban Art’s efforts, students involved with the program “don’t just do well, they excel.”

“You can use the arts to change people’s lives!” Mr. McDaniels told The Observer backstage, his hands gesticulating up and down. “Urban Arts is just incredible because it’s inspiring, it’s motivating… it’s educational. It’s all about education.”

Mr. McDaniels paused and his hands and feet went into a rare state of rest.

“Urban arts teaches these kids that they are worth something,” he said. “It gives these kids a sense of purpose and destiny, a sense of importance. I love it because I’m still that little kid.”