Source: Bungalow 8’s Not Dead, Getting Relaunched

Remy Stern over at CityFile reported yesterday via a trusted source that Amy Sacco's legendary club Bungalow 8 is finished, gone, finito, over. Update: We've got it on good that Remy's source might not be right. Here's the deal:

As one of the most legendary, talked about clubs in New York for a very long time (which has since seen its influence and exclusivity diminish and fade out over the last few years), Bungalow 8’s (potential) death wouldn’t be surprising, but still qualifies for substantial nightlife news. Stern went so far as to essentially write the club’s obituary: “The club that defined New York’s pre-recession go-go years has, at last, given up the ghost.” The venue’s been hiding “under repairs” for the last few weeks, and has yet to reopen. Here’s what we heard:

Bungalow has in fact been closed for the month of September. But our source tells us that Amy’s still reworking it, and furthermore renovating for a relaunch. We don’t know the size of the renovation or the heat behind the effort. We’re also told that she was offered to go in on a club with someone else recognizing Bungalow’s downturn in business, a sexy spot still in the construction phase looking for a leader. Sacco rebuffed their offer, letting them know that she’s more than capable of doing it on her own. Burn. The neighborhood’s shed some of its worst clubs over the last year or so (Home, Guesthouse, Prime, and less recently: Stereo) and Sacco seems to be trying to position herself within that boneyard to re-launch Bungalow 8 as the hot destination it once reigned over New York as. A re-launch also puts her under the heat lamp, though: Bungalow’s an international property, and pressure for the brand to have a strong New York presence is definitely there. If it doesn’t produce desired results, the affect on the rest of the brand’s cache could be palpable.

We hit up our nightlife columnist Steve Lewis for color commentary on the situation. Lewis carefully took the time to remind us that he recently ranked Bungalow in his Top 25 Clubs of all time. The only club on that list of his that still has any kind of pulse in New York is Bungalow, sidelined as it is. “Amy Sacco is the undisputed queen of New York nightlife,” he explains. “She can turn it on any time she wants.”

Assuming all of this is true, ten minutes after she opens, she’ll be facing some of the toughest competition she and New York’s nightlife landscape have ever seen, the uphill battle against a mediocre economy withstanding. Eyes are peeled. New York’s Nightlife denizens and gossip pages are gonna be watching to see how time-tested Sacco’s touch is when she opens Bungalow 8’s doors yet again. The challenge: Is Sacco’s style forever young? Or do classics lack the requisite new school hipness to generate sufficient heat?