Shoky Pai Will Pay Well to Get Into Your Party

Meet Shoky Pai. This cuddly and well-financed individual is a man about town in New York, turning up regularly in the lens of Patrick McMullan and at the doors of most every hot club or lounge in the city. Despite his means and status though, Shoky apparently has some trouble getting past face control. Never fear, as he's quite eager to explore new partnerships with anyone who has an "in." That relationship boils down to Shoky forking over hard cash to get past the velvet rope, and we're not talking a subtly palmed $20. Think more along the lines of, say, a thousand cash for access to the recent "Save the Beatrice" party (where Steve Lewis alluded to Shoky's antics). You'd think someone rolling that large could buy his way in anywhere, but for undisclosed reasons, Shoky's earned doorman animus to the point that money is often no object, and not in a good way. However, Shoky is quite up-front about his proposals -- so much so that he engaged in a lengthy IM conversation/negotiation with a BlackBook staffer. After the jump, marvel at the magnificence of the resurgent nightlife economy in action, plus our staffer's ethical crisis when flirting with the dark side.

But wait, before we go there—in Shoky’s defense:

He’s met Barack Obama. Have you?! No you have not, and Shoky’s gallery of celeb meet-cutes is actually pretty impressive. Check out his websites (here and here) as well. Moving right along to the IMs, presented without further comment (apologies for the occasional truncation).