When you ask three nightlife veterans to transform the top of one of New York's most fashionable new hotels into an intimate lounge, the result is bound to be exciting. But with the opening of Jimmy at The James hotel in Soho, David Rabin (center), Johnny Swet (left), and Larry Poston (right) have created nothing less than an 18th-floor paradise, with original art on the walls, creative cocktails on the menu, and breathtaking views of lower Manhattan from every seat in the house.

Tonight is the first night of the rest of our lives. The Nightlife Preservation Community party at M2 tonight will bring out the masses. But before the hoi polloi gather, a serious schmooze-fest will be taking place between the owners and operators of clubs and politico types who are RSVPing in droves. The politicians are predictably figuring out that the hundreds of thousands of voters enrolled in the marketing banks of club promotional entities can make a big difference in upcoming primaries and elections. The final DJ lineup ensures a huge turnout. Chloë Sevigny will introduce New York Nightlife Association honchos Rob Bookman and David Rabin -- sometimes known as Batman and Robin. With only a little help from some friends, these two have fought the good fight for many years. At times, they have been the only thing preventing the industry from collapsing under the weight of oppressive legislation and enforcement. The NPC will give them new tools to forge ahead with a more cooperative effort between the city and the clubs. We are not trying to fight City Hall; we are trying to have City Hall recognize nightlife, a $10 billion industry, as a useful revenue-generating tool in these dark economic times.

I guess that in the world of kitchens, there can definitely be too many cooks. Although I thought I had it right (and maybe Eater did too), it seems that Franklin Becker's role at Delicatessen is squarely that of consultant, and Michael Ferraro is actually the man running the show. I ran into David Rabin, who tipped me off on the Delicatessen story, at a meeting yesterday. David didn’t want to stir the soup and thought it was no big deal but was appreciative that I was going to clarify today, so below I’ve included a letter directly from Franklin Becker, which explains the situation.

Delicatessen is finally going to upgrade its rap. This past summer, my hood Nolita embraced this highly stylized "cafeteria" (a.k.a. restaurant)-type eatery. A chatty neighborhood crowd came in droves to enjoy the newness and the open garage-door dining. It was, in fact, the perfect place to eat -- except maybe for the food. Alas, in that area, myself and many others were not impressed. With Gitane, Habana, 24, Ruby's, Bread, Barmarche, and a few others offering a trendy social atmosphere as well as great menus for the sharp Nolita set, the joint quickly lost its luster. The crowd became "shoppers,” a bit "too touristy," and the only time anyone mentioned Delicatessen was when it got too noisy.

Eugene Remm, the sovereign of Tenjune, talks about working his way up from the mailroom to picking up the slack in nightlife industry, and what he's got on the books for '09.

While most of us were trying to figure out if there will be a Christmas this year, there have been unsung heroes fighting to ensure that we have a great New Year’s Eve. Normally, venues apply for a late-night license that permits serving booze into the wee hours of the night, allowing them to get a much-needed revenue boost before winter sets in and business literally goes south. But it seems that the SLA snuck in a rule this year stating that clubs, restaurants, and bars, which normally file for the late-night extension by the first week of December, had to file by November 17. This new rule seemed sure to create havoc; however; no havoc was to be seen and no shouts of protest were heard, as very few people knew about it. The SLA decided not to announce this ruling save by posting it on their very popular website, where all of maybe ten people might have noticed it. When asked why they would do business in this way, they reportedly answered that people should check the website. We all know that everyone is too busy clicking in here, on DBTH, and Guest of a Guest to have time for that.

Cain Luxe's Jaime Mulholland on sailing to New York's promised land, surviving the W. 27th Street club disaster, partnering with the Brazilian female mafia, and almost going broke before hitting the big time with his expanding nightlife empire.

A business meeting took me to Philadelphia yesterday. Although the election outcome in New York is a foregone conclusion, many believe Pennsylvania may be close. I saw Barack Obama volunteers everywhere -- even a cute little old lady with a table giving out buttons. One of the great things about Philadelphia are the murals on the sides of buildings. Here too was Obama staring righteously at us as we navigated the streets of the city of brotherly love. I showed my partner Marc Dizon an orange sticker 3 feet wide and 18 inches tall in the window of a building erected just after the signing of the Constitution of the good old USA. This sticker is a notification to the neighborhood that someone plans to open up a drinking establishment. People have 30 days to raise objections, or as I understand it, the license is issued without much ado. My Philly meeting told me that if someone objects, they go before a mediator and objections are heard, the future establishment explains how they will deal with the issue, and most of the time that’s that. Philly is like the fifth or sixth biggest market in America. They have thousands of bars, restaurants, clubs with diverse crowds, and as many big-city problems as we do in New York, and this is how they deal with the process of obtaining a liquor license.

On re-opening the legendary Lotus and then some

Jeffrey Jah holds forth on going from runways to club king, bringing heat from here to Sao Paulo, and putting DEA raids behind him.