Yesterday evening I traveled uptown to an inconspicuous location in the Garment District to preview the forthcoming club District 36. Nestled just north of Herald Square on 36th street, the owners have shunned all the fads and pretenses that night clubs are typically founded on, putting together an interesting space built specifically for club music aficionados. Its location, carved out of an old garment warehouse, at first seems an odd choice for a hopeful hotspot, but as I traipsed through the space with a couple of PR folks and Damien Distasio, one of the club's principal investors, I realized that their choice of zip code, when paired with the club's layout, DJ lineup, and—most importantly—one of the best sound systems in North America, is a huge part of the new dance club's draw.

For years the epicenter of vibrant NY nightlife, the west 27th/28th street club corridor is now a virtual ghost town. Tonight, Scores will celebrate its anniversary, with Damon Dash DJing. I’ve been facebooked, texted, tweeted, and called to attend this gala. Noel Ashman and a zillion promoters insist I attend. I might not go— never been a strip club guy. No homo, I just don’t head to that area these days. But there was a time when I was there almost every night. The core clubs of that mall, Pink Elephant, Cain, Home, Guesthouse, and Bungalow 8 are gone, as are the cops on horseback and the Kleig lights that put virtually the entire area out of business. Gone also are a couple thousand jobs in an economy that needs jobs. A visit to the M2 website revealed an ad promoting Common and DJ Funkmaster Flex on May 14th. I guess I missed that as well. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting with Joey Morrissey to find out if the mega club will reopen—if he even knows.

The city continues to wage war on clubs. The fining, suspending and eventual closing of many clubs speaks volumes about an administration, which in its quest to end smoking or coddle to real estate interests, has once again lost sight of the man or woman on the street. Clubs suffer from a zero tolerance policy from City Hall. If a couple of patron--out of thousands--light up a cigarette, city agencies swoop down and declare it a public menace. God forbid a couple of drunks punch each other. The city's response is, “OMG! See what I mean?” And an order to close the place is obtained. If a drug dealer sells a joint, that becomes living proof of the reincarnation of Pedro Escobar and a declaration of war on the club is issued.

This has been a very crazy week for me, and Friday needs to be Saturday, so I’m going to keep this brief. It’s almost like a great cloud of volcanic ash is preventing thoughts from flying around my head. A great philosopher, inspector Harry Callahan, sometimes known as Dirty Harry, once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." Six days in a row, getting up at 7am after attending the most important parties ever, has left me limp. I will muster enough strength to attend Danny Tenaglia’s birthday party at Pacha Saturday night. He’s one of the truly nice guys in the biz, and Danny's DJ career is 30 years wonderful. Whenever some whippersnapper know-it-all proclaims the end of the mega-club era, I say go to an event like this. Only a Pacha and M2 (thankfully re-opened) or a Webster Hall have the systems, the sight lines and, of course, the space to host this type of party. The small clubs never experience the orgasmic frenzy that the super clubs are built for.

The health department’s gone undercover -- and their new inspectors are “younger and hipper-looking than the stereotypical bureaucrat,” reports The New York Times. Why should healthy department spies need to dress up quite so much, just to ferret out nicotine junkies?

As early as this Thursday, Administrative Judge Alessandra F. Zorgniotti will decide the fate of M2 nightclub. The lunacy of the smoking crackdown has begun. Whether the city will be allowed to close M2 and half a dozen other places (to start) is to be determined. It's a circus that puts the livelihood of over 300 employees at risk and threatens a $6 million investment, not to mention $2 million in tax revenue enjoyed by our metropolis each year. I caught up with M2 owner Joey Morrissey and got his perspective.

We’ve bemoaned the smoking crackdown for quite some time: we ranted, we raved and with a little (misguided?) inspiration, even tried “quitting.” Now, The New York Times reports that Bloomberg’s forces may be one step closer to “winning:" M2 went on trial last week, and if all goes according to plan, the club could be shut down as early as this Thursday -- making it the first venue to go down in non-smoking flames. Though we might not weep over M2’s demise (see above), the mega-club’s 300-plus employees are sure to feel otherwise. It’s a cruel irony that the very people Bloomberg is trying to protect from workplace smoking are facing unemployment. The fate of the Health Department’s other targets -- Lit Lounge, The Box, and other venues to be determined -- is still up in the air.

1. Richard Gere, at the premiere of Brooklyn's Finest: My favorite restaurant has to be the Bedford Post. 2. Don Cheadle: BOA, in L.A. 3. Ethan Hawke: Manganaro's, on 9th Avenue. 4. Wesley Snipes: That's gotta be home. My wife is an excellent cook! Where do I like to go? Oh, La Dinastia, the Cuban-Chinese restaurant on 72nd, near Broadway. 5. Hoda Kobt: I love 21 Club. I love Tabla. I love Shake Shack, just their burgers. 'Cause the first time I saw a line, I thought, 'Who would wait in a line this long for a burger?' And then I realized, 'I would.' There's something about the size, the texture; they're moist, they're delicious. And I like Kefi -- on Columbus -- the best, best Greek food ever, delicious.

Would anyone (including us) care about this rather lightweight looking "brawl" that broke out at M2 if it weren't the birthday party of rapper Juelz Santana? Probably not. We use the term lightweight because the guy in the fedora got right back up after supposedly being beat up by a bunch of guys who think fighting at clubs isn't the worst. But the sad fact is that it was Juelz Santana's birthday, and therefore this video is elevated to national importance. We'd be surprised if the FBI hasn't already confiscated it so they can indict M2 for ruining an okay rapper's birthday celebration. Also, a guy named Maino was there.

1. Matt Damon, after Green Zone press day: Oh, boy! There are so many great restaurants here. I like Bob De Niro's place, Nobu. That's a good one. 2. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi @ "Masks and Mayhem" Purim party @ Solo restaurant: Definitely, L.A., Voyeur, that club, I like it. 'Cause I just like low-key stuff because, since I've been in the limelight, when I go to clubs, it's just crazy. It's hard to, actually, party and have a good time, because I usually go out with Pauly and Mike in L.A., and it's just hard to party because everyone's, like, 'Oh!' They go crazy. And we love that, but, yet again, we like to have our low times. So, Voyeur, definitely, a good place to go because there's a lot of celebrities there, so we can actually relate with people.