You may remember Scott Harrison from back in the nineties when he was often spotted in the enclaves of New York’s VIP rooms and parties. After a decade as a club promoter, Scott had an epiphany. The seemingly dazzling world of glitz and status in NYC nightlife was not everything he wanted, after all. He'd soon begin dedicating his life to providing clean water to millions of people around the world. In just three years, his organization, charity: water has raised over $11 million.

Talk is cheap, but keeping a nightclub operating is expensive. Rumors around town have spoke of the imminent demise of Meatpacking District newbie Griffin barely three months after opening. I'm not a fan of the place and have said so more than a few times. However, as much as I would like the place to sail into the sunrise, I am unfortunately attached to it. Griffin was designed by Lewis & Dizon, and I'm the Lewis guy. My partner Marc Dizon is the strong, silent type and did a great job of making the old PM space seem like a brand new bag. I stayed far away, contributing from our office and an infrequent visit. My presence on the property was limited due to my allergies -- I'm allergic to assholes and liars -- so I elected to keep my distance while Marc did the heavy lifting. Now the nightlife blogs are predicting death by grifting and incompetence, and I wanted to find out what's up.

It seems like slim pickings for a Tuesday party prowl. Perhaps many are in hangover recovery courtesy of their Friday to Monday weekend. Most are waiting it out for humpday. But as we anticipate a heatwave, these hot spots emerge. Break out of your comfort zone, put off buying that AC unit, and join the rest of the denizens of the anti-day scene.

● Happy Ending (Lower East Side) - If you're still mourning the loss of pre-Giuliani New York, get a quick whiff here courtesy of the Tuesday night "Six Six Sick" party. Interesting fashion ensembles keep the nightlife photographers clicking; booze-drenched girls falling out of their interesting ensembles keep the nightlife photographers clicking in the tile-shower stalls. Things are a neon-bright messy in this massage parlor-cum-bar-cum-literary-hang-cum-on-your-blue dress.
● Home Sweet Home (Lower East Side) - The speakeasy vibe is peppered with middle-school nostalgia thanks to the Tuesday night "4 Page Letter - The Aaliyah Tribute Party." Feels like a locals-only event or a junior high gathering, except everyone is friends thanks to DJs Nicholas Kratochvil, Florencia Galarza, and Scott Meriam pumping 90s throwbacks and R&B tracks. And there's no running out because Sarah decided to dance with your crush when KC & JoJo started playing. We're all grown-ups here.

Author Brantly Martin, once a wonder boy of New York City nightlife, has returned from exile, purgatory, marriage, overseas, and five or six other speculated places armed with a 200-plus page book that's is the buzz about town. “Which is worse?” a savvy pal asked me, "To be in it or not be in it?” Pillage describes some days and some nights in the life of the model/promoter/owner club set in decidedly non-PG rated terms; there’s more sex and drugs than Woodstock. As I read it, I became increasingly revolted, then jealous, then revolted, then I laughed and was revolted again. It’s a rollercoaster ride through the world of the young, rich, beautiful, and passionately immoral. Brantly seems to have come to terms with his demons. He is actually married to a beautiful Italian woman and lives in Rome. He admits to being the main character of the tome ("Cracula"). He is super hush-hush about the identities of the other characters and wouldn’t give me even one. In this case, the names have been changed to protect the guilty -- but I managed to poke my rather cute nose in some of the right places and came up with a few reveals.

I got this story secondhand -- and like sweaters I get that way, it's bound to have a few holes in it. It seems that Bungalow 8 was closed for ten days, and excuses like “Amy isn't around” and “They were taking a break or renovating” were thrown out for their adoring public. A source with some chops told me it was the collapse of parts of the roof that caused the closing. Plexiglas panels came detached, and in a sky-is-falling late night incident, the party came to a stop. Repairs were long overdue, and staff did their best to control the elements with strategically placed buckets and such. Amy is indeed traveling some, but my source revealed that with only about a year and a half left on her lease, Ms. Sacco has decided to ride it out. She has some money put aside from the sale of her West 23rd Street boîte as well as a flow of consulting fees from the Griffin, the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, and the "Living by Amy" condo project on John Street. Bungalow 8 London, which according to another source isn’t hitting its marks, is still another revenue stream for the queen of nightlife.

What clubs offer that bars and lounges generally don’t is sound and DJs. There are a few guys at the top of the heap in the sound world, and Daniel Agne is one of those guys. If the sound is crisp and clear, chances are that the club owner spent a great deal of cash to make that happen. As a designer, sound considerations are a day-one thing. The open entrance to the mezzanine level at Marquee with no apparent break to stop the bleed from the main floor was a major design move. The padded ceiling and columns and front of the bar at Home overcame the tremendous bounce from the hardwood floors, brick walls, and concrete ceilings. Joe Lodi hid bass speakers behind banquettes and added a scoop that pushed the sound where it needed to be. The club world is never as easy as people think, and I hope this interview with Daniel gives you insight on the process of sound installation

A handful of posts ago, I reacted with what The Gates’ owners Redd Styles, Danny Kane, and Michael James thought was an iron fist regarding their soon-to-open club. My less than enthusiastic preview supplied a list of what I thought were glaring problems facing the place. These three guys are friends of mine, and my criticism was seen as a betrayal of sorts, but mutual associates pointed out that the analogy of telling a friend they have toilet paper on their shoe is meant to be helpful. I, as a nightlife writer with an editor and a public that need to see me as an honest broker and as friend, felt the need to point out what ailed them. It wasn’t as if I was the only person who noticed this stuff. Most just air-kissed them on the cheeks and said things like "congratulations," while whispering behind their backs. And the types that revel in others' failures spoke out loud. And though I'm not that kind of person, I probably spoke the loudest.

Rachel Uchitel, the bombshell Director of VIP Services at Griffin and a BlackBook Industry Insider, gives us the skinny on the hottest door in town.

What's going on at Griffin right now?
We’re in the middle of launching our programming. This week, we started our 5:30 service. So we’re open as a cocktail lounge from 5:30 on, 7 days a week. The week before, we had a celebrity-packed opening night. Sting, Uma Thurman, Kate Hudson, Mickey Rourke, Nas, and Maxwell were there. Lots of socialites and famous models. Fashionista people, like Rachel Zoe and Yigal Azourel. Art people like Salman Rushdie were there as well. An incredible, chic, sophisticated turnout. It was a real opening of a nightclub. That launched our evening opening with bottle service.

The Meatpacking’s newest offering is Griffin, which has been seen by just a few as it prepares to open. It was designed by my firm Lewis & Dizon with most of the heavy lifting done by Marc since I was distracted by the Webster Hall redux. In the following photos you can see the giant chandelier mounted on the antique glass-mirrored ceiling. There's an image of painted wallpaper, the infinity candle bar, and some furniture, but there are also a few workers in there as well since these aren’t strictly official shots but glimpses from my Canon instead. Griffin is the old PM space, and I believe that the problems of flow and ceiling height have been addressed. I think it’s a completely new joint and people expecting PM will find little of it left.

● Griffin (Meatpacking District) - Former PM relaunching as hotspot fueled by NYC nostalgia.
● Dutch Kills (Long Island City) - Modern-day antique saloon from New York's cocktail kings.
● Bar 675 (Meatpacking District) - Basement rec room goes for casual chic.