A game of musical chairs is being played by most of the major promotional entities as the summer roof season is upon us. While the highly successful 230 Fifth will still dominate this market just as the Empire State Building dominates its incredible view, some places remain unsettled or don't have a clear opening date due to a myriad of problems. Highbar is getting a quick polish, while the roof at the Stay Hotel is still under construction. Mixed reports come from Cabanas and The Park, and the highly-touted Above Allen will finally get to open its windows amidst hopes that the sound spill doesn't disturb too many hotel guests and nearby residents. Daemon O'Neil, Rose Bar's patient, sweet, and very good-looking door guru (not to be confused with Damion Luaiye), is packing his clipboard and heading over to the Bazaar Bar at the upcoming Trump Soho hotel. The economic downturn, a weak dollar, and a laundry list of safety issues make travel abroad a lot less attractive this season. I hear reports that Hamptons summer rentals are sluggish, yet the Surf Lodge in Montauk is riding high.

On Friday night, my partner Marc Dizon, our design assistant Delia, and I traveled out to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, for a super-special VIP sneak preview of OPM, a joint we designed. The occasion was owner/DJ Johnny Versace's birthday bash and of course to let the Brooklyn Russians who will inhabit the place know that they're just about ready to rock and roll. Only there won't be much rock and roll, as the musical format was very different than what's offered in the Manhattan joints that I frequent. It was driving Russian house beats with lounge singers belting out love songs like Rod Stewart over top of it. The Frank Sinatra of Brighton Beach, Botsman, was crooning over these beats, and I insisted that no matter when it happens that OPM co-owner Oleg Vibe arrange for this guy to sing and MC my funeral services. Oleg gave me a big smile and said "that can be arranged," and I wondered for a second if he meant the singer or the funeral.

My partner Marc Dizon is the lead designer for the new restaurant/club Griffin, which is opening in the old PM space in the Meatpacking District. A hard date for the opening isn't set yet, but somewhere around the third week of April seems feasible. The management team consists of Josh Kaiser (Pink Elephant), James Hinojos (Lesly Bernard), Rachel Uchitel (Tao Vegas), and Hector Longoria (Cain). Josh is still in the Pink Elephant mix while he puts the Griffin staff through an intense training schedule. They wouldn't confirm it, but a friend tells me that the Milk and Honey and Little Branch crew are doing the drinks. The management team are volume-club veterans, so I believe there will be speed when there is a need.

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I'll be celebrating the one year anniversary of Good Night Mr. Lewis tonight at Greenhouse. Taking a friend's advice, I have gone vegan for three whole days, and if I get through today, I will have reached my all-time personal best. The reason is energy. I am assured that without all the bad things in the food I've been eating, I will find new levels of power. Since I've been DJing three days a week, writing this daily blog, and designing up a storm without more than four hours of sleep for awhile now, I think that's what a real healthy raw diet will allow me to do. Shoot, I may even run for office -- or maybe just start running.

The Harvard Business School case study of Marquee nightclub came out as reported yesterday on DBTH. The study was forwarded to me by a bevy of friends -- Facebook and real -- because my name was in there on page 3. I thank the boys for crediting me as the designer, but I also redid it with Chris Sheffield a couple years later, and then again with my current partner Marc Dizon. Although Marquee isn't what it used to be, it still is one of the premier clubs of its type. I'll take credit for being a big part of the design team, but I must acknowledge that Noah, Jason Strauss, Andrew Sasson, Mark Packer, Colleen Weinstein, and many others contributed to designing a club that functions as well as any I've ever seen.

The old PM space at 50 Gansevoort Street will open with a new name and facelift from my firm Lewis & Dizon in mid-April. My partner, Marc Dizon, did all the heavy lifting on this, so I’ll let him describe it in his own words. With a partner like me, it's often difficult to get a word in, but here he goes.

Well, they finally are allowing me to tell you about the new restaurant that my partner Marc Dizon and I are designing at 146 Orchard Street. As I hinted at before, Top Chef alumni Camille Becerra is going to be the top chef there. After an unfortunate fire that started in the apartment above her Greenpoint restaurant Paloma, Camille has been negotiating and defining her role at this new spot. A name hasn't been decided on yet, but there is talk of calling it Paloma Orchard Street, since her involvement is increasing and all collaborating parties are happy with each other.

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.

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.

Last night a DJ saved my life. Marky Ramone, my old friend, was kind enough to display his considerable skills at a party BlackBook threw me at Aspen Social. (Be sure to check out the video.) There were many reasons to be cheerful. First of all, I'm very comfortable with BlackBook. I have been treated like gold and, although the decision to leave JoonBug was difficult, I am very convinced it was the right move. When I asked Marky to deejay, it was because I didn’t want to forget where I came from and wanted him there spinning music that I love in a place my partner Marc Dizon and I created for our friend, Greg Brier. It was a two-and-a-half month build-out after a couple of months of prep -- about half the minimum time usually allocated for such a gig. I’m exhausted and need to thank all the craftsmen and artists who made it possible. Marky pointed out to my beautiful young girlfriend that he's known me for 30 years. I pointed to young Vance Brooking and Mey Bun, budding nightlife stars and funsters, that I was thin like them back then, around a buck thirty-five, and had my hair. Mey said I still got the hair, but I explained how the illusion works.