I caught up with 1Oak honcho Scott Sartiano and asked him if they were still suing some of his neighbors. A resounding "yes" led to a conversation which went beyond Andrea Peyser's New York Post article about the lawsuit. 1Oak is suing a tenant, Ann Fredlin, who lives on the 20th floor of the Caledonia, a new construction directly across from the boite. Two other people named, LeCee Johnson and Bobby Cintron, live in the Clinton housing building up the block near 10th Avenue. The $2 million lawsuit is a result, according to a source , of "continuing harassment and lies told to anyone who will listen." This sort of conflict was inevitable when the city rezoned the area to "mixed use" to support the highly ambitious, highly brilliant High Line project.

And the lord said to Noah, come with all your household into the ark, for I have seen you to be righteous (upright and in right standing) before me in this generation." Genesis 8

Have you noticed the rain? We watched the lightning from the lobby entrance to the Rivington Hotel and counted 1 alligators, 2 alligators, 3 alligators, 4 in a super-scientific attempt to determine how far away the magnificent bolts were from my merry band of Sunday travelers. Then it was upon us, and I said to my flock, let us flee unto Spitzer's and partake in friendly fare. So we went to Spitzer's. I had the PBLT and the rest had salad. My arteries must be getting hard. The downpour came at us hard, and we huddled with the masses and drank and ate and waited and watched in wonder. Mother nature ain't happy. The busboys tried to lower the windows, but it was a slow go, and the windswept rain wiped out the first two rows of diners. We got a little wet, but we were an intrepid band, and it washed away the sweat of shopping and strolling. I bought a cool hat at Still Life. The rain was traveling sideways in torrential sheets, thunder and lightning were right above us, and we didn't have to count critters to understand that. It was a rain of biblical proportion, then it ended in sunlight -- and then it happened again yesterday.

I call it Nell's. Despite my deep affection for everything Noel Ashman, a space always maintains the name of its greatness, and 246 West 14th Street had its fame when it was named Nell's. Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva received unanimous approval of the full community board yesterday, and they will open a restaurant on the ground floor and a club/lounge downstairs. Their success at Butter and 1Oak guarantees that this place will be grand, plus, I and my partner Marc Dizon have been hired to design it. We feel very honored. I designed Butter for them a number of years ago, and that experience really boosted my design career. They are a couple of bright guys who are very hands-on and deeply motivated to create something hot and fresh. This is a very sexy project, and I'm quite excited.

An autopsy may reveal it was pills or something similar that shut Michael Jackson down, but the heart really gave out because it once was loved by the whole world and wasn't anymore. My emotions roller-coastered through a day of death and rumor. A great sadness consumed me as allegations and innuendo, tributes and music bombarded me through open windows and closed doors. From beatbox radios and every TV in the neighborhood, I was told to remember or condemn or to forgive or just listen. The complexity of understanding the meaning of Michael Jackson's death personally and on that grander scale became harder by the hour. I was enlightened by Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cher, Paul McCartney, and even Celine Dion. Everybody except Elizabeth Taylor was getting into the act -- it is an act we and they will find impossible to follow.

At the tastefully burnished 1Oak, four vastly different drivers are at the wheel. Richie Akiva, Jeffrey Jah, Ronnie Madra, and Scott Sartiano, partners in the timeless, game-changing venue. “You have a southern boy here, a bred New Yorker, a Canadian and an Indian” says Akiva, one quarter of the 1Oak braintrust. The diversity of its management has proven to be key in building 1Oak’s wide-ranging clientele. “We wanted 1Oak to bring nightlife back to what was fun about New York” he says. “An eclectic mix of people -- gay, straight, artists, celebrities, yuppies, blacks, whites.” The result? A $3 million lounge filled with everyone from Jay-Z to Giorgio Armani to Union Square skateboarders, and happily turning a huge profit. “The fact is,” says Sartiano, “we’ve paid back 110% of our investments in one year.” Avowing that culture could never be wiped out by a weakened Wall Street, Akiva harkens back to the disco era: “I sometimes refer to myself as the new Steve Rubell.” Here, the gentlemen talk the talk to shed light on how they walk the walk.

How did you guys all come together?
Scott Sartiano: I think we all met and we all came together working at the same place -- called Life -- years ago. It was maybe the last great nightclub. We all just sort of kept tabs on each other for years. Then Richie decided to open up Butter, and he asked me to get involved with him. Then we asked Ronnie to get involved, and it just kind of grew from there.
Richie Akiva: It was a good working relationship that we had together. I had asked him to start something on a Monday night, because that was our slow restaurant night. I told them, "I think should really start a party," different from all of this stuff that was going on in New York City that was just like, way commercial.

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.

The former partier and now keeper of The Eldridge door on how to get in his über-exclusive spot, the worst kind of bouncers, and the allure of Cameron Diaz.

How do you react when random people try to get into the Eldridge?
I’m usually nice in the beginning, but if they keep trying, I start to get annoyed pretty quickly. If you’re not on the list, I’ll usually let you in if you're really funny and make me laugh. If you’re one of these guys that likes to throw around a credit card, then ... probably not. When someone says, "What do I have to do to get in here?," it drives me crazy.

Nightlife impresario Dirk Van Stockhom on his new venture at 98 Kenmare Street, being a 13-year-old English playboy, and why Sudan is the new global hotspot.

Where do you go out? I am very much a bar/restaurant guy. I go to Rose Bar ... when I can afford it [laughing]. Milano's on Houston. My favorite place in the whole of New York is the Ear Inn on Spring Street. It is the most classic bar because they don’t give a damn. It is full of regulars and some of the most interesting people. You also do see models and actors, next to regular people. It is no bullshit, great drinks, great food. The owners are two of the nicest people in the world. It is a real community bar. Big supporters of the arts. Don’t tell anyone though, it will spoil it [laughing].

New York nightlife blogs are abuzz with revelations that Noah Tepperberg is trying to turn Tenth Avenue eyesore Earth into a high-end restaurant-lounge. This is good news for those seeking a fashionable bite to eat far from the maddening crowds. It’s also great news for residents of Community Board 4, who will benefit from the loss off a promoter-driven, low-level club -- which Earth became from day one -- and the introduction of a savvy operator like Noah. This small, exclusive restaurant and lounge will anchor 1Oak, as well as the still amazingly beautiful Park, without Earth attracting the B, C, and D-listers. There will be no place for crowds to linger and annoy the neighbors; they will seek like-minded individuals in other neighborhoods, with no imminent return of Red Rock West or Roxy in sight. With a strong food element as well as a strong operator, CB4 members will get what they want, as the three remaining spaces will be run by three of the strongest hospitality operators out there: after Noah, it's Eric Goode, Scott Sartiano, and Richie Akiva. This 1-2-3 punch of operators will dominate the area and clean up the block. In fact, let's take an exclusive look at Noah's proposed menu for the new joint.

I started writing my humble blog over at JoonBug working with my friends Shane Neman and Ariana Gordon. I intended to write a paragraph or two a couple times a week, and well, it didn’t work out that way. A couple months ago, JoonBug was sold to another friend, Jon Gabel. I moved my blog over here to BlackBook with the intent of reaching a new and larger audience. The nightclub industry is not just owners, staff, and promoters -- there are so many things going on behind the scenes, so many people feeding at the trough. One of the things companies like JoonBug and Jon Gabel do is rent out virtually every club in New York for New Year's Eve and use the hundreds of thousands of names on their email lists to sell tickets. This works, as the clubs are very happy farming this action out so they can concentrate on Christmas business.