The Daily News suggests that when it comes to drugs, drunks, and overall debauchery, it's all happening in the Meatpacking District. With the NYPD's crackdown of West Chelsea ever since notable, violent crimes, apparently the action has moved south. From the News: "One reporter was solicited by three dealers within two hours on a Saturday night. Reporters watched a pair of twentysomething club girls vomit in tandem; a man urinate as he weaved along Washington......

“You could be a transgendered elephant walking in here and as long as you pay your check, you’re fine,” diner Lars Hoel told the Times yesterday during his last breakfast at Florent, the 24-hour French bistro that’s been a Meatpacking District institution for 23 years. The transgendered elephant refuge closed last night after the gay pride parade and a private party for staff and friends of owner Florent Morellet....

When we spoke with Florent Morellet on Monday, he assured us that his 23-year-old Meatpacking District bistro – scheduled to close this Sunday at 10 p.m. – would not be occupied by a Bank of America or some similar abomination. But the Parisian restaurateur stopped short of divulging the space’s fate – the landlord had been seeking $35,000 in monthly rent and it was naturally assumed that only the most crass retailers could manage a......

Chef Marco Canora is having a good morning; Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni says “there may not be any dish I’ve enjoyed more in recent months than the pork blade steak” at Terroir (pictured). His column this week looks at how chefs at wine bars like Terroir and Gottino have transcended the “glorified snacks” that used to be de rigueur, to “exemplify a wine-bar evolution so thorough that nomenclature can’t keep up.” Less criticism than......

Back in 1985, when the meatpacking district nightlife was all about gay clubs like the Manhole and, as John Waters puts it, not getting mugged after a night of “watching men pay good money to get pissed on,” Frenchman Florent Morellet opened a bistro in an old greasy spoon called the R&L. Open 24/7, the place soon became a magnet for all sorts of soulful misfits drawn by the open-minded spirit cultivated by Florent himself.......

The beloved 24-hour French diner Florent will be closing on Saturday with a big send-off, and lines have often been out the door as the end approaches. Today is no exception, as Eater reports, with the restaurant still packed despite the fact that the gas has been shut off. Reached today (his birthday) by phone at his lake house in New Jersey, owner Florent Morellet tells us that the gas was shut off over a......

Just in time for Sex and the City's big screen release: BED is back. The club was one of the many featured in the HBO series, and is housed, of course, in the Meatpacking District. Last year when a man died there, it was put under a dark spotlight and ended up shutting its doors. Word is that the Meatpacking militia has gotten the rooftop reopened for the upcoming season (we're told, "As of now,......

Renderings of the Whitney downtown provided by the Whitney Museum. In March it was announced that The Whitney received a generous donation from Leonard A. Lauder (to the tune of $131 million). The donation came with a caveat -- they wouldn't be able to sell their Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue; however, it looks like they received the funding they needed to move forward with a satellite museum in the Meatpacking District. The......

On the heels of Florent's closure comes news that another one of the Meatpacking District’s pre-millennial hang-outs will walk the plank: The Hog Pit, a Southern dive bar and BBQ joint that opened in the late '90s, is the latest casualty of the neighborhood’s astronomical rent increases. Co-owner Felisa Dell sent an email to Eater today confirming the closure, which was brought on by a triple rent increase to 40K per month. The Hog Pit’s......

Florent, the beloved Meatpacking District hangout set to close this summer after almost twenty three years in business, will at least be going out in style, according to Frank Bruni, who spoke with owner Florent Morellet yesterday. The bistro's long goodbye will last five weeks, with each week dedicated to one of the Kubler-Ross stages of grief. Week One, starting Monday, May 26, will be Denial, with the remaining four weeks themed as Anger, Bargaining,......

Since you already know about the $5 soda, the $26 pancakes, the $99 a pound ham, and the $25,000 dessert, you probably don’t have much derision left to spare on a measly $81 burger. In fact, depending on your appetite and income level, it could be that this latest addition to the list of New York culinary obscenities isn’t so outrageous after all. Served at the Old Homestead steakhouse in the Meatpacking District, the......

Last year Grammy-nominated Bronx rapper Remy Ma got herself into some trouble when she allegedly shot a woman (Makeda Barnes-Joseph) who she thought stole $3,000 from her. This all occurred after the two, along with a large party, were enjoying a night at Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District. Since then she's been in and out of Rikers, and has been slapped with a $20 million lawsuit by Barnes-Joseph...but her problems just got bigger. Earlier......

THEATER: It would be pretty boss if The Cherry Orchard Sequel – a long-overdue follow up to Chekhov’s play about downwardly mobile Russian aristocrats – involved the titular clear-cut orchard rising from the ashes to go on a rampage against their axe-wielding oppressors. But playwright and director Nic Ularu took things in a different direction, and the result sounds just as interesting. His story picks up again 18 years after Chekhov’s play ends, and......

Islero: This new Spanish restaurant (pictured) takes its name from the bull that killed famous toreador “Manolete” in 1947, shocking the nation and resulting in three days of Franco-decreed mourning, during which only funeral dirges were permitted on the radio. Anyway, there’s no bull on the menu, but chef Jessica Floyd, previously of DB Bistro, does have an appetizer of crispy pork belly, olive oil poached apple, fino vinegar jus and candied pinollas. An entrée......

The long delayed Grand Theft Auto IV is finally coming out soon, and it seems the marketing campaign has come off the screen and into the 3rd dimension. Where best to bring the faux Liberty City (based on New York) than to the streets than Williamsburg. Kotaku spotted a Wanted poster on the corner of Lorimer and Grand suggesting one Niko Bellic be shot on sight. Bellic, the game's main character, is "wanted for questioning......

Pinch & S’MAC: Dejected fans of Pinch, the defunct Park Avenue South “pizza by the inch” joint, will not only be reunited with their favorite Pinch pizza, but they can even slather it with the incredible mac-n-cheese from East Village favorite S’MAC. The new cheese and carb cartel will bring the best of both menus together on the Upper West Side, forming a single, unified, belt-busting celebration of starch. If you’ve never tried S’MAC, you’re......

After Page Six alluded to The Gansevoort Hotel staff as being just a tad anti-semitic, the hotel retorted saying that the incident on New Year's Eve that led to the allegation was a misunderstanding. Their side of the story includes having to kick out a yarmulke-less (and apparently racist) "ill-behaved boyfriend of a member of Kid ['I love Jewish people'] Rock's PR team." Today Grub Street asked "which member of Kid Rock’s PR team brought......

Page Six has reports of some nasty antisemitism that went down at the Hotel Gansevoort’s regrettably named G-Spa lounge. A witness tells the Post that a Jewish guest – who had paid for a ticket to the festivities – was insulted by the club’s staff for wearing a yarmulke. When the man tried to enter the party with his friend, the doorman reportedly asked a fellow staffer, “What kind of people do you want in......

We've had plenty to say about rapper Remy Ma after she shot a woman this past July in the Meatpacking District, but things have been quiet since she appeared in court early last month. Until now! The AP reports that the woman she is suspected of shooting, Makeda Barnes-Joseph, is suing her for $20 million -- a figure much higher than the $2,000 Remy thought Barnes-Joseph stole from her that night.The lawsuit says the shooting......

Last week we all learned the new Apple store would be opening in the Meatpacking District just in time for a holiday spending spree. Since then, eager Mac fans have been stalking the place at night -- trying to get a glimpse into the shiny new tech haven. Today we went inside for a sneak peak at what has to be the nicest of the three Manhattan stores so far. Upon entering you'll be greeted......

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a......

With so much buzz about the Brooklyn Apple Store lately, we nearly forgot about the almost-opened shop in the Meatpacking District. Still coyly covered up, the final reveal is just around the corner, as signs promise a December 7th opening -- just in time to spend your Christmas bonus on shiny new iThings. This location has two stories with a glass staircase connecting them, and it will be a circular staircase similar to the......

Market Table -- Mike Price, formerly of the Mermaid Inn has partnered with the Little Owl's Joey Campanaro and Gabriel Stulman, moved into the former Shopsins space and created a market/restaurant where, among other things, they'll be selling the kick-ass pork chops served at the Little Owl so you can attempt to re-create them at home. The market portion is in the soft-opening stage, and the restaurant is due to open the week of September......

Last month Remy Ma, after a night out at Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District, shot her friend Makeda Barnes-Joseph. Oops. The 23-year old survived the rapper's wrath, and Remy Ma went to Riker's. The altercation began after Barnes-Joseph was believed to have stolen $3,000 from Remy Ma, something that is still unconfirmed. According to the victim, instead of calling 911 after the shooting, Remy went through her purse while she bled from two shots......

Will Manhattan's clubs be moving to the 10013? With the group that opened Cain on 27th Street having opened Gold Bar at 389 Broome Street in February; and uber-promoter Danny A having opened the VIP-only Upstairs on Spring Street and Broadway, The Observer is reporting on a move of "clubland" to Chinatown. Following the flock is former model Emma Cleary who purchased Double Happiness at 173 Mott Street. The lounge will open as a "hip......

To recap: in the early morning hours this past Saturday, a 23-year-old woman was shot in the Meatpacking District. Later that night Grammy-nominated rap star, and Bronx native, Remy Ma (real name Remy Smith) turned herself in to authorities. Police had sought her for questioning in the shooting and she was arrested on charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. The shooting took place close to Pizza Bar where the group......

Remy Ma, the female rapper who was suspected in a shooting early Saturday morning shortly after leaving Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District, turned herself in and was questioned by police. According to The New York Times, Ma and the victim were arguing inside Pizza Bar, where they were attending a birthday party, about $3,000 that was missing from the rapper's purse. Makeda Barnes-Joseph––the woman who would eventually get shot––left the party with the rest......

An argument between two women out on the town last night devolved into gunplay in the Meatpacking District. WCBS reports that the shooter and her friend/victim were at the Pizza Bar on 9th Ave., and left shortly before 4 am. The women, who are described as being passengers in a three vehicle caravan, were arguing when the older woman (27 years old) shot her younger friend (23 years old) in the lower torso before fleeing......

Female rapper and one-time collaborator with Fat Joe on the hit single "Lean Back", Remy Ma, was arrested yesterday on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, after allegedly shooting a younger friend during an argument early Saturding morning. The shooter in question fled from the crime scene in a Cadillac Escalade, which was crashed nearby, before the trigger-happy friend ran off. While security tapes from the Meatpacking District club Pizza Bar indicated......

The Hudson Yards Development Corp. and Community Board 4 held a joint-meeting yesterday evening to outline requirements for any plans to develop the 26 acre Hudson Rail Yards, one of the largest under-developed pieces of property in Manhattan. The presentation detailed development guidelines that include a requirement that 20% of all residential housing be "affordable" and the establishment of open park space. Interested attendees included advocates for the preservation of the High Line. The state......