Green day… er, night:
A “green” nightclub? It seems it’s a concept whose time has come. Jon B — known for Home and Guesthouse in Chelsea — plans to open the world’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified nightclub. To be called Green House, it’s currently being put together at the corner of Vandam and Varick Sts., as we found out by stumbling upon it this week. According to B’s environmental consultant on the project, whose name we didn’t catch, all the wood inside the club will be certified by the F.S.C. (Forest Stewardship Council), meaning it will have been tracked from seed to sawing down as having been sustainably grown and harvested. “It will be a lot of bamboo,” he noted. Also, all the lighting will be ultra-energy efficient, the consultant said. We asked if the drink fixin’s — olives, lemons, swizzle sticks — will have minimum carbon footprint, but they didn’t seem ready to provide an answer on that. As for when the place will open, Jon B, standing outside and glancing up for a second from a cell phone conversation he was immersed in, said, “That’s what I’m working on right now.”
Look out, Frank! Alphie McCourt’s new book, “A Long Stone’s Throw,” the latest chapter in the McCourt family saga, is coming out this week. “It is your fault, more or less,” Alphie remarked wryly in an e-mail to Scoopy. Indeed, it was an item in this very column a while back, noting how Alphie had setbacks finding a publisher — and so resorted instead to making a book on tape with a Dolly Parton sidekick — that sparked renewed attention and led to him getting a book contract after all, as he should have all along.
Ballot sense: Anticipating a huge turnout next Tuesday along the lines of Clinton ’92, Assemblymember Deborah Glick suggests voters not all flood the polls early in the morning and early in the evening. Instead, people should try to stagger things, by voting in midday and early afternoon, if they can, she said.
Tattoo you: Tattoo artists will rally on Thursday on City Hall’s steps from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. to protest the alleged police brutality incident in Brooklyn last week in which five officers jumped Michael Mineo, a 24-year-old body piercer, and, Mineo says, sodomized him with a Motorola radio’s antenna… Meanwhile, one of the protest’s organizers and one of Scoopy’s all-time leading sources over the years, John Penley tells us he has had it, is “burned out” and is leaving and “going somewhere else,” to “parts unknown.” He wouldn’t be more specific. “I’m really busy, I’m moving my photo archives right now,” Penley said when we called on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m tired — no one had to walk in my shoes this summer.” It just won’t be the same without Penley leading the L.E.S. Slacktivists in chants of “Die Yuppie Scum” and feeding us items about…well, about everything and everyone under the sun in the East Village and Lower East Side. But apparently a summer spent tilting at Bruce Willis, the Economakises and the Christodora House has worn him out — but only temporarily, we hope.
Downloads killed the video star: The Kim’s Video empire continues to contract. One of the last two Kim’s Video stores still standing, the St. Mark’s outlet, will close by January, we’re told, but is planning to reopen on Second Ave. in a smaller space, where they will only sell, not rent, movies. A large banner in the store’s window states they are making a "Public Offer," seeking an institution, such as New York University, to acquire their 55,000 tapes and then continue to make them available to costumers on a low-fee membership basis, as well as to film students. Once upon a time, Kim’s used to have two Bleecker St. stores, an Avenue A store, a store farther uptown and one in Jersey City. All closed. The three-year-old Kim’s Video on Christopher St. is no longer affiliated with Yongman Kim, who owns the St. Mark’s shop, and plans to stay open, said manager Chris Anderson. But rentals aren’t exactly going strong. Netflix and videos on demand have cut into the market big time. Also, Anderson said, "It used to be a lot of college kids — and now college kids download stuff. … I’m sure our kids won’t grow up with video stores," he said ruefully.
All that (chamber) jazz: Villager publisher emeritus Elizabeth Butson called from Tampa last week to fill us in on how the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce is really jazzing things up. Namely, the chamber is starting a new Jazz Alive concert series and also establishing an annual Village Music Legends Award. The first concert will take place Thurs., Nov. 6, at 7 p.m., at the New York University Torch Club, 18 Waverly Place, and will be a benefit for the jazz workshop program of the Greenwich House Music School. The event will feature sax player and composer Virginia Mayhew and Grammy-nominated vocalist Carla Cook. Wine and tapas will be served during the performance and are included in the ticket price. In addition, the first Village Music Legends honoree will be Odetta. The chamber also plans to promote a Village Jazz Week next year in support of local jazz venues. For ticket information, call Sean Oakley at 212-255-5811. V.I.P. tickets, including a reception with performers, are $250, chamber member price is $100 and nonmember price is $125.
Correction: Our item last week on photographer Nick Brooks getting leniency from a judge because of an outpouring of written testimonial on his behalf, mistakenly said Kerry Burke is a New York Post reporter. He writes for the Daily News.
