From Eater:

Regarding the convo, wrong again: the Chodorow was eating with his lovely wife and was on the phone with his designers. Here's the thing: there is an issue with the stingray bar top currently installed at the restaurant. Just didn't hold up. "When you experiment with new materials, sometimes the solutions aren't that easy," says El Chod. Now on order is not the cheap stuff, but this stuff (click "stingray parquet"), which promises to be more durable. While repairs are being made, there is a temporary covering on the bar. So, that's that.

Special thanks to the Duggan family and Jeremy Beck for providing 80% of the content here.

Oh, behave [NYDN]
Overheard in New York

We came home and checked Overheard's archives, and, sure enough, there was Brian's story, via Ben, set in Central Park. Egads! Our world was a little bit shattered. Does this sort of thing happen a lot? Are there smartass MBAs nationwide gaming the site? And is there anyway to prove that things allegedly overheard in New York were actually overheard here — or, for that matter, actually overheard?

We were going to email Morgan Friedman or Michael Malice for some answers, but then we realized we'd long ago stopped caring which one is still affiliated with the site and whether they're still feuding. Also, we realized we didn't really care — the shit's still funny, anyway.

We'll just never trust the internet again.

Weigh Two Long [OINY]

I hired Michael Krechmer to do headlines and publicity for Overheard and he was doing a pretty decent job until his biography, "Ego and Hubris", came out last week. I guess it got to his head — choice title. [...] He then bought another domain and threatened to start a copycat site with OINY's content unless we gave him complete control over the sites.

Blogger catfight? So unexpected.

Earlier: Overheard in NY: Malice Cut Loose?

*Yes, we've seen Malice's mass email. No less than 25 times. No need to forward, though we thank you for your diligence.

I am writing to inform you that Michael "Malice" Krechmer, the former editor of Overheard In New York and Overheard in the Office, is no longer affiliated with either web site.

Uh, wha? "Malice" isn't his real last name?!

As for the rest of the story, we understand that the two were in good faith negotiations to part amicably when Friedman sent out the email. We assume Malice-cum-Krechmer is talking with some sort of counsel; in the meantime, he's launching New York Overheard (though not quite at the time of this post). And as far as we know, Harvey Pekar is still working on Malice's forthcoming Autobiography of Michael Malice, though he might want to change that title to avoid any Frey-ian controversy.

And that concludes this installment of random bloggy gossip.

People blab on their cellphones all over town, but tantalizing tidbits can still come from people talking to each other in public places.

"So then I looked up herpes on the Internet."
Woman with a British accent talking to a friend in Central Park

"The story is, she had this asp."
Man in full Roman costume speaking to woman in complete Cleopatra costume on Warren Street in Cobble Hill a few days before Halloween

"It wasn't me! I was skiing that weekend!"
Man talking to a friend on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan [Clearly, Jamieson has a different definition of a "tantalizing tidbit" than we do.]

"Stella. She ate a sweet potato every day of her life."
Elderly woman to a friend, sitting in Roll-n-Roaster in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Bitchy email sent this afternoon to Jamieson from Michael Malice, editor of Overheard in New York:

From: Michael Malice
To: Wendell Jamieson
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 12:57 PM
Subject: Eavesdropping

Hi Wendell!

I saw your piece in today's New York Times on eavesdropping in the Big Apple. How did you come up with such an original concept? I was thinking of starting a website like that called Newyorkeavesdropping.com. Would it be okay with you if I took your idea?

Warm regards,
Michael Malice

Eavesdropping on the Public Theater of the Absurd [NYT]