This morning, Page Six reported the following quote from Amy herself:

"I have no idea where these rumors are coming from. We are really just renovating the space . . . It's just taking a lot longer than I had planned."

It's kinda like what Eater's Ben Leventhal reported on Friday!

"I just finally got the blockade reopened on the block after 3 long years! I am redoing the entire space to give it a facelift, that's really all. I am not closing.."

Which kinda corroborates a report someone else put together Thursday night!

The neighborhood's shed some of its worst clubs over the last year or so (Home, Guesthouse, Prime, and less recently: Stereo) and Sacco seems to be trying to position herself within that boneyard to re-launch Bungalow 8 as the hot destination it once reigned over New York as. We're also told that she was offered to go in on a club with someone else recognizing Bungalow's downturn in business, a sexy spot still in the construction phase looking for a leader. Sacco rebuffed their offer, letting them know that she's more than capable of doing it on her own. Burn.

Looks like that stupid reporter's source rolled him the same press line Sacco tested before hitting Eater and Page Six with it. So she's on point with the message. And for all we know, we have to take her at her word. But, real talk:

A re-launch is gonna be hard for Bungalow to pull off. The place used to be legendary, no question. In the pantheon of nightlife history's legends, Amy Sacco was one of, if not, truly the first woman to knock the boys off their feet.

Can you give an old club a new rope? The name means nothing anymore; it's like saying you're going to eat at Spago: Timeless, to be sure. But does anybody really give a shit? The biggest "big" club in town right now is Avenue. The trend is putting nightlife in a bunch of smaller spaces with insanely tight doors. Does it matter that she's going to be the only one left in a neighborhood left for dead? Wouldn't that be the kind of thing to work against her?

We'll find out. It's not like we're rooting for her to fail. If anything, Sacco's success is good for these pages: if the new Bungalow can be anything like the old one, there're plenty of awesomely ridiculous celebrity shitshows to fall out of there, literally.

• Twilight star Ashley Greene, rumored to be dating Chace Crawford, is the latest in a long line of starlets to have nude photos leak onto the internet. [Gatecrasher and Fleshbot (NSFW!)]
  
  
• So much for that little diet of hers — America's thuggish, chicken riot-inciting overlord, Oprah, ate her way through Manhattan over the weekend, making stops at the Times Square TGIFridays for potato skins and Dylan's Candy Bar for Starbursts and Hershey's Kisses, just like your average Midwestern tourist. [Page Six]
  
  
• No celebrities want to appear on Amy Sacco's dumb Bravo reality show, because Amy Sacco and her little nightlife empire and over and dead! [Gatecrasher]
  
  
• Well here's a bright little ray of sunshine to warm even the coldest heart — Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson are giving it yet another go! [Page Six]
  
  
• Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper were spotted over the weekend boarding a plane to Spain. Though they've yet to confirm their coupledom, traveling overseas together is pretty much a dead giveaway, right? [Page Six]
  
  
• Poor Jessica Simpson recently got dumped by the epic tool quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and now she's scared to death in Japan after an earthquake made her pretty blonde little head worry. [Sun]
  
  
• Gossip Girl co-stars Leighton Meester and Sebastian Stan are reportedly deeply in love with each other, so much so that they plan on moving in together very soon. [Page Six]
  
  
• So not only does Cameron Diaz now resemble a character on Nip/Tuck, but she also has armpits that have the audacity to sweat profusely, an unfortunate trait for someone who's photographed as often as she is. [Mirror]
  
  
• Finally, at age 35 and after years of drinking, drug use, nonstop partying, rocker dude-boning, etc., Kate Moss is beginning to show some wear and tear on that beautiful face of hers. [Daily Mail]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.A few years ago, Amy Sacco was the hottest nightlife impresario in New York. Now, we hear, Bungalow 8— the once celebrity-heavy club that was Sacco's crown jewel—has stopped paying its employees. Is she totally broke this time?

Today we spoke to DJ Rafael, who DJ'd at Bungalow 8 about twice a week for the past three years. Two weeks ago, he finally quit. Since late January, he says, the club has paid its employees only "here and there." And since March or so, it's barely paid any salaried employees at all.

Rafael says he's personally owed "thousands." And, he says he's not the only one. For most of this year, Bungalow has only been paying its employees intermittently, at best. He hears that some kitchen workers have received no money at all for months. Many employees are trying to hang on and hope for the best because of the terrible job market, but, he says of Bungalow, "They're broke and they need to close."

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Of course, Sacco's empire has been dying for at least a year now. Her Bungalow 8 expansion to London got a tepid reception; her NYC restaurant Bette closed abruptly last summer; Josh Stein wrote a semi-requiem for her in Page Six Magazine.

But the death of Bungalow 8 would mean the party is really over. It doesn't sound good. If you're an employee owed money, email us and tell us your story.

Sacco's rise to fame is familiar by now. She's just a Jersey girl who came to New York City, worked in the restaurant business, and made some important friends who eventually bankrolled her first club, Lot 61. She hit her peak with the opening of Bungalow 8 in 2001, which succeeded in turning the once-barren area of West Chelsea into the club capital of New York—to the point of destroying the exclusivity and isolation of the neighborhood that helped attract the top models and A-list celebrities to Sacco's clubs in the first place.

But Sacco's more recent history is one of unmistakable decline. She opened a Bungalow 8 in London, which received (and still receives) a tepid reception from the locals. Bette, the restaurant Sacco opened as a "neighborhood joint" near her own Chelsea apartment, closed without warning earlier this summer. She got a slew of nightlife and image consulting jobs that, while lucrative, aren't nearly as glamorous as her former life as an NYC tastemaker. And she says she's simply getting tired of it all:

After three decades in the game, she was bored and worn out. As Amy admits, “If I’m bored, I’m just miserable and I think that translates.”...

“I’m in Vegas, London and New York,” Amy says, “and I’m adding to my calendar. I definitely want to go to Dubai.” When she’ll return home is unclear. She’s been renting an apartment in London since November. “Certain people bitch and moan because I’m not in New York,” she says, “but I can’t be everywhere. I deserve to have a life.”

Now she has a new, younger boyfriend—London chef Andrew Lasseter—and says vaguely that she's "gone into hedge funds and finance." That presumably would help with the $179,000 tax lien leveled on her apartment, which Stein says may or may not be cleared up by now.

Of course, money shouldn't really be a problem for Sacco now. She talks about wanting to "reap the fruits of my labor," and no one would deny her the privilege. But that may involve her acknowledging that her moment is past, and ceding the nightlife crown to a new generation. Bungalow 8 is no longer hot in New York, and Sacco's decision to take the club to London rather than, say, Vegas when it was still popular may have cost her the chance to cash in on brand at its height.

People get older, and stop clubbing as much. In the same way, club moguls see their popularity wane as their proprietary crowd gives way to newer, younger stars. So what? Amy Sacco can either move into the more serene field of hotels, like Ian Schrager, or hang it up altogether. Less buzzing around is usually a healthy thing.

[P6 Mag]

Sacco: "Bungalow 8 London is more like the sophisticated European sister of New York."

Reviewer: "damn right! There are many worthwhile ways to spend your £350 in London - this isn't one of them. You've read the reviews - they are accurate. It is nothing like Bungalow 8 NYC which was so much fun a few years ago..."

Sacco: "And the downstairs opens at eleven o’clock, Tuesday through Saturday, and it’s much more of a clubby vibe than we have in New York."

Reviewer: "I'm a fair person....So I tried EVERY night in the week at Bungalow 8, and I'm talking weekend, early, midnight til late.... and it was a DISASTER....spent over £500 each night on champagne. Waste of money if you ask me."

Reviewer: "The place is very disappointing time after time. Specially compared to other clubs I have membership with. The music is cliche and dull. The members are like a bunch of estate agents, the place itself is like a corridor and the drinks are overpriced. A lot of hot air. I would rate the club lounge at Heathrow Airport higher than this place."

Etc.

[BlackBook, View London]

A tipster to Eater says:

At Bette last night for the closing party. I live and work in the area and dined there fairly regularly. The bartender told me that Amy Sacco sold the restaurant and gave the staff about 8 hours notice.

Cold. Why, we remember a few years back when we were talking about Sacco's "quest for total domination," and HBO was planning a story about her rise to fame. She had so much success in the city, she said she'd rather die than return to her native Jersey.

Then things started to slowly go downhill. Rumors flew that Sacco was stiffing her PR agency; the usual suspects started placing bets on when Bungalow 8 would close. Her doorman struck out on his own. She tried to export her magic to London, but failed to find the same popularity.

Sacco recently called New York nightlife—and herself—"overrated." Now she's been proven right.

one problem was for a place that easily charges the highest prices in London (10 quid for a tiny bottle of water...you are having a laugh) it doesn't offer much in terms of entertainment except if you get a kick out of spending crap loads of money and getting little back in return.

We are regulars at Bungalow 8 and on Wednesday evening we went down at 10pm for our usual champagne eve. The waitress took our order twice and came back saying they did not have this and that bottle in stock! The third time we ordered a bottle which was around £100-£150 on the menu approximately. I know because I checked it on the menu. Two bottles later we got a bill for £485. We are not the type to complain or make any sort of fuss, but we were all very disappointed and appalled at the fact that they would deliberately overcharge, thinking just because you can afford it, its ok to do that.

I'm personally very disappointed...

Last night my fiance dragged me down Bungalow 8 for a few drinks, as she has recently received her membership. My god, I was appalled by the manners of the lanky doorman - the tallest door person there with dark brown hair. I can't believe they get away with having staff like that at a reputable club. Anyway, drinks were great, the music was ok, on and off, but the no. of freaks there were the entertaining part of the evening!!We were told it was an A-listers club and considering the membership fees of £300 and the hassle of being 'shortlisted' for the membership, it was a load of K*K.

[Ratings via The View, London. Related: what is this "K*K"?]

Sure, Sacco can count on visiting Americans: movie producer, Harvey Weinstein, threw a party there after the Bafta award gala on Sunday, drawing director Ridley Scott, cross-dressing comedian Eddie Izzard and actress Kate Hudson, among others. But most nights the place is empty. The commenters on View, a local London site, are harsh: "Anyone who has been to Bungalow 8 in London knows what it is really like - an enlarged Manolo Blahnik shoe box, empty, I might add except for a few squat stools. Dull." Sacco had better, as she promised, start dancing on the table tops.

Sacco Shit: Buy a Bungalow or 8 [NYM]

Armin to Get You Hammered: Bungalow 8 Doorman Is Opening His Own Joint [NYO]

• Amy Sacco seems to be losing her touch—her new London nightclub has barely made a blip on the radar screen over there. [DBTH]
  
• Plagiarism Yale review of 300 blah blah plagiarism Slate no comment plagiarism blah blah blah blah. [IvyGate]
  
• 30 Rock gets renewed. More Alec Baldwin for everyone! [B&C]
  
• Bravo's next Project Runway incarnation will involve photographers. The name of the show is Money Shot. [Fashionista]

Class-of-'00-at-Yale-hot boy-journo Isaiah Wilner brings the news that 27th Street—packed wall-to-wall with nightmare nightclubs, cops on horseback and underage harlots from Bayshore—still houses Amy Sacco's wee celeb hangout. For now. We place Bungalow's closing, at least at that location, at sometime in early April.

The Short, Drunken Life of Club Row [NY mag]

Word is that Amy Sacco hasn't been paying her PR bills, for the last six months or so. Not because she can't afford them, but because she knows that Nadine Johnson can't afford to lose her. NJ's been losing her girls to new agencies such as Syndicate PR. Apparently, she's worried that, if she just stops working for Sacco, the nightlife queen would just switch to one of her rivals, who'd also work for her for free. And Sacco's circle would move with her.

Earlier: What is Amy Sacco Trying to Tell Us??

Tune in tomorrow as Fabian continues his quest to matter.

Side Dish [R&M (last item)]

After years of velvet-rope studies, Chelsea scientists have determined that it takes approximately eight years for Amy Sacco's first nightclub, Lot 61, to decay into a non-radioactive venue.

What Comes After Death? [FelixSalmon.com]

Subject: please read this ladies and gents alike...especially if you have sisters
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:46:34 -0500
From: Amy Sacco

Ladies Watch Out!

A woman at the nightclub Crobar on Saturday night was taken by 5 men, who according to hospital and police reports, gang raped her before dumping her. Unable to remember the events of the evening, tests later confirmed the repeat rapes along with traces of Rohypnol in her blood, with Progesterex, which is essentially a small sterilization pill.

The drug now being used by rapists at parties to rape and sterilize their victims. Progesterex is available to vets to sterilize large animals. Rumor has it that Progesterex is being used together with Rohypnol, the date rape drug. As with Rohypnol, all they have to do is drop it into the girls drink. The girl can't remember a thing the next morning, of all that had taken place the night before.

Progesterex, which dissolves in drinks just as easily, is such that the victim doesn't conceive from the rape and the rapist needn't worry about having a paternity test identifying him months later.

The drugs effects are not temporary- They are permanent! Progesterex was designed to sterilize horses. Any female who takes it will never be able to conceive. The bastards can get this drug from anyone who is in vet school or any university. It's that easy, and Progesterex is about to break out big every where. Believe it or not, there are even sites on the Internet telling people how to use it.

Please COPY (NOT FORWARD) this to everyone you know, especially girls. Be careful when you're out, and don't leave your drink unattended. Please make the effort to pass this onto all you know.