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When the owners of three East Village institutions (Nice Guy Eddie’s, the Library, and Julep) painted the old Meow Mix bordello-red then hung neon beer signs in the window, the previous, lesbian clientele probably wept. But the changeover isn’t a total loss. Now a desexualized neighborhood rec room, the bar suggests an adlib party that could peter out, or ramp up, any minute. There’s a pool table at rear and a barrage of tchotchkes—Mexican streamers, a plastic palm tree, a mirror with Madonna painted on it—adding plenty of color. Even when only a dozen, mostly male, customers are sitting at the few cocktail tables or on the incongruous car-seat bench, the small room feels full. A jukebox stocked with thrash and twang longs to draw East Village pub crawlers westward. But the owners’ Avenue A joints have all the cred and the crowds. So far, Vasmay has the clutter. — Alec Appelbaum

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