Femme Fatale Puts the Wrecking Ball to Double Happiness
Construction has just started in earnest on Emma Cleary’s super-exclusive boîte Femme Fatale. This morning we peeped debris being hauled out of the former Double Happiness and Palais Royale spaces, meaning it’s just a matter of time before the coveted skylit alcove — scene of so many freshman birthday parties — becomes what we imagine will be the teeniest, tiniest VIP in the city. We invite you to take one last nostalgic look at it before you find yourself telling the teenage model you’re with, “You know, you didn’t always have to buy a $7,500 bottle of Veuve to sit here…”
Earlier: The Last Days of Double Happiness
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The Last Days of Double HappinessThough rumor had Double Happiness and its upstairs bar Palais Royale closing in late August to make way for former Tenjune promoter Emma Cleary’s restaurant and lounge Femme Fatale, it remains open. Now we can report that September 29 will be the place’s last night, when we can only assume that nostalgic types who did their first bump in the bathroom will tear the abacuses from the wall before the double doors are chained shut once and for all. Don’t like the idea of another velvet rope in the neighborhood? Just remember, the current incarnation was supposedly a gay social club and mafia hangout. Emma’s door will be a breeze in comparison.
Earlier: Double Happiness to Get $1 Million Makeover, Reopen to Privileged Few
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Double Happiness to Get $1 Million Makeover, Reopen to Privileged Few
Club promoter, artist, and former model Emma Cleary has purchased the bi-level space that currently houses Double Happiness and plans to reopen it, by New Year’s, only to those who can get onto the list. Her partner in the sale, brokered by Karma McDermett of Stevens & Co., is a managing director at JP Morgan. Cleary tells us the upstairs, which currently houses Palais Royale, will revert to its former incarnation as a restaurant (remember Wyanoka?) with Ulrich Sterling of 5 Ninth and SushiSamba turning out a ten-item menu of gourmet bar food. “Places like the Box and 205 are catering to the Lower East Side crowd,” Cleary says. “I’m going for more of the models, investment bankers, and celebrities.” Just how that will sit with the neighbors remains to be seen: At yesterday’s CB2 meeting, there were cries that the area outside of Double Happiness had become “party central,” causing Cleary to pen a missive, reprinted here for anyone who cares, laying out her plans for a $1 million swankification.
