Le Bain, the steamy Meatpacking District nightclub with the sexy roof bar perched atop the lusty Standard Hotel, is getting some very bad press today after a Brooklyn man was charged with sexually assaulting a woman in one of the bathrooms. According to investigators, Philip Manning, 34, met the unidentified 23-year-old woman at Le Bain early Monday morning, when he offered to buy her a drink. She claims he escorted her to a different part of the club, forced her into a bathroom, and refused to let her leave until she performed oral sex on him. more ›

Lindsay Lohan, when not getting Billy Joel tattoos, is apparently still getting invited to high-profile events, like the V magazine party at the Top of the Standard (nee the Boom Boom Room) last week. And, in typical Lindsay fashion, things got a little messy BLOODY. more ›

Following her Thursday night tumble outside of Motor City Bar on the Lower East Side, Lindsay Lohan continued to drink her clumsy juice into the weekend. At least, so it would seem! According to vague reports and anonymous sources, the fallen starlet was bar-hopping on Friday night, hitting up RiffRaff's in the Flatiron District for the Cut Copy afterparty, and then heading to the Standard (where we're pretty sure an LCD Soundsystem afterparty was taking place). more ›

Sorry to start the day on a note of bitter envy, but check out all these really, really, ridiculously good looking places we can't get into nor afford! While their styles are somewhat disparate, they do share one thing in common: they all sprang from the minds of Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the hip couple behind design firm Roman and Williams. SO hot right now—but you might not know it if you can't afford a room at The Standard, or can't wait hours for a table at The Breslin or The Standard Grill, or have naively tried to visit that insane Mordor-esque red-glowing bar, formerly known as The Boom Boom Room, atop the 18th floor of The Standard. (To be fair, impecunious nobodies are perfectly welcome to buy a coffee from Stumptown and drink it in the lobby of The Ace Hotel.) more ›

Courtney Love rang in the New Year performing at the Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room. We were told "no press allowed," but luckily Love loves to Twitter everything. Yesterday she linked to this video of her last-minute rehearsal in her hotel room overlooking the High Line. Here's another rehearsal (which may give a glimpse at the heavily guarded Boom Boom Room) and another. more ›

After weeks of trying to make it work, Robert Valin has given up on what would have been his annual West Village Leather & Bear Street Fair. The bears were thwarted when the Standard's Andre Balazs said the fair would clash with the image of his precious hotel (even though it's known for baring it all). The Food & Wine Festival is also taking place in the area that weekend, and the executive director said "next year we can all work together and coordinate." That'll be an interesting crowd! [Scoopy's Notebook via Curbed] more ›

Environmental groups are saying that the recently reopened High Line Park has gone too far in bringing nature to the heart of the city's meatpacking district, claiming that wood used for the park's bleachers, benches and decking is coming directly from the rainforests. We had heard similar complaints about wood at the nearby Standard, but now Rainforest Relief and New York Climate Action Group have unveiled a banner blocking the view of 10th Avenue from the bleachers calling out the raw state of the park. The groups say that that Forest Stewardship Council, the organization accrediting wood used by Friends of the High Line, is violating their own principles in approving wood from "ancient primary forests, including the Amazon" for use at the High Line. The entire press release from Rainforests of New York is after the jump. more ›

This just in: people are still showing off their naughty bits at the Standard. Last week a reader spotted some flesh at the hotel, just two minutes in to a walk on the High Line. They ask: "Guy or girl?" more ›

Andre Balazs of the Standard Hotel claims he's not the one behind keeping the West Village Leather & Bear Street Fair off his turf. After reports came in that the hotelier was anti-Bear (despite fully supporting his guests baring it all for visitors of the High Line), he now says it's the mayor's fault! His hotel is actually "headquarters for the big NYC Wine and Food Festival happening that same weekend, so the mayor's office wants the bears to reschedule." Robert Valin, executive director of the Leather Weekend, told the Villager that the "hotel’s managing director, Ian Nicholson, reached out to him, and that a sit-down was set for this week. The hotel people now claim they had no idea the leather fest was being booted off the block—though Valin the previous week had told us the Mayor’s Office clearly said the hotel didn’t want the S&M confab there." Looks like no one wants to be on the bear's bad side! As for staying at the hotel, Valin told the paper: “I think I would request that the bears get higher floors—we are sexual men." [via Curbed] more ›

In honor of Fashion Week, KnittaPlease installed some of their crafty graffiti outside of the Standard Hotel. The knit pieces will remain there until the 17th, but when we first heard about this project we were sort of hoping Magda Sayeg would be knitting coverups for the hotel's naked guests. Perhaps the Standard should make good with the Bears and adorn the entrance with leather and whips for their upcoming (and possibly canceled) street fair. more ›

The Standard Hotel may be able to handle some skin... as long as it's not leather. Following all the attention they've gotten for their exhibitionist guests (and staff), the Villager reports the hotel on the High Line didn't want the West Village Leather and Bear Street Fair coming near their doors, even though it won unanimous approval from Community Board 2. more ›

After a week of hearing all about these exhibitionists at the Standard Hotel, someone has finally sent us an image. See a much larger version here, and try to guess what's actually happening in this hotel room. Or don't. As Vanishing NY points out, city living has always offered glimpses into stranger's lives; two years ago HBO projected this on the side of a LES building, and before that we had films like Rear Window. The site points out that the Standard's management has created the dullest version of a voyeuristic experience, and "In his direction, the luxury hotelier lacks the depth and nuance of Hitchcock." It's true, but what does one expect from André Balazs? Maybe the residents at the Hotel Chelsea should create an artier version of this. more ›

The naked truth about the Standard Hotel originally broke on Curbed in early July, and now it's made it all the way to the desk of Brian Williams after getting daily coverage in the New York papers this week. more ›

High Line photos aren't exactly rare, but, since we happened to be on a nearby roof recently, we took a few. more ›

Truth be told, this past season of America's Next Top Model hasn't been doing it for us, because it pales after Project Runway (and we think most of the wannabe models are not that good-looking). So we're super excited that on Thirteen tonight, there will be a program that goes undercover into the world of cat shows: The Standard of Perfection "Show Cats". It's supposed to show "the training, pampering, bathing, grooming and fussing that go into preparing a 'campaign cat' for the biggest event on the cat calendar" - plus all the backstabbing and dirty tricks! And today's NY Times feature/review says that "The most interesting moment is when one cat freaks out in the middle of a competition and leaps into the audience." Awesome - it's like Moscow Cats Theatre gone mad! And at 9PM, we can watch Veronica Mars back on the UPN, since the Nets game preempted last night's airing. more ›

Other Nominees: more ›