The summer season is fast approaching and the annual game of Hamptons nightclub musical chairs is coming to an end. First, Lily Pond's landlord tried to strongarm Michael Satsky and Brian Gefter into signing an expensive four-year lease extension by threatening to evict them for another operating team. While those two sides battle it out in court, a tipster tells us that Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum's EMM Group will be taking over The Georgica venue for the summer and re-branding it SL Southampton after their new Meatpacking District venue, Simyone Lounge.
If this is true, it could potentially leave The Eldridge's Matt Levine without a Hamptons venue for the summer, although he recently promised Eater NY that he "will be involved with Georgica this summer" and tells Curbed that he is "not currently aware of any concept or operating changes", a soft denial if we've ever heard one. We've reached out to EMM for comment, and will provide updates as they become available.
· Lily Pond Lawsuit Sheds Light On Hamptons Nightclub Scene [Curbed Hamptons]
· Hamptons Nightlife Coverage [~ENY~]
UPDATE: Eugene Remm tells us that while they "are not doing anything called SL East", they "are speaking about a few different Hampton deals but won't have anything locked in till the end of the week."