by Mimi Ritzen Crawford (courtesy WSJ)

••• “Albert Trummer’s vision for Theater Bar, his latest venue at 114 Franklin St. in Tribeca, is to ‘create a new kind of show bartender who belongs to New York City.’ Mr. Trummer built the bar with a proscenium where bartenders will be in the spotlight. […] The vibe is an old theater from the 1930s. Think Viennese salon with maybe jazz music, a pianist, or violinist. The dynamic will change through the night with new ‘acts.’ The drink menu will be organized by acts, too, with each featuring ‘original remedies’ from around the world. […] ‘The whole bar is a performance, with four to five bartenders, shaking, mixing and squeezing,’ he said. ‘It’s almost like Top Chef.’ Mr. Trummer was coy to give away too many details before his official opening, which he says will be around Fashion Week in early September. […] A recent pre-opening party for writer Libby Keatinge’s 31st birthday […]  included Ms. Keatinge riding through Theater Bar on a white horse, reenacting a night at Studio 54. The bartenders were shirtless, there was a giant birthday cake and the guests wore glittery attire.” (Wall Street Journal)

••• “Gov. Neville Chamberlain David Paterson offered to help the developers of the controversial Ground Zero mosque and community center move if they were willing to relocate. The potential compromise was floated by Paterson not out of opposition to the proposed 13-story project, but to help quell a debate about the mosque that has raged nationwide for months. ‘I don’t have any objection to it being built there, but I’m very sensitive to the desire of those who are adamant against it to see something else worked out,’ Paterson said Tuesday morning at a press conference in Midtown.” (DNAinfo)

••• The New York Observer presses its face against the windows of 150 Reade, on the market for $11.5 million.

••• Price cuts at One Rector Park. (Curbed)

••• “The gents that brought us Turks & Frogs, a cozy wine bar on West 11th Street (and its big sister restaurant in Tribeca) have transformed the space that was once Cesar’s Laundry [on W. 11th bet. Greenwich and Washington Sts.] into an early 20th Century train car. The Orient Express, as the classic cocktail-centric bar is called, is decked out with dark wood, red leather and complimented with unique touches like antique luggage racks and vintage suitcases (the owner used to operate an antique store in the space next door that is Turks and Frogs).” (NBC New York)