I fell in love with the Idiot at first sight. More accurately, I fell in love with the daytime bartender several years ago who wore no shirt, a bikini bottom and Band-Aids on her nipples. It was a great look, and I never understood why it never caught on at other bars. It was where I saw a woman celebrate her 40th birthday by getting up on the bar and removing her sundress, dancing naked, save for a thong and high heels. It was where a bartender showed us how she made a skirt out of an Idiot t-shirt and revealed to us that she, indeed, never wears underwear. It was where the same girl flashed me, unprovoked, for leaving a $5 tip on a round of shots. That was not an unrare occurrence. I've seen eight of the bartenders topless, and those are only the ones I can remember, though I'm including Yogi's in that number, and not all of those views occurred in a bar.

The Village Idiot is a place that makes you long for a repeal of the smoking ban. It stinks that badly. The bathroom is absolutely one of the top-10 most disgusting in New York. (Check out the sink, where you "clean" your hands.) Half the patrons are used to pissing on themselves anyway, so it's not all that surprising.

It's was a place where guys got into a WWF-type brawl, chairs and all, then sat down to share a pitcher. It was place to talk about how you entertained the athletic director of a major conference university by bringing him to your favorite massage parlor. It was where an entire bachelor party drank decked out in Speedo goggles. Where Maxim threw a wild party. Where the owner would drink beer out of a can by placing it in his mouth and crushing the contents out with his teeth. Where soft-core porn looped endlessly on the TVs. Where Hank and Willie blared on the juke. Where even uppity types couldn't help but be seduced by the come-as-you-are atmopshere. Where bras left behind the bar outnumbered the bottles of liquor. Where the bartenders are not just allowed, not just encouraged, but required to drink with the customers.

I can only imagine what the final two hours of this place is gonna be like. If I didn't think it would be totally packed Saturday night, I'd seriously consider staying in town for it.

Village Idiot Links:

• My Village Idiot Photos — Just a few from Tuesday night. Nothing spectacular, but it tells a bit of the story.

• New York Press on the Idiot's Closing

• New York Times on the Idiot's Closing

• Interview With Bartender Steph — One of the best bartender spills out there. Love the part about the guy who feel asleep at the bar, pissed on the jukebox, masturbated and ejaculated on a wall, then tried to kiss her. Wasn't me.

• NYCBP.com: All About the Idiot — A write-up on the place and a ton of photos of current and former bartenders linked on the right.

• Eddie Goldman Says Good-Bye to the Idiot — One of my drinking buddies writes, "Try as they will, they can never gentrify those memories and experiences of the Village Idiot out of our hearts and minds."

Other New York Links:

• The Bachelor Party Bible Book 4: New York — Tales of a debaucherous night that includes a stop at Jake's Dilemma, where just last week I kicked some people's asses in pool, even though they brought their own sticks into a friggin' bar, where I've seen Dave Attell and Dustin Hoffman, where I've attended a Hedonism party, and where I saw the Yanks win Games 3 and 7 of the ALCS last year.

• Interview With Randy Kim of NBA.com — My former coworker, with whom we shared a lot of laughs at Chucky Brown's expense, answers some questions from the Gothamist. (Chucky Brown fan club.)

• ESPN.com on the Recent NYC Dodgeball Tourney — Held four blocks from my apartment, they're having another one tonight, July 28. Got a softball commitment, though.

• Film Shoot Report Card — Grading the many production companies that film in Greenwich Village.

• EditrixAbby.com — Now this is a gal to party with. Check the photos from parties that could have been held at the Village Idiot (Not entirely safe for work.)

• Shoe-Stealing Revenge Against Blatherers at Central Park Concert — Some dude was so pissed at a group of people yapping at an outdoor classical music concert that he stole someone's shoe on the way out. And, yep, I drank with the guy at the Village Idiot.