RECENTLY CLOSED: THE HOSE

East Village watering hole and party space the Hose has closed. The second story bar up on Avenue B and 13th street shut its doors Monday after less than one year of business in gay nightlife. We hear that the owner, Robert Morgan, chose not to renew the bar's lease, which leaves us wondering what will become of this two-story gem with an up-and-running liquor license.

The Hose had formerly been a non-gay hangout called Uncle Ming's, as well as one of David Mancuso's lofts where he hosted his famous Loft parties. Morgan told the NY Press he decided to turn the bar gay last winter when uptown and Wall Street kids looking for downtown times in the East Village stopped coming to Ming's. Based on the success of Paul Short's monthly Spit party, which ran at Uncle Ming's for two years, Morgan redecorated with hanging rubber hoses and enlisted Short to manage the space.

For the first few months, the Hose aimed for seediness, with an active backroom for sex and raunchy party roster including Short's weekly Mooseknuckle Fridays and Formika's Le Raunch Wednesdays. Short fell short on programming, however, continuously bumping promising parties in favor of one-offs that would earn money from high door prices. Once the underwear parties and dildo performances got quashed (as did Short), a number of promising monthlies popped up--Rocket, Planet Zizmor, Tweet, Judy, Country Karaoke--as well as weeklies on Thursdays (Oops) and Fridays (Frisky Fridays).

The last big blowout at the Hose was our Zizmor Halloween party this past Saturday. The sound system still cut in and out, the cd and record players continuously skipped and the a/c was tempermental to say the least. That said, the Hose was a blank canvas for promoters and DJs to do whatever they'd like with the space. It's too bad that just as the club was finding its footing with a roster of creative and experimental DJs and performers, it closed its doors.

In happier news, we hear that Plan B (formerly Crow Bar, a notorious East Village gay institution) is up for sale just down the street on Avenue B and 10th Street. Any investors around?