The Gold Dust Lounge's lease is dead. Long live the Gold Dust Lounge (which will neither close nor get evicted this weekend, but will serve

Sticking around

​$1 vodka drinks).

Negotiations between the operators and landlords  regarding the future of the Union Square landmark bar will continue past March 10. That's the date when the Bovis brothers' lease on the space they've rented from the Handlery family expires, according to a release issued Friday morning.  The Handlerys are the operators of the eponymous hotel and future landlord of the Express clothing store that's signed an agreement to take over the bar's space.

"The historic Dive Bar will not be padlocked on Sunday and Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will not be evicting the Bovis Brothers until the courts decide on their lawsuit (no time soon)," said press agent Lee Houskeeper, who announced a daylong "No Last Call Party" for Saturday. The brothers, both in their 80s, filed suit in February, alleging that the lease was altered without their knowledge.

And accusations of unfair play remain in the air: In a competing release, Gold Dust supporters stand accused of defacing a Handlery Hotel bathroom with "pro-Gold Dust slogans," according to PR maven Sam Singer. But: dollar drinks!

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Terry Chay/Flickr

Thanks for your money, out-of-towners.

​Have you hugged a tourist today? In a 2010 study, San Francisco's Office of Economic Analysis revealed that 3,200 nightlife establishments have generated more than $4 billion for the city.

80 percent of this stemmed from visitor areas including North Beach, Chinatown, and Union Square, and on an average night, 57 percent of patrons were visitors to S.F. No word on what percentage of this is from purchases of emergency fleecewear by people who expected California to be warm.

Restaurants contributed the most revenue, an estimated $3.2 billion. Bars, venues, nightclubs, art galleries, and live theater are also included in the establishments studied in 2010.

These industries supported the city's economy by collectively spending $1.6 billion on local foods, beverages, services, performers and provided jobs for 48,000 people. With payroll and sales taxes depositing into the city's general fund, $55 million in tax revenue was generated.

Because the study was done using patron and business surveys, the U.S. Economic Census, and government databases and statistics, outdoor festivals weren't included. However, Outside Lands was noted for generating $60 million in a study done by San Francisco State University and Another Planet Entertainment.

You can view the full report here.

Follow us on Twitter at @SFWeekly and @TheSnitchSF.

​CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story erroneously presented 2010's Daily Beast rankings, in which San Francisco was America's 3rd drunkest city, as the 2011 rankings. As is apparent in the comments section of this blog post, the links on the Daily Beast site are a little confusing, and our misinterpretation of them resulted in this mix-up. We regret the error.

San Francisco reliably comes out on top in national polls of which metropolitan area ranks highest in ribald practices. In June, we brought you the important news that our city had been deemed the country's sluttiest.

Our drinking, it seems, is not quite up to that level. According to a survey of health statistics by The Daily Beast, San Francisco has dropped from the the country's third-drunkest city in 2010 to 22nd drunkest in 2011.

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John Toomey

​We hate to break it you almost as much as you will probably hate to break it to your kids: Santa Claus is dead.

Now let's get wasted.
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