Alex Picken

Veteran nightclub broker Alex Picken, founder of Picken Real Estate and Nightlife Brokerage, married his company's creative director, Pornthip "Jije" Sooksai, in a ceremony in Manhattan on Sunday.

Toasting his new bride later that night, Mr. Picken, 49, jokingly stuttered over the words "my lovely wife" -- a term he said "most of you thought you'd never hear me say."

The newlyweds were introduced to friends and family to the tune of the Rihanna hit "Umbrella" during a boozy reception at Providence, a lavish, three-level, 13,500-square-foot nightspot at 311 West 57th Street, for which Mr. Picken served as site selector, negotiator and broker.

The happy occasion may have marked the notorious night owl's official retirement from bachelorhood -- but "not the industry," he insisted.

In a real estate industry that seems to thrive on rise-and-shine breakfast meetings, Alex Picken has long marched to the beat of a different drummer. Or, at least, a drum machine.

“Yeah, I don’t do mornings, actually,” said Mr. Picken, laughing, in a husky, smoker’s tone of voice, as techno beats thumped in the background.

That’s because, for the past 20 years, he has specialized in sales and leasing of New York City nightspots.

Around the time that most brokers were getting up for their usual early-bird powwows, Mr. Picken was just calling it a night.

“I shouldn’t say that, altogether,” the veteran venue broker reconsidered, as he wheeled around Manhattan in his black BMW X5 last Friday evening, The Observer riding shotgun. “We’re part of the Real Estate Board of New York. We network.”  read more »