Torch is Torched Update

November 05, 2002 Finishing off our recent overcoverage of the Ludlow/Orchard barzone, we note that former hipster hang Torch (cool circa 1998-1999) is still closed after the "fire" there last spring. Checking Torch's website as the sign on the grate out front instructs us to do, we're told that they're going to reopen in Spring 2003. We'll believe it when we see it. Meantime, the corner of Ludlow and Rivington is emptier after the early-fall closing of Casa Mexicana, a high-end Mexican joint that didn't have Steve Hanson's money behind it, and morphed into French joint Noble before shuttering. Finally, walking past blight-on-the-neighborhood Mooza on Orchard last weekend and seeing noone therein, we're forced to ask: how much longer does this cheesy bistro-cum-bar have?