This Sunday, the Church of Love and Ruin Tour returns to the East Village, bringing with it a kaleidoscopic array of acts ranging from independent rap sensation Sage Francis to a marching band to the gender-bending practitioners of sissy bounce. The Local sat down with ringmaster B. Dolan.

A roundup of today’s news, including a new perspective on the Cro-Mags stabbing at Webster Hall, PS 122’s new season and construction at the Mystery Lot.

The Local’s cameras were rolling during a spending spree this weekend: watch our video to see the books flying off the shelves, and hear the bookshop’s co-owner Bob Contant tell the story of Allen Ginsberg playing security guard.

After weeks of uncertainty, Dina Leor, the owner of La Sirena, has learned that she’ll face a 42 percent rent increase if she decides to stay in her Third Street store, Tower Brokerage president Bob Perl confirmed to The Local.

The Moroccan food at the new location of Zerza is cooked in a clay tandoori oven left behind by the previous occupant.

A hearing on a controversial nine-story hotel is delayed again by the developer.

Want to photograph or review an upcoming art show? Here’s the latest batch of pitches to come in through our Virtual Assignment Desk.

The latest hip-hop act to bust out of the East Village didn’t come out of the Bowery Poetry Club, the Pyramid, or any of those other East Village hip-hop spots. Buckwheat Groats emerged from… McDonald’s?

A roundup of today’s news from the neighborhood, including outrage at Northern Spy, the latest of Bleecker Bob’s, and the appearance of a notorious Lamborghini.

It’s been a year (plus a couple of days) since the dive was shuttered and the man who designed the “Marz Bar” shirts is selling the very last of them.

At a meeting attended by Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin last night, members of Community Board 2 spoke out against the scaled-back version of N.Y.U.’s controversial expansion plan that the two City Council members supported earlier this week.

The small electrical fire was put out within an hour.

Store owners already struggling to get by are worried about a significant rent increase planned by their landlord, the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association.

A roundup of some of the quirkiest plays in the upcoming Fringe Fest.

The White Roof Project laid down a first coat of white paint on the theater’s rooftop on Wednesday, adding another 7,000 square feet of solar-reflective white roof to the neighborhood in an ongoing effort to reduce carbon emissions and encourage energy efficiency.

Dante Lawson, assistant group leader at Grand Street Settlement, says he sees gang activity on an almost daily basis. In this video, he explains why he has resisted the temptation to join his own family members in some of the neighborhood’s many “sets.”

A roundup of today’s news from the neighborhood, including a second life for the Life Cafe bench, a break in a 25-year-old cold case, and rampant fire violations in Stuy Town.

The photography of Scott Lynch.

Laura McCarthy is also a partner in HiFi, Bowery Electric, and Niagara. She’s planning to move the bathrooms and lose the live bands and jukebox.