The cast, left to right: Andres Munar, Lynne McCollough, Guy Stroman, Lori Prince and Erin Treadway.

Directed by Ryan Pointer, “nine/twelve tapes” is a fascinating reenactment of man-on-the-street interviews conducted by citizen journalist Collin Worster Daniels, mostly during the two days following September 11, 2001. Mr. Daniels had moved to New York shortly before the attacks, and was galvanized to capture the widespread disconnect among his fellow survivors. His tapes sat in a closet for nearly ten years before they were recently turned over to a friend of a friend, playwright Leegrid Stevens.

“I listened to these tapes and was amazed at the immediacy and rawness of the material,” said Mr. Stevens. “They are a time capsule – a bridge back to the thoughts and feelings of that time. They show a people desperately trying to make sense of a world turned upside down, trying to understand it and each other.” During the premiere of “nine/twelve tapes” earlier this month at the Dream Up Festival at the Theater for the New City, the interviews were acted out exactly as they first occurred, with a talented cast performing over the background noise of the original recordings. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Jim Power’s planter honoring the 9/11 first responders at its new home on Seventh Avenue.

A 9/11 memorial in the West Village got a surprise addition to its collection on Saturday. In a frenzied mix of patriotism and general disgust with the state of Astor Place, “Mosaic Man” Jim Power decided to move his planter dedicated to first responders from its original spot.

Mr. Power said the decision came to him after learning that the Walk of Remembrance honoring Rev. Mychal Judge, a firefighter who died while giving last rites to a comrade at the World Trade Center, would pass by the Tiles For America memorial at Seventh Avenue and 11th Street.
Read more…

Phillip Kalantzis-Cope

Good morning, East Village.

City Room profiles Larry Fagin, a poet and teacher who, at the age of 74, is “one of the East Village’s last standing bohemians.” He lives in a two-bedroom walk-up in Allen Ginsberg’s old building. His rent has almost tripled since he took the apartment in 1968 – yet he’s still paying only $150 a month.

EV Grieve notes that the Upright Citizens Brigade has opened its outpost on East 3rd Street, complete with Hot Chicks Room.

Thought Delancey was a bad street to bike on? Brooklyn Spoke thinks the Bowery is also a “death-trap” for bikers, and believes there has been “too much focus on what’s happening on the Manhattan Bridge and not enough on what’s happening when cyclists get off of it.” Read more…

A FDNY spokesman told The Local that at 8:02 p.m., a call came in regarding a transformer fire at the Con Edison plant at 14^th Street and FDR Drive. According to the spokesman, a standard response team of 12 units comprising 65 firefighters was dispatched to the scene. “It doesn’t appear to be serious,” he said. (The cause of these types of fires is typically determined after an investigation by fire marshals.) EV Grieve has some shots from the scene as well as an eyewitness account: “big explosion, giant black plume of smoke, no flames.” A tipster tells Grieve that “most of the emergency crews” had packed up as of 9 p.m.

Check back here for any updates.

Stephen Rex Brown Part of the film crew outside of Cafe Orlin today.

Film crews have entirely overtaken Cafe Orlin (no stranger to cinema stars) and parts of St. Marks Place for the shoot of an upcoming NBC drama that takes a (fictional) behind-the-scenes look at the production of a Broadway musical.

A crew member outside the cafe near Second Avenue told The Local that they were shooting “Smash.” According to IMDB, the new series will depict the ups and downs of the cast and crew preparing a show about Marilyn Monroe’s life. Anjelica Huston is the biggest star in the cast, though she was not spotted today at around lunchtime. (There were few opportunities for paparazzi-style photos; the rain had forced most of the crew indoors.)

The show is set to premiere on February 6.

Stephen Rex Brown

The long weekend was rife with shootings, and the East Village was no exception. A man and woman shot a 24-year-old man in the stomach on Saturday morning and were arrested at the Second Avenue subway station, the police said.

A NYPD spokesman told The Local that the victim was at Third Street and First Avenue at 3:45 a.m. when the duo shot him, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. The spokesman did not explain if there was a motive for the attack.

The police apprehended the two suspects — a 34-year-old man from Vinegar Hill and a 26-year-old woman from East New York — on the platform of the F train. Both were charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Cyn Darling Ariel Palitz with Darryl McDaniels from Run DMC.

Ariel Palitz, the owner of Sutra Lounge and a member of Community Board 3, chatted with The Local about misconceptions about hip-hop, honoring the legends, and the return of CB 3 meetings. This evening Sutra will host a “Strictly Old School” hip-hop extravaganza featuring the Cold Crush Brothers and Grand Wizzard Theodore on the turntables.

So what’s going down tonight at Sutra?

It’s “Strictly Old School” — a new series we do once or twice a month. We decided to get the old school emcees into the DJ booth. Darryl McDaniels from RUN DMC was here – that blew everybody away. He did like five Run DMC hits. It’s such a tight community that other artists show up. Kangol from UTFO came up and sang “Roxanne Roxanne.” Slick Rick was here. Melle Mel got on the mic. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Tommy McKean points at the air conditioner that keeps him up at night.

Last week, a city inspector validated what a group of residents in a 13th Street building had said for over a month: that a ventilator unit on the roof was too loud.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection said, “The kitchen equipment made more noise than is allowed by the provision that sets a standard in decibels and our readings.”

Now, the management of the Hamptons Marketplace deli that uses the unit must go before an Environmental Control Board in November, where a judge will levy fines (generally from $560 to $875) if it’s found the business is not in compliance.

But Tommy McKean, a resident who lives directly below the ventilator is not satisfied, and raised the possibility of picketing outside of the deli at First Avenue with his neighbors should the equipment on the roof continue to whir. Read more…

As a bassist for the indie and art rock group Les Savy Fav, Syd Butler wasn’t satisfied simply touring the globe. In 1999, he founded Frenchkiss Records so the band could release its own recordings, and has since launched the careers of Passion Pit, The Drums and Local Natives. These days, he divides his time between the Lower East Side, where he lives with his wife and two children, and Frenchkiss headquarters in Union Square. Having lived in the area for a decade, Butler says he feels most at home on downtown’s east side. “There’s so much creative energy and the history is really supportive of the arts and expression,” he explains, though that doesn’t necessarily make hometown audiences the easiest to perform for.

“New Yorkers’ expectations are higher,” he says. “When you play New York you’ve got to give it your all.” Expect all that and more when Les Savy Fav perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg’s 4^th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, September 6. Until then, on to Butler’s favorites! Read more…

U.S. Department of Agriculture A package of hot dogs that contained glass shards, according to a federal food inspector.

If you’re stuck in town this Labor Day weekend without so much as a roof to grill on, wipe that hangdog look off your face: Maggots, worms, metal, plastic and even a razor were just a few of the objects that horrified callers said were in their hot dogs in complaints lodged with the U.S. Department of Agriculture between 2007 and 2009.

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Back in 2009, this reporter filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking the U.S.D.A. to give up its dirty-dog logs. The 64 case files finally came in this week, just in time for the holiday! Consider them food for thought if you’re planning to grill during these last dog days of summer.

The documents (viewable here) tell numerous cringe-inducing tales of foreign objects disrupting all-American meals. Band-Aids, a rubber glove, and even a lock washer (used to secure a bolt) are all described in snappy detail.

One report told of a “winged insect that resembled a dragonfly inside the package of hot dogs,” and noted that the insect’s “head, eyes, and wings are visible. Insect is black in color, over 1-inch long.” Read more…

Jay Hukahori Intersection of West Broadway and Grand Street, after the storm.

Good morning, East Village.

Three weeks after his attack, Gavin DeGraw talks to AOL Music Blog about what he calls “a rumble in the Bronx but it was Manhattan.” He says, “I guess some people could walk away from [it] and could be like, ‘Forget New York, I do so much targeted toward adding to the New York scene and it didn’t love me back,’ but I really don’t have that attitude about it.”

Neighborhoodr reprints a piece in Italian Maxim featuring Marky Ramone along with Jimmy Webb and Marzio Dal Monte of Trash and Vaudeville.

Bowery Boggie has a look at the latest Chico mural, at 397 Grand Street. Read more…

It’s not quite sweater weather, but as nights and mornings get crisper, fashion is making the transition with light cover-ups. The button-up shirt is one example: We’ve seen it paired with a summer sundress or with shorts and tights. Denim, chambray and white linen (some of our favorite looks) maintain their shape best when worn as outerwear. With extra material, the button-up can be tied in a knot and worn over a dress or longer skirt. See how Villagers are sporting them on the street.

WikiCommons The poet in 1939.

So let’s hear it for the greatest writer ever to live in the East Village. What’s that, you say? James Fenimore Cooper? Leon Trotsky? William S. Burroughs? Allen Ginsberg?

Hmm. No offense to the above authors, but surely you jest. The greatest writer ever to settle in the East Village, a transatlantic literary god whose appearance was as unexpected as that hawk showing up in Tompkins Square Park, was the English-born poet, W.H. Auden, who lived at 77 St. Marks Place from 1953 to 1972. In 1917, Trotsky had edited a dissident newspaper in the same building. The painter Larry Rivers was already living there when Auden and his lover, Chester Kallman, moved in. And the man who had previously occupied their railroad apartment was an abortionist. For neighborhood “color,” you can’t top that.

The coming month is a big one in Auden’s posthumous career. (He died in Vienna on September 29, 1973.) And this fortnight, in which we will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, will also be a 10th anniversary of sorts for him. Seventy-two years ago today, he began writing his aphoristic, agonized, and intensely lyrical meditation on the outbreak of World War II, “September 1, 1939.” It was composed shortly after he moved to New York with his pal Christopher Isherwood (“Berlin Stories,” “A Single Man”), and 62 years later, a few days after Mohammed Atta & co. brought down the Twin Towers, the poem took on a second life among the smart set on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown

Workers with the city Department of Environmental Protection are pumping water out of a ditch in the middle of Second Avenue near St. Marks Place, blasting water into the bus lane and diverting another lane of traffic. The noisy water pumps drew many onlookers. The Local has a call into D.E.P. regarding the nature of the work; we’ll update as soon as we know more.

Update | 3:48 p.m. Here are the details from a D.E.P. spokeswoman: “A D.E.P. crew observed that a four-foot diameter brick sewer was broken. A D.E.P. contractor is excavating to repair it. We will place a plate to make the area safe while working. It will take a few days.”

New timers have been installed at intersections of Delancey Street, Bowery Boogie reports. The countdown clocks, stretching from Kenmare to Clinton Streets, come two weeks after a cyclist was run over by a truck at Chrystie Street, reinforcing Delancey Street’s dangerous reputation.

Rebecca Hamilton Another scene from yesterday’s Eid ul-Fitr prayers at Madina Masjid, the mosque on 11th Street and First Avenue.

Good morning, East Village.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan, who now lives in Brooklyn, returns to her old neighborhood for a sit-down with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Despite her new zip code, she’s still “at ease among the eccentrics sunning on benches in nearby Tompkins Square Park, eying them as if one might inspire her next protagonist.”

The Mirror checks in with Mike Kehoe, a firefighter at Engine 28 on East 2nd Street who survived the World Trade Center attacks. Roy Chelsen, the colleague who helped save him, has since died owing to what Mr. Kehoe heard was a 9/11-related illness.

According to Playbill, “Silence! The Musical,” a parody of “The Silence of the Lambs” that won the 2005 FringeNYC award for Outstanding Musical, will end its run at Theatre 80 on St. Marks Place next month. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Matt Rosen manages the web presence of two of the neighborhood’s most revered characters.

Ray Alvarez may not remember Matt Rosen’s name or understand his social networking wizardry, but there is little doubt that the 30-year-old’s efforts have been a boon for the iconic and oft-embattled Ray’s Candy Store.

Since 2009, Mr. Rosen, has managed Mr. Alvarez’s @RaysCandyStore Twitter account, which boasts 1,064 followers, as well as the eatery’s pages on Yelp, Urbanspoon, Foursquare, and Café Press. Last month, Mr. Rosen added Jim Power, the Mosaic Man, to his stable of online accounts.

Not that Mr. Alvarez knows much about all that stuff.

“He does advertising for me — it’s really high-tech. I still don’t have a television — I don’t know what Twitter is,” said Mr. Alvarez, 78, when asked about Mr. Rosen. “I didn’t know his name is Matt.” Read more…

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The East Village got a new Filipino spot earlier this month, and now Larry Reutens, a former executive chef at Alias on the Lower East Side, is paying homage to a neighboring island, his native Singapore. Mr. Reutens arrived in New York in 2004 with plans to continue his career in finance, but he ended up going to culinary school while awaiting a work permit and decided to stick with cooking. He scored a gig in the kitchen at Aquavit, moved on to be sous chef of the defunct Tasting Room, and now, at Masak – his first solo venture – he’ll bring Asian ingredients into the New American sphere. Read more…

Vladi Radojicic Ilhan Ersahin, the owner of Nublu, plays the keyboards at the club’s temporary space on First Avenue alongside Shawn Pelton on drums and Tina Kristina on bass.

The owner of Nublu, the hip club on Avenue C that was shuttered for being within 200 feet of a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall, told The Local today that a return to his Avenue C location was not imminent, and that it was possible he might have to look for a new space outside of the East Village.

Ilhan Ersahin, who opened the club in 2002, said that he thought it was unfair that he lost his liquor license after years of being in business across the street from the house of worship.

“How can they come nine years later and then say I made a mistake?” said Mr. Ersahin, 45. “It can’t be just up to me to investigate whether a place is 100 percent a house of worship.” Read more…