NBC’s “Smash” will be filming at Cafe Orlin on St. Marks Place today. This morning the show’s crew was spotted bringing equipment into a closed set on Lafayette Street, between East Fourth Street and Astor Place; a spokesperson for the locations department confirmed that filming will move to the cafe between First and Second Avenues this afternoon. The show filmed at Orlin in September and has been seen around the neighborhood a few times since then. If a sign on a trailer is any indicator, Anjelica Huston will make an appearance today as her character Eileen.

Update | 4:30 p.m. No sign of Anjelica Huston, but as you can see in our spy footage above, Katharine McPhee, who plays Karen on the show, and Jack Davenport (Derek) were on site.

Sarah Darville A note from a militant preservationist?

Workers renovating the closed — and illegal — hostel at 27 East Seventh Street today didn’t seem too interested in a note scribbled over work permits on the building. “Yet another historic bldg demolished to make way for ugly, overpriced yuppie studios!!” the note read. Read more…

Udom Surangsophon Here’s the mural, “Stampeded,” which was painted by Know Hope in March at Ideal Glass on East Second Street.

Click to see what the artist Phlegm added to the piece yesterday.

Melvin Felix Big Ang on the Bowery today.

Who is that buxom bombshell strutting into Patricia Field’s new store on the Bowery?

It’s Angela Raiola, AKA Big Ang of “Mob Wives,” who we just spotted shooting a scene for her new reality show, which premiered yesterday.

The larger-than-life Ms. Raiola was doing some shopping in preparation for a shoot tomorrow, while a handful of fans looked on.

“I’m doing a drag show at my bar, The Drunken Monkey on Staten Island,” she said. “I’m going to be dressed up as a drag queen.”

If participating in reality TV is your idea of a good time, the drag show is Tuesday night at Big Ang’s bar, and it’s free.

Speaking of rock and roll legends at local hangouts, City Room happened to strike up a conversation with Alice Cooper at the Broadway location of The Bean this morning. Later on Mr. Cooper made a stop at Trash and Vaudeville. Tonight the man behind “School’s Out” plays the Prudential Center in Newark.

The circus is in full swing over on East 10th Street near University Place, where Alec Baldwin clashed with the paparazzi camped outside of his apartment building. The New York Post has video of a sandal-wearing Mr. Baldwin getting in the face of a photographer for Splash and saying, “You little girl,” before stalking into his building with a pink stuffed animal under his arm. Later he reportedly barreled through the gaggle of shutterbugs on his bicycle. Mr. Baldwin’s wedding to yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas is tomorrow, so expect the conflict to continue.

Scott Lynch and Lauren Carol Smith The first lady in line for an in-store appearance by Maroon 5 on the left, and the line later this afternoon.

Clearly, their love has taken its toll. Teenage girls are lining up in droves outside of the Union Square Best Buy for an in-store appearance by the band Maroon 5. There’s still time to head over — the heartthrobs aren’t scheduled to arrive until 7 p.m.

Mary Reinholz

In Union Square today, a semi-truck doubling as a barbecue smoker offered free chicken and beef sausage links to pedestrians as part of the History Channel’s “Cross Country Cookout.” The truck will be serving free grub till 6 p.m.

Of course, it may be a little late to get in on the feeding frenzy, so here’s something else to chew on: Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring (yes, they’re still around, and have an album out today) and Evette Rios, correspondent on ABC’S “The Chew,” have been added to the judging table at the Crif Dog Classic, an eating contest taking place at Roberta’s, in Bushwick, on the Fourth of July.

Mary Reinholz

The contest, hosted by the East Village’s own Crif Dogs, will feature ten renowned eaters, including Takeru Kobayashi – the legend who famously became persona non grata at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest –  as well as beats from Finger on the Pulse and performances by Wild Yaks, Andy Suzuki & The Method, and The Electric Mess.

As for the Coney Island competition, East Village roommates Timothy “Eater X” Janus and Crazy Legs Conti are gearing up for it, and we’ll have more on that later.

Ray Lemoine

Some morbid models vamped it up on the jungle gym at Tompkins Square Park this afternoon. “This is for Elle Germany,” explained a person on the scene who asked us not to tweet this photo. These folks look seriously bummed about the closing of Vampire Freaks.

Earlier today we shared some snaps of Model Ts lined up outside of John’s of 12th for the ongoing “Boardwalk Empire” shoot. Well, now there’s more of ’em! And they’re moving! Above: footage of the buggies purring as extras in old-time garb practice their Prohibiton-era struts.

Daniel Maurer

If the hallways of The Standard East Village were smelling a bit dank last night, this might explain things: Ziggy Marley’s tour bus was being packed up outside of the hotel just minutes ago. Bob Marley’s eldest son played Irving Plaza last night. Next stop: Lewiston, N.Y.

Daniel Maurer Mary Help of Christians earlier today.

After serving as an after-hours club for one film and then a church in the Bronx for another, Mary Help of Christians is now being taken back to 1920s Little Italy, for a scene in “Boardwalk Empire.”

The Local spotted a film crew loading wooden panels into the church this morning, and Don Angst, an electrician, said that filming for the HBO show’s third season would occur Tuesday. But first, he said, carpenters will make adjustments to the endangered house of worship so that it resembles a church in Little Italy, circa 1923. The rounded pews, which are 1950s in style, will get more traditional caps, he said, and marbleized flats will be used to change the look of the altar.

“We usually make the place look better than it actually is,” said Mr. Angst.

So will the show’s star, Steve Buschemi, be making an appearance in his old neighborhood? Workers wouldn’t cough up any details about the scene, but we’ll keep an eye out as set-up continues tomorrow and Monday.

Rebecca Prusinowski Stella McCartney (fifth from right) and models.

Last night at the New York Marble Cemetery, fashion designer Stella McCartney (daughter of Sir Paul) presented her 2012 Resort collection to a crowd of revelers that included Anne Hathaway, Jim Carrey, Amy Poehler, Emily Mortimer, Solange Knowles, and Lauren Hutton, among other Stella-heeled models and children.

“It’s an incredible space and a lot of people have no idea about it,” Ms. McCartney said of the lush lawn hidden away from the bustle of Second Avenue. “I had no idea about it until my friend who works with me came across it himself and told me about it. Read more…

Daniel Maurer

Daniel Maurer

No, the Coen Brothers aren’t back in the neighborhood, but some vintage cars are. French actor and director Guillaume Canet is filming “Blood Ties” at Odessa (and the “travelers” who’ve been asked to leave their normal spot outside of the restaurant aren’t too happy about it). Previous shoots for the remake of French thriller “Les Liens Du Sang” took place in Brooklyn and Harlem: The Daily Mail published photos of Clive Owen mounting a motorcycle as well as kissing co-star Mila Kunis during one scene and getting married to her in another.

According to IndieWire’s Playlist blog, the crime drama, set in 1970s Brooklyn, also stars Billy Crudup, Zoe Saldana, James Caan, Noah Emmerich, Matthias Schoenaerts, Lili Taylor and Domenick Lombardozzi, and is the story of two brothers on either side of the law: “the younger of two brothers (Crudup) is asked by his older brother (Owen) to return to the underworld in order to help the family out.”

It’s uncertain which of the stars was on the set today, but one thing’s for sure: the Cesspool Man was large and in charge. Click on photo above-right.

Stephen Rex Brown A tag on the crane outside of what’s said to be David Schwimmer’s future abode.

The star of “Friends” sure isn’t getting a friendly welcome to the neighborhood. Someone tagged “a butcher” on the crane outside of what’s said to be the future home of David Schwimmer — a likely reference to the townhouse built in 1852 that used to sit on the site.

A previous tag at the site referenced the “destruction of an irreplaceable historic building” to make way for “another ugly, yuppie, ghetto catering to monied transients.”

Of course, close followers of proceedings at 331 East Sixth Street will recall that this isn’t the first time the crane has made headlines. Earlier this month the contraption knocked over scaffolding, injuring a pedestrian below.

Stephen Rex Brown The film crew outside of the Holiday Cocktail Lounge.

“Kill Your Darlings,” starring Daniel Radcliffe along with Jennifer Jason Leigh, former local David Cross, and Michael C. Hall (also no stranger to the neighborhood) is filming at the vacant Holiday Cocktail Lounge right now.

A couple of weeks ago, The Times looked back at the incident on which the film is based: 68 years ago, Beat muse Lucien Carr, then 19 years old, stabbed an older suitor with his Boy Scout knife and dumped his body in the Hudson River. Mr. Carr (played by Dane DeHaan in the film) confessed to his friends William S. Burroughs (played by Ben Foster) and Jack Kerouac (played by Jack Huston) before eventually turning himself in and being convicted of manslaughter. Mr. Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg, who was well familiar with the Holiday while it was open.

Daniel Maurer

Last night, Mary Help of Christians Church was ethereally illuminated as writer-director Larry Brand filmed scenes from “Girl on the Train,” a neo-noir thriller starring Henry Ian Cusick as a documentary filmmaker, Stephen Lang as a detective, and Nicki Aycox as the titular femme fatale.

Rebecca Reynolds, a producer, said that the corner of East 12th Street and Avenue A will feature prominently in the indie flick: scenes were shot at Table 12, the deli across the street, and inside of the vacant school building behind Mary Help of Christians, as well as in Brooklyn, Queens, Riverdale, and on the Metro-North train. “This location can just be so many things,” she said, nodding toward the church’s rectory. “We were able to use it as Lexi’s childhood-home kitchen, we did an after-hours club in here, we did an abandoned tenement room, plus they have a dining hall where we fed and catered the crew.” Read more…

As soon as The Local noticed yesterday that 7-Eleven decals had been affixed to the windows of the former Jas Mart, we dispatched news vans to the heart of St. Marks Place. They’ve been stationed there ever since, awaiting the new store’s moment of christening. Readers, that moment came mere minutes ago, and our cameras were rolling as workers hoisted the universal Slurpee sign in place.

Okay, so in all honesty, we just happened to see this on our lunch break, but don’t let that detract from the drama. A 7-Eleven rep previously told The Local that the store at 35 St. Marks Place, along with another one on 14th Street, would open by the end of July. Looks like it could be even sooner.

Update: A representative says the store should open by the end of this month.

Baseball fans are crowding the sidewalk at Broadway and East Fourth Street, waiting for a chance to get an autograph from Yankee great Bernie Williams in the MLB Fan Cave. The baseball Xanadu is in full swing for opening day, and even has fresh AstroTurf around the entrance. Photos of fans with the longtime outfielder are all over Twitter.