Former Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn expressed support for Occupy Wall Street protesters during a visit to Union Square late yesterday afternoon. The sublime later gave way to the ridiculous as the park was shut down at midnight and protesters challenged the police to a rap battle.

Speaking to a small group huddled on the west side of the square, the husband and wife duo praised the Occupy movement’s use of direct action. Ms. Dohrn said, “Agitation lights up the truth, and what Occupy has done by agitating in its nonviolent, beautiful, imaginative way, is to teach by shifting the frame, by re-imagining what’s possible. And what’s possible is that capitalism cannot solve our problems.”

Ms. Dohrn, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law specializing in juvenile justice and human rights, urged the movement to remain independent. “You’re going to be beset, not only by the police forces and the military forces here, but by a lot of forces that want Occupy: Democratic Party, electoral forces, sectarian organizations,” she said. “But your brilliance was your independence.” Read more…

A sign posted at Astor Place between Broadway and Lafayette Street indicates that The CW’s show based on Candace Bushnell’s “Sex and the City” prequel, “The Carrie Diaries” will be filming in the neighborhood on Sunday. The show will follow a 17-year-old Carrie Bradshaw, played by AnnaSophia Robb, through high school life in Connecticut. Adult Carrie was no stranger to the East Village: She attended Miranda’s birthday party at Lucky Cheng’s during the “Sex and the City” pilot, and one of her clothiers of choice, Patricia Field, is right here on the Bowery.

Daniel Maurer

A few weeks after filming at Hopper House the Coen Brothers are back, and taking advantage of NoHo’s cobblestone for their 60s flick “Inside Llewyn Davis.” A flyer on Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery indicates they’ll be shooting Tuesday through Friday of next week. Cars must be moved by Monday at 9 p.m.

Photos: Scott Lynch

After celebrating early with the Hells Angels in the wilds of Queens, The Local spent St. Patrick’s Day proper in – where else? – the East Village. Of course we knew better than to look for green in the bars where Irish eyes weren’t exactly smiling on it; instead we had photographer Scott Lynch rove the streets near McSorley’s, Webster Hall, Penny Farthing, Village Pourhouse, Bull McCabes and other destinations. That’s right: he left the apartment on Saturday so you didn’t have to. If you did venture out, let us know how it went for you.

Photos: Tim Schreier

Demonstrators aiming to make Congress and corporations more aware of unemployment on Super Tuesday lined up on Broadway between Union Square and Houston Street this morning, holding pink flyers that read “The Next Pink Slip Might Be Yours.” The 15-minute event, which aimed to form a line of thousands from Wall Street to Union Square, was organized by HERE and Working Theater along with several unions and non-profits, including East Village groups such as Fourth Arts Block, Theatre for the New City, and Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.

The turnout seems to have been a bit lower than hoped for: Tim Schreier, who took the above photos shortly after 8:14 a.m. this morning, estimated there were about 100 people in the Union Square area. Photos from Wall Street can be found here, via The Line’s website.

Daniel Maurer Hopper House

As anticipated, the Coen Brothers are back in the neighborhood and have been filming “Inside Llewyn Davis” inside of the Isaac T. Hopper Home at 110 Second Avenue all day. Since 1874, the Greek Revival row house, a landmark dating all the way back to 1838, has been home to the Women’s Prison Association, an advocacy and assistance organization for women with criminal records.

Alex Villano, the W.P.A.’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, said the group connected with the Coens after a location scout slipped a flyer under the door of the building between Sixth and Seventh Streets. She gave The Local a hint about what’s being filmed on the third floor, though she couldn’t say which stars were involved because she hadn’t seen any of them: “One of the reasons they really liked the space,” she said, “is that it’s a scene that has a fire escape involved where someone’s coming in and out of a window.” (Spoiler alert!) Read more…

Jared Malsin The Illuminator

Maybe you saw the messages beamed, Bat-Signal-like, on the wall of Cooper Union’s new academic building on Saturday? Actually, it was just one of two spectacles related to Occupy Wall Street in the East Village that night.

“It is the beginning of the beginning. Another world is possible,” read the messages. The final one beamed on the steel facade of 41 Cooper Square was the original Occupy slogan: “99%.”

This was the maiden voyage of The Illuminator, a white cargo van modified by a group of Brooklyn-based guerilla artists. A 12,000-lumen projector emerged from its roof while clanging post-rock blared from a set of mounted loudspeakers. Also attached to the van was a rack of books available for public perusal, a mobile version of Occupy Wall Street’s “People’s Library.” Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Spotted in Otafuku.

Stephen Rex Brown The sign in context.

During his recent visits to the East Village area, President Obama apparently found time to endorse the Black Boss Coffee at Otafuku. The sign advertising the $2.50 canned drink also declares, “No Mercey For Michelle Backmann.”

An employee at the octopus-balls destination on Ninth Street between Second and Third Avenues said that the sign had been up for a couple of months, and that a customer made it as a joke. “It’s not our biggest seller — it’s pretty strong though,” he said.

But is it stronger than the Obama Coffee from Ray’s Candy Store?

Daniel Maurer

Earlier this week, it was National Pancake Day at IHOP and today: 7-Eleven celebrates its grand opening on the Bowery with 25-cent specials, giveaways, and a balloon-making clown. One lucky raffle entrant won a basketball hoop; Diane Schwartz, posing here, took home a golf bag. The 48-year-old disabled resident of B.R.C.’s Palace Hotel just a block away on the Bowery took a different tone than David Cross and others who’ve griped about the 7-Eleven. “It’s good to have around because you can have your coffee and get a free refill,” said the regular customer. “All the other coffee places around here are kind of expensive.” She cited a store across the street that charges $1 for a cup. Read more…

President Obama is back in the Union Square area tonight, this time for a fundraiser at ABC Kitchen on East 18th Street. But don’t expect him to zip down East 12th Street again: According to former Department of Transportation higher-up turned traffic watchdog “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, Broadway between 14th Street and 23rd Street is likely to be his travel route between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Evan BleierPaparazzi perched on Bond Street.

Goodbye Coens, hello Mac guy: This morning, more than 20 paparazzi were gathered outside the Gene Frankel Theater at 24 Bond Street, where the forthcoming romantic comedy “A Case of You” was being filmed. They were hoping to snap a photograph of Sienna Miller and Justin Long, rumored to be inside. Shortly after noon, their lenses were trained on the three trailers parked on the south side of the street: a shutterbug said one of the film’s stars, Evan Rachel Wood, had been spotted going inside and had to come out sooner or later.

According to Variety, “A Case of You” centers around a young writer who has to live up to the online profile he created for himself in order to impress a girl. With Justin Long as a co-producer of the film, we’re assuming the profile was created on a Mac.

Photos: Daniel Maurer

As mentioned earlier, the Coen brothers, after filming on Second Street on Wednesday, have been doing their thing on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. Production assistants have kept everyone away from the block unless they live on it or are going to, say, Whitman’s – though Radioman, the notorious set crasher, managed to bike up to the faux Kettle of Fish, and even got a word with Joel Coen. Mr. Coen told The Local he wasn’t doing interviews, but we snagged a few photos of the set (above), plus video of scenes being shot (below), in which two cars – one of them an old checkered cab – rolled down the street.

Have your own shots? Add them to The Local’s Flickr pool.

Read more…

While East Ninth Street warped back to the 1960s (see The Local’s Flickr page for photos of today’s “Inside Llewyn Davis” action, including some shots of the Coens brothers at work), East Seventh Street traveled even further back in time today, as men in Revolutionary War regalia fired muskets into the air.

The five armed and costumed soldiers were members of McSorley’s Militia, who muster themselves each year for the anniversary of the founding of McSorley’s Old Ale House.

Shane Buggy, a 24-year-old bartender at the storied saloon, said, “Today is our 158th Anniversary: 17th of February every year. It’s the only day we have music in the bar so all the regulars come from near and far to check out the activities.” Mr. Buggy, who is Irish, added, “I’ve actually got people that come here from Ireland just to see this anniversary.”

One of the regulars waiting in line to get inside the bar was Brad Lauster, 36, an IT entrepreneur. Asked why he came to the pub today, he said, “I was probably here for the first time 15 years ago, just with a friend who lived in New York City at the time, and so now I live in Brooklyn and we were walking by and it’s the anniversary.”

Daniel Maurer

In case it’s of interest: “Person of Interest,” the CBS crime drama that was filming at 7B this morning, was shooting inside of Odessa minutes ago. From the Horseshoe Bar to Odessa: classic combo. Meanwhile boxes of books were being unloaded into Voyage Books, the faux bookstore that the Coen brothers have set up on East Ninth Street, where they’ll be filming tomorrow.

Daniel Maurer

Just a few blocks over from East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, where crews were prepping the block for its Coen brothers moment this morning (flyers indicate that, due to weather, the date of the shoot has changed to Friday from 1 p.m. to 2 a.m.), the CBS show “Person of Interest” is filming at 7B. Chris Haun, a production assistant, said that one of the stars of the Thursday-night crime drama, Jim Caviezel, was scheduled to show later today, and the shoot would last till about 9 p.m.

Of course, 7B, a.k.a. Horseshoe Bar, a.k.a. Vazac’s, is no stranger to the screen. You’ve seen it in one form or another in “The Godfather: Part II,” “Crocodile Dundee,” “Scarface,” “Serpico,” “The Color of Money,” “Rent,” “Sex and the City,” “The Verdict,” “Five Corners,” “Angel Heart,” and on and on. Heck, it was even made over for “Smash,” the new NBC show that filmed in the East Village.

Where else have you seen 7B? and what’s your favorite Vazac’s moment (on screen or off)? Ours has to be Jason Alexander’s shootout scene in “The Paper”: or are we the only ones who relate to an unhappy subject attacking a journalist in an East Village dive bar?

Photos: Rachel Citron

As previously noted, East Second Street got a 1960s Greenwich Village makeover today, via metal garbage cans, wooden milk crates, and throwback rides, some of them courtesy of the Oldsmobile Club of America. A couple of the movie’s extras, done up in vintage garb, told The Local that Joel and Ethan Coen – both of whom were on hand, as our new photos (clearly!) show – were filming the very first scene of their “screwball comedy,” “Inside Llewyn Davis.” So exciting.

During the takes we saw, two cars rolled down the snow-dusted street and then a young man clutching a cat and guitar case crossed the road and walked into a building at 77 East Second Street. When we left the block between First and Second Avenues, giant bags of leaves were at the ready and outdoor lights were being turned on. Maybe nighttime in autumn was next?

Have your own photos of the shoot? Add them to The Local’s Flickr pool. And if you live in the neighborhood and want to cover tomorrow’s action, e-mail us.

The Coen brothers aren’t the only ones using the neighborhood as cinematic fodder today. Check out the above preview for “Fashion King,” set to premiere on South Korea’s SBS network. Hot. Stuff.

According to FanWonder.com’s translation of a SportsSeoul.com piece, the drama is about “young designers wanting to become world class designers but having to start off small at the Dong Dae Mun Markets” (see the show’s blinged-out Website featuring Marc, Karl, and the rest). A production team member says the show is being filmed in South Korea as well as on the “trendy streets of New York,” and what trendier street than Second Avenue? Flyers between Second and Third Streets indicate today’s shoot – scheduled to coincide with Fashion Week, naturally – will last till 9 p.m.

Evan Bleier Noah Leyer, left.

In addition to vintage cars, the Coen brothers have now brought something resembling snow to a block where, earlier today, a scene was being shot inside of a building at 77 East Second Street.

The extra attention to detail was no surprise to background actor Noah Leyer, 25, who was prepping for a sidewalk scene. “They had this outfit tailored specifically for me,” he said while waiting for the cameras to roll.

Our own cameras managed to capture Joel Coen sipping a beverage. Yes, the spy-cam shot at right is good and blurry (we’re horrible paparazzi), so you’ll just have to trust us: The Coen brothers are doing their thing.

Update: Slideshow: Coen Brothers Take Second Street Back to 1961

Of course the party didn’t stop after yesterday’s ticker tape parade. The Post reports that the New York Giants Super Bowl victory celebration continued into the night, with Justin Tuck, Mario Manningham and other G-Men taking a party bus to the Village Pourhouse and then heading to SideBar at Union Square.

The area around the Village Pourhouse was flooded with carousers after the big game on Sunday, as the above YouTube video shows. Other videos show hooting and hollering at the 13th Step and outside of Croxley Ales.