Dan Glass Saxophonist Darius Jones and Kirk Knuffke on cornet lead the Kirk-Jones Quintet during a less controversial performance at the University of the Streets.

The executive director of University of the Streets has broken her silence regarding a brawl that occurred at her long-standing Seventh Street venue earlier this month. According to Saadia Salahuddeen, the scuffle stemmed from a dispute over $50 that she said the band, Talibam!, owed the University because no one showed up for its show.

That’s when things got heated, according to a statement by Ms. Salahuddeen posted on the University’s Facebook page. A member of Talibam!, Kevin Shea, allegedly said to her, “You think we’re acting crazy? I am crazy — let’s get crazy.” He then allegedly lunged at Ms. Salahuddeen, leading to the fisticuffs. Read more…

Sick of that vacant lot? Tired of that dead tree? Now you can clean them up using grant money from the Citizens Committee for New York City. The Love Your Block grant offers up to $1,000 for any community group looking to improve a street in a variety of ways (trash cleanup, bicycle parking — the sky’s the limit). The city also chips in by offering the help of the transportation, parks, and sanitation departments, as well as other agencies. Here’s the application. An informational session is today at 6:30 p.m. in Lower Manhattan.

Daniel Maurer

While we have our lens trained on Cooper Square today: The Local was shocked to see that the price of a spicy chicken sandwich went up by 25 cents at Cafe Zaiya — a sign that even one of the neighborhood’s cheapest eateries isn’t recession-proof.

Yesterday, the Japanese cafe raised the price of a pre-packaged onigiri with salmon (a triangle-shaped rice cake) by 25 cents to a whopping $1.75. And the spicy chicken sandwich — a favorite around the Local office — is now $4.25, up from $3.95.

“Gas is up. We have to pay tolls a lot,” said Fabian Lima, an employee at the cafe. “We haven’t raised the price since 2003.”
Read more…

62-64 4th, Before Renovation

Next Saturday the artistic haven on Fourth Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue will mark a major milestone, as two newly renovated buildings will be officially opened, and crews will break ground on a Latino cultural center.

Fourth Arts Block, the group overseeing the development of the Fourth Street arts district, is hosting the ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings, which will coincide with the FAB! Festival of performances, food and other street-fair fare.

Tamara Greenfield, the executive director of FAB, heralded the upgraded facilities — which were renovated with $10 million in public financing, as well as some private funds — as vital new spaces for artists and their audience.
Read more…

Daniel Maurer 303 East Eighth Street

A 51-year-old man was arrested for raping a woman on Saturday morning, an N.Y.P.D. spokesman said.

The victim told the police that the suspect threw her to the ground outside of 303 East Eighth Street at around 8:19 a.m. and attacked her. The suspect was arrested at the scene between Avenues B and C. The victim — whose age was not available — was treated at Bellevue Hospital and had bruising to the face, according to the spokesman.

A resident in the area commented on EV Grieve that a person walked out of a building nearby, saw the crime and called 911.

According to the latest crime statistics, the incident is at least the tenth rape this year in the Ninth Precinct, which covers the East Village.

Lauren Carol Smith Wendy Barrett’s store may soon be evicted by city marshals.

Another longstanding business in the neighborhood is on the brink of closing its doors.

The Village Scandal, a 16-year-old hat shop, is facing eviction from its space on Seventh Street, and the owner is pointing the finger at her property management company.

Wendy Barrett, the milliner who owns the popular shop, has become so desperate that she has written a message on a sandwich board in front of her store asking sympathizers to petition the management company, A.J. Clarke, to stop the eviction.
Read more…

A new citywide bike share program will debut next summer, and the Department of Transportation is asking for input regarding where the distribution stations should be set up. The map, which went live today, shows that people have already suggested bike share spots at Tompkins Square Park, Cooper Square, and Sixth Street at Avenue C. Where would you like to see stations in the neighborhood (if anywhere at all)?

Daniel Maurer A damaged police car near Cooper Square.

The Local spotted a damaged police cruiser being hauled away on a truck bed this morning at Cooper Square and Sixth Street. The side air bags had been deployed, and the passenger-side of the car was dented. A spokesman for the police department said that the car was involved in a crash with a black car at around 5:20 a.m. There were no major injuries from the accident, and no one was arrested. The spokesman had no further information. Do you? <a href=”mailto:leveditor@nytimes.com”>E-mail The Local</a> whenever you see something like this and give us the what, who, where, and when.

Lauren Carol Smith The aftermath of a collision between a cyclist and pedestrian at Astor Place.

A cyclist ran into a pedestrian at Lafayette and Eighth Streets yesterday at around 6:30 p.m., a fire department spokesman said.

The 30-year-old woman, who was conscious and not bleeding, was treated at Bellevue Hospital, the spokesman added. The cyclist was not hauled to the hospital.

A bystander on the scene told the Local that the woman had stepped into the path of the cyclist, though that could not be confirmed.

Phillip Kalantzis-Cope Life Cafe.

Dismay over the sudden closing of Life Cafe — an East Village mainstay for 30 years — swiftly spread around the neighborhood on Monday.

“You have been an amazing and supportive neighbor for so long. I hope you will be back. Thanks for all you have done for the local artists over all these years,” wrote one commenter on the cafe’s Facebook page.

“Please come back soon. You’re a NY landmark. Hate to see all your employees out of work,” wrote another. Read more…

The movement to convince Cooper Union administrators to lower the St. Mark’s Bookshop’s rent has become so popular that a petition for the store already has over 15,000 signatures. “St. Mark’s bookshop is vital! Please don’t let greed get the better of you!!” one of the signers of the petition wrote. The owners of the financially fragile bookshop have a meeting with Cooper Union officials on Wednesday.

Stephen Rex Brown Ron Britt, the owner of the Free Willie Nelson, in front of his damaged RV

The East Village’s most recognizable recreational vehicle caught on fire this morning, destroying the engine and leaving its mellow owner bummed but not brokenhearted.

The Free Willie Nelson, a 1973 Dodge Mahal Travco known for its whale-themed paint job and cowboy-style interior, was set ablaze by an electrical fire at around 8:55 a.m. on Sixth Street near Avenue A.

“A neighborhood icon comes to rest,” said Darryl Thompson, a musician. “Man, this sucks. I slept many nights in this thing — it’s like my old buddy.” Read more…

An article on Gothamist offers a behind-the-scenes look — from the perspective of one of the jurors — at the trial of an ex-police officer accused of raping a woman in her East Village home. In one bizarre scene in the story (which is behind a paywall), the exonerated police officer, Kenneth Moreno, embraces and thanks the author, who only a few days prior had declared him not guilty. Another episode reveals that on the first day of deliberations, nine of the 12 jurors already thought that the prosecution had failed to prove Mr. Moreno’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Khristopher J. Brooks St. Mark’s Bookshop at 31 Third Avenue.

The co-owners of one of the neighborhood’s most popular bookstores pleaded to members of Community Board 3 last night for help as they struggle to stay in business.

The causes of the St. Mark’s Bookshop’s financial woes (a book industry in free-fall amid the rise of e-readers and online retailers) have been well documented. Things became so dire that the owners even posted an ominous note in the store entrance, saying “Find it here, buy it here, keep us here.”

Now, the store’s owners are pressing their landlord, Cooper Union, to reduce the $20,000-per-month rent for the space in the base of the dormitory building at Third Avenue and Stuyvesant Street. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Firefighters blasting a manhole with a fire hose.

Firefighters were dousing a manhole with water at Second Avenue and Seventh Street this morning after it caught fire. A spokesman for the fire department said the first report of the blaze came in at 9:17 a.m., and that there were roughly 30 firefighters on the scene. 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…

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…