All in all, two people were arrested at yesterday's protests around Cooper Union. A 23-year-old named Sara Abruna was arrested for entering a taped-off area and Jesse Kreuzer, the guy who climbed on top of the Peter Cooper statue outside the school's Foundation building, was arrested as well. But why was he up there dancing, chatting on his cellphone and entertaining people who weren't the police? Read his sign! more ›

It has been one busy afternoon by Cooper Union! Students at the school (and others) walked out of classes this afternoon to protest both the Cooper's coming tuition for grad students as well as the national student debt problem, and as you might expect, they got creative. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW, the short of it: we got punked] In order to keep its well-respected undergraduate education free, Cooper Union has gone and done something drastic. The school's president Jamshed Bharucha has just announced in a letter that, starting in 2015, the school is going to lease out its gorgeous new $115 million dollar academic building at 41 Cooper Square to NYU's Polytechnic Institute. Guess the stories about the school being broke were true. more ›

At least two men were arrested in front of the Sixth Street Community Center around 10:00 p.m. after the NYPD responded to a call that bottles and projectiles were being thrown off the building's roof. "The police just came and brutalized two guys who were standing outside the stoop," an employee of the community center who declined to give their name said. Another witness, Marc C., said the two men were beaten by the police before being taken into custody. "It was ten cops on two guys, just kicking and punching them. They were plainclothes officers, so it just looked like a fight on the street. Then the patrol cars showed up." more ›

Looks like 7-Eleven's plan for global domination is coming along quite nicely! After opening a shiny new outpost on the Bowery in October—complete with all the $1 pizza slices, Little Debbies and flavored coffee a late-night drunk desires—the ubiquitous 24-hour convenience store has planted its satanic Slurpee seed in St. Marks. The new location will become fully operational at 35 St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues by the end of this month. Its infamous red, orange and green stripes are already affixed to the building's facade, on top of the old Jas Mart awning. more ›

Ever since Andre Balazs and The Standard Hotel empire bought up the Bowery monstrosity that was the Cooper Square Hotel we've been waiting for the inevitable changes it would bring. And here [PDF] they are! EVGrieve notes that the hotel is set to appear before the Community Board 3 SLA committee on Monday and there are lots of things they'd like the locals to approve. more ›

Can pigs fly? Because, whoa, NYU just blinked. After pushing hard for its gargantuan, 2,275,000-square-foot, 200th anniversary expansion plan, NYU 2031, the school has buckled under pressure from the community and Manhattan Beep Scott Stringer and scaled the project back by 19 or 17 percent, depending on who you ask. The plan—which Bloomberg came out in favor of just yesterday—is still huge and still has vocal critics. Now it 's just a little less huge. more ›

EV Grieve had photographs of the line outside McSorley's right before 9 a.m. on this fine St. Patrick's Day—and there was a Leprechaun bus, too! Expect to see lines outside the legendary East Village establishment all day. more ›

Recently some corners of the internet discovered Michael Sean Edwards's photos of New York City in the 1970s and '80s, which we published a couple of years ago. But they're always worth revisiting, and now you can click through for a look at some of his black and white images from 1988, which we didn't include at the time. If you end up feeling nostalgic, you'll be happy to know you can still visit Sophie's Bar in the East Village—they might even be using the same pool table you see in these images. more ›

Popular street artist RETNA (Marquis Lewis) has been scrawling his signature tags across LA since he was in high school—the now 34-year-old artist, who is beloved by the likes of Jeffrey Deitch, had his first major NYC solo show last month, converting a massive downtown warehouse into "his own kind of temple." This week, the artist took to the East Village to paint a massive mural on Houston and Bowery—he previously has had murals up in DUMBO, but never anything like this. Check out some pics of the mural above, and you can see more pictures of RETNA at work on the mural here. more ›

NYU's plan for world East Village domination hit a snag yesterday when Community Board 2 unanimously voted to oppose the school's aggressive NYU 2031 expansion plan. "This community board is turning down flat the NYU proposal," David Gruber, co-chair of CB2's NYU working group, said before the board voted last night. more ›

Everyone's favorite East Village art gallery/bar/venue/after hours club is turning 10 today: Happy Birthday Lit Lounge! The 2nd Avenue establishment has been the go-to spot for many over the years, especially those looking for dark corners in which to do dark deeds. You just haven't really fully experienced New York City if you haven't been in that basement at 3:30 a.m. Sadly, our memories there have escaped us, so we talked to Lit owner Max Brennan about his. more ›

The East Village has been transformed into Greenwich Village of the 1960s, thanks to the Coen Brothers, who have been filming their period piece Inside Llewyn Davis in the area. Today is said to be the biggest transformation, with more storefronts and old cars taking over 1st and 2nd streets (between 2nd Avenue and Avenue A). Here are some photos of how things were shaping up yesterday. more ›

When Cooper Union recently tore down their Engineering Building off of Astor Place something magical happened—an already open area suddenly was bathed in light and old buildings picked up a fun new lustre. But not for long. Cooper Union and developer Edward Minskoff has some big plans for the plot of land and they are...dark. more ›

The stretch of Second Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery is normally a relatively quiet one (take it from someone who grew up there). But not last night, when a three-alarm fire broke out at 21 East 2nd Street on the South Side of the block. It took 140 firefighters to get the fire, which started around 11:30 p.m., under control. According to an eyewitness things started to calm down around 1 a.m. " when flames were no longer licking the sky." more ›