Brooklyn Heights: For a new film, the Coen Brothers repainted and tweaked the façades of some brownstones here to make them look more like D.C.’s Georgetown hood. Now that ain’t right. [Brownstoner]
Chelsea: After disappearing from Seventh and 23rd for a while after the cops (reluctantly) busted him for playing an amped guitar, scruffy Vlad is back … with an even louder steel resonator guitar they can’t nab him for because it’s acoustic. [Blog Chelsea]
Greenpoint: Enviro-crusadress Julia Roberts — uh, Erin Brockovich — may be here again this month to blast Exxon for its subterranean oil spill just revealed to be nearly twice as big as thought. Meanwhile, Sotheby’s has arrived in this scrappy hood. [NYDN]
Long Island City: Did you know that the huge Citibank building here is actually the spire of a giant sundial? Neither did we. And even after reading this, we can’t figure out how this thing works. [OuterB]
Maspeth: Bloomberg’s people will meet with folks here protesting to save a church, even though one of the rabble-rouser’s posters claimed he wanted to hang the mayor. [Queens Crap]
Times Square: An old vaudeville theater turned porn emporium on Eighth and 44th will be torn down. [Postcards from Hell’s Kitchen]
Williamsburg: Uh, maybe somebody should shore up that scaffolding at 70 North 9th Street before it collapses and hurts someone. [Gowanus Lounge]