Empire is a forthcoming film about riding bikes in New York City. And whether you prefer tricks or traffic, this new teaser delivers.

New York documentarian Richard Sandler will be screening two of his films, Brave New York and Sway, at the 6B Garden on August 22.

Brave New York is a free form documentary that loosely chronicles the last 12 years of intense change in the east village “hood.” From the reopening of a newly curfewed Tompkins Square Park and Wigstock in ‘92, to the destruction of the cherished Loisaida Community Gardens, to the yuppie invasions of the dot com years, to the present era, indelibly stamped with post-9/11 grief, this durable, lusty neighborhood survives in spite of a real estate gold rush that has excluded all but the well-to-do. The movie’s main voices are those of the artists and street people whose wisdom and commentaries upon the dominant culture give us pause amidst the speedy approach of a “Brave New World.”

Gothamist has a gallery of photographs by Sandler.

[via ill soul]

Smart Crew is putting out a graffiti video and released footage of MARTY in action. While most writers are trying to fly under the radar, MARTY, who we last saw taking back his spot on Houston and Bowery from Shepard Fairey, hits some spots during the day and while shooting off fireworks.

“We have stole so much shit in a lifetime. Ralph Lauren! This if for Ralph Lauren! I took about five million dollars in clothes from you. Polo, son.” Founde in 1980s Brooklyn, Lo-Lifes have spread their love, for wearing and racking Polo wardrobes, internationally. Here is a trailer for a Lo-Life documentary by Thirstin Howl the Third and another story about their crew.

Video For Wu-Tang Clan “The Heart Gently Weeps Featuring Erykah Badu, Dhani Harrison and John Frusciante” from this past winter’s “8 Diagrams”.

Hip hop was born in the Bronx, at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, when DJ Kool Herc started throwing parties and playing the breaks, something nobody had done before. But for the last year, the future of 1520 Sedgwick Ave, or Sedgwick and Cedar, has been in question as the landlord tried to remove the 100 unit apartment complex the Mitchel-Lama housing program, which gives landlords tax breaks for renting below market rate. Fortunately for fans of hip hop and affordable housing, the city has made an unprecedented move to block the sale because it “was not viable under current rent restrictions,” protecting the building from being bought and turned into luxury hip hop condos.

Here’s a piece of documentary with a British narrator and DJ Kool Herc explaining how hip hop was born. It also features Grandwizard Theodore, more recently caught performing the little known blindfolded-record-on-the-head scratch.

This music video for RJD2’s “Work It Out” features “Crutchmaster” Bill Shannon dancing around Brooklyn’s Borough Hall.

Captured is a film focused on documentarian Clayton Patterson and the Lower East Side he has been videotaping and photographing for nearly 30 years.

Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City’s Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds. Traversing the outside edge he’s recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag to hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification. His odyssey from voyeur to provocateur reveals that it can take losing everything you love to find your own significance.

This has no relevance to anything, except that it’s Friday and we encourage you to get down and have some fun, however that may be.

Continuing our coverage of streetwear brands with sports teams, we present: 10 Deep Skateboarding.