I caught up with John Varvatos at a trailer in the back of his store during Fashion Week. Spin magazine was looking for the world’s best unsigned band. Rock celebrities like Perry Farrell and Mick Rock were hanging around. I wrote about the event back then, but I wanted to talk to John find out about him and run this after the hype had receded. John took over the old CBGB's space and made it his Bowery store. This transition has been seen by many as an end of an era. There was much talk of sacrilege and disrespect. John Varvatos has answered those questions by paying homage to the legend. CBGB's was really gone by the time he got it. For many years, it was one of those chickens that keeps running even after its head had been cut off. The punk era that grew out of the place and all the bands that ever played there are honored by his actions. He has saved some of the relics, the graffiti, and the vibe of the legendary club, and now hosts events that rekindle that nostalgia into a new heat. The essence of CBGB's, its DNA, has been cloned, and it's a new creature now -- part venue, part museum, part store, and all rock 'n roll.

Jesse Eisenberg hates going to the movies. “I get anxious watching them because I’m aware of the artifice,” says the 25-year-old elfin star of such heartfelt coming-of-age tales as The Squid and the Whale and Adventureland. “I start to feel like I’m part of that.” By the end of this year, Eisenberg will have filmed more movies than he’s seen. (He’s only caught three.) And don’t even get him started on the torture of seeing himself on camera. “My therapist made me watch the trailer for [my upcoming film] Zombieland as immersion therapy.”

Now, here's what we call a neighborhood watch. Photography by Joe Lally. Styling by Carlos Davis. See full gallery.

The closing of CBGB's, the rock mecca at Bowery and Joey Ramone Place (East 2nd St.), was an event that sent ripples through the NYC rock scene. It wasn't like anybody had actually gone to CB's for the last ten years, save the club benefits. It meant an era had ended. It was, for me, the local bar where I hung with the Ramones and Sting, the Tuff Darts and The Dictators, and bands that live rarely on compilation discs or in the muffled corners of Jack-addled minds. It was the best of times and the worst of times. Drugs and drunkenness; the rock and roll purity on streets that nobody wanted.

The mindset in New York is changing rapidly; we are venturing into a strange time of transition. In the minds of many, the economic downturn this winter evaporated with the new sunlight of these warm spring days. Yet I hear a little voice in my head saying, “not so fast, not so fast.” High-end folks with high-paying jobs are making the same loot they did last year but are reluctant to shell out big bucks for summer rentals and big vacations because their savings and investments have lost so much value. Las May 12, the Dow was at 12,867. Yesterday it closed at 8,469. The upswing in the last couple months certainly has been as refreshing as those warm spring winds, but the reality of loss is keeping the checkbooks semi-closed. Reports of the worst Hamptons and Jersey Shore real estate markets are everywhere, with an unheard-of short-season market developing. People have been renting for a month instead of a season. Yet, in the last two weeks things have improved, and there are signs that maybe it will be OK after all.

There's an exploding rock ‘n’ roll scene in New York City; bands are banging everywhere, and there are more than a few options every night for this vibrant community. I was at Bowery Electric last week for the Bloody Social gig and found a super-hot following of rock models and scenesters mixed with a crowd from the Max’s Kansas City era -- old-school rockers that I hadn’t seen in years were everywhere. Dave Delzio is making moves and is a force in this new rock social scene. He’s involved with the post-Snitch rock Mondays at Greenhouse -- which are absolutely kicking -- and is about to start a Wednesday night slated to run like the long-lasting weekly party at Marquee, which for me was the sole reason to be there. After talking about tattoos -- he gets his done over at North Star Tattoo by Becca Roach, and we decided that he's going to hook me up for my first ink job -- we managed to get in a quick chat about the projects he’s currently working on.

Looking for a lean model to grace his winter 2008 campaign, John Varvatos found the perfect slim hipster in former Jane’s Addiction frontman and solo star Perry Farrell. The designer and musician recently got together to talk about pop iconography, clever costuming, looking sharp and the eternal importance of washboard abs on sexy rockers.

This fall, the Cleve won’t be our only city that rocks harder than Bret Michaels after a blowout. Deadheads and club kids band together as New York welcomes the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex to its fashionable SoHo district. Centered on “Greatest Rock Moments,” the new outpost will feature collectibles such as Madonna’s Keith Haring jacket, Bob Dylan’s harmonica and Keith Moon’s boots. All are fun cultural artifacts, if not a touch predictable. Here, BlackBook asks designer and music freak John Varvatos, whose recent Bowery retail location breathed new life into the iconic but defunct jam space CBGB, to list the 10 items that should have made it into the collection. Elvis fans, be forewarned: studded jumpsuits have been thrown out to make room for airborne pork, bloodstains and private parts.