Today, the new New Jersey Hall of Fame will induct fifteen men and women--living and deceased--in a ceremony today. They are, in alphabetical order, Buzz Aldrin, Clara Barton, Yogi Berra, Bill Bradley, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Malcolm Forbes, Robert Wood Johnson II, Vince Lombardi, Toni Morrison, Norman Schwarzkopf, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep and Harriet Tubman. The inductees, who were selected from a pool of 25 finalists, must have lived in the state......

Cops are on the lookout for a pants-less NJ man accused of breaking into an Edison, NJ woman's home, disrobing, and molesting its sleeping occupant. The police are now recommending that people not leave windows or doors unlocked because the nude intruder weirdo remains on the loose. Thursday morning, a 39-year-old woman awoke to find a nude man in bed with her and stroking her thigh around 3 a.m. He was an uninvited guest and......

A penny here, a penny there, pretty soon it adds up to driving right by a gas station because they've crossed a psychological barrier of asking more than four bucks for a gallon of gas. Area stations are trying hard to hold the line at $3.99 a gallon to keep from scaring the bejeezus out of drivers with the facts, which is that gasoline is the most expensive it's been since the invention of the......

After dozens of cars broke down after getting gas from a few Lukoil stations in NJ, the Russian-owned company explained, "Our company experienced water contamination issues at six northern New Jersey stations [caused by] excessive concentrations of water in storage tanks at an exchange partner's terminal." Lukoil offered to pay for damages to all vehicles affected by the bad gas and will reimburse motorists for rental cars (call 877-858-9962 for more info). Stalled cars were......

Evening commutes are already painful, but a few dozen motorists in NJ had a terrible night when their cars broke down because they filled up with some bad gas. Apparently some Lukoil stations got a "shipment of bad gas," forcing drivers to pull onto the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway and Palisades Interstate Parkway. The shipments were made to a rest area in Bloomfield and another gas station in Fort Lee. One woman, driving......

Sharpe James, five-time former mayor of Newark, NJ, was convicted by federal jury this morning on charges he conspired to, per the Star-Ledger, "rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress, who quickly resold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit." The jury, which had deliberated for five days before returning a verdict today, found James guilty of 13 counts of corruption. James' ex-girlfriend, Tamika Riley, who bought South Ward properties......

Images of the shrapnel-damaged bedroom from WNBC A NJ family is very angry at the Army for "misfiring" a projectile and having part of a shell crash through their roof and onto their daughter's bed. Their 10-year-old daughter had just left for a sleepover, but the family cat who was sleeping there was so seriously injured she had to be euthanized. The 6-inch by 4-inch, 2-pound piece of shrapnel lay smoldering on the bed......

Over a thousand people visited an Ettingville funeral home to pay their respects to 19-year-old Jessica Tush. Her ex-boyfriend Thomas Paolino was officially charged with her murder, as well as desecrating her body, and his bail was set at $1 million. Tush was last seen at her job at a Staten Island Mall store on Wednesday, and her body was found in a shallow grave in NJ's Pine Barrens on Friday. Tush was planning on......

So, Moby just happened to Google Alert himself run across this music blog that wrote a (video) post asking him to play their anniversary party since their headliner had canceled (headlining was The Teeth, who broke up...and broke stuff at our CMJ show last year). The video message, which offered $1,000 to play the show, also went out to Win Butler, Kate Nash and Ben Gibbard. Moby responded "yes" (aww). And Hoboken ladies: he's ready......

Jessica Tush was last seen alive Wednesday at the Staten Island Mall where she works. New Jersey police officials are now confirming that the body of a young woman found in a shallow grave by hikers in the Garden State's Pine Barrens was that of the missing teenager. An initial medical examination indicates that Tush was likely strangled to death. It was originally suspected that Jessica was abducted by force from the mall, but sources......

NJ Governor Jon Corzine spoke out against NYC's congestion pricing plan, citing the Port Authority's proposed $1 billion worth of involvement to sweeten the deal. The City Council approved the plan on Monday night, and now the State Legislature will decide. If passed without the Port Authority's involvement (and $1 billion), NJ drivers would face an additional $3-4 toll when crossing over into Manhattan below 60th Street. Corzine issued a statement: "I am dismayed at......

A NYPD academy dropout who lied about his involvement in September 11 rescue activities remains in jail as NJ police continue to investigate him. Fred Parisi, a 40-year-old Jefferson Township, NJ resident, was arrested for stealing from a business partner, but some suspect he used his so-called 9/11 story to raise sympathy--and money to send his son for a baseball program in Holland. A 2006 NJ Herald article, mainly about Parisi struggle to send his......

NJ Governor Jon Corzine, who was critically injured after not wearing a seat belt when his state vehicle crashed, endorsed a proposal requiring all passengers wear seat belts in vehicles on NJ roads. He also supported recommendations for stricter restrictions for drivers under age 20, even admitting his three children had been in accidents as teen drivers. Corzine had been riding in his SUV's front passenger seat last year when he was ejected, breaking a......

The search for a missing NJ woman led the police to a pond in the Charleston section of Staten Island, where a suitcase of bones were found. The bones are undergoing DNA testing to see if it's a match for Amy Giordano, who vanished last June. Brooklyn resident Rosario DiGirolamo was charged with the Giordano's murder. DiGirolamo, who is married, was involved with 27-year-old Giordano and they had a young son, who was found abandoned......

UPDATE: It appears I may have been punk'd. Bwog is reporting that there was no vote to ban JuicyCampus by Columbia's student council. The university magazine talked to a student council VP of Policy who "claims that a mischievous tipster must have sent in a fake tip to Gothamist and the [New York] Post." No tip was received at Gothamist, but the Post was the source of this afternoon's item, along with background from The......

Bowery Presents has efficiently taken over the New York music scene with some of the most successful venues in town. It seems that for every non-Bowery venue door that closes, a new Bowery one opens. So where is a burgeoning company to go once they've planted Mercury Lounges and Music Halls around NYC? New Jersey, of course.The historic 2,000-capacity Wellmont Theater in Montclair, N.J., will re-open its doors this fall under a recently formed partnership......

After toppling 499 headstones in January, four teenagers were sentenced today in Middlesex County, NJ. The Star-Ledger reports the judge gave the teens, ages 15-17, 18 months probation, plus paying some of the damages, writing letters of apology, serving 100 hours of "community service keeping community cemeteries clean" and attending "a 12-week course studying the Holocaust." Three of the teens struck on New Year's day, toppling 17 headstones, and then came back a few days......

The NY Post has an "explosive interview" with disgraced former NJ Governor James McGreevey's old driver and aide, who claims he had many "three-way sex romps" with McGreevey and his wife Dina Matos. Teddy Pederson is speaking out because Matos has been talking about Governor Spitzer's scandal, "It's frustrating to hear her call Gov. Spitzer a hypocrite while she's out there being as dishonest as anyone could be about her own life... She's framed herself......

Photo by Raymond Haddad, at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on Broadway and 231st St. in the Bronx, an aircraft alert at JFK at Queens, and a person fatally struck by a train at 57th St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. Entries for the NYC Half-Marathon will start being accepted at 11:59pm on May 29th. Details. And the Design Trust for Public Space is accepting submissions for its Grand Army......

Stilted But Not Wilted, by PayPaul(Leader of the WW Tribe) at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 109th Ave. and Merick Blvd. in Queens, a person under a train at Sutphin Blvd. in Queens, and a cyclist pinned beneath the wheels of a bus on 14th St. and 1st Ave. (looks like victim will survive) in Manhattan. The tech-savvy youth who got himself arrested for stealing a Sidekick mobile device and then......

Photograph of Running of the Brides participants by Mark Lennihan/AP Early this morning brides-to-be lined 14th Street in hopes of finding their dream dress at a discount price. The annual wedding dress sale at Filene's Basement, dubbed The Running of the Brides, included around 2500 gowns (of which reportedly zero are left). And every lady wants to find the designer dress with an off-the-rack pricetag, which can be akin to finding a needle in......

The following post is from our advertiser, Campaign for New York's Future. Photo of crowded subway by Nick Whitaker Overcrowded subways, packed buses, gridlocked streets, and polluted air: just part of life in New York City? With a million more people on the way, these nuisances are poised to become a problem large enough to bring our city to a screeching halt. Tell your state legislators to pass congestion pricing and bring traffic relief and......

Frozen Coney, by MurphyZero at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Livingston St. in Brooklyn, another bank robbery on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, and a third bank robbery on 71-41 Main St. in Queens. Even diamonds can get family members riled up and stabbing this way and that. Something Into Plowshares: behold the transformed Park Slope Armory. Toys in Babeland coming to family-friendly Park Slope. The Pink Pussycat Boutique, which operates......

Any color you like, by Unlisted Sightings at flickr; Artist: Jim Lambie at MoMA.Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on East 39th St. in Manhattan, a large fight on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, and a child in cardiac arrest on Pitt St. in Manhattan. Police in Nassau County are conducting an active homicide investigation in New Cassel, after they were called to a home where three children--all under the age of seven--were found......

A driver for a private garbage trucking company was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Police say that Auvryn Scarlett lost control of his truck on West 35th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues Tuesday night, fatally hitting a couple and injuring a man; they believe Scarlett had a seizure and note he recently stopped taking his seizure medication. A passenger with Scarlett, who worked for Action Carting of Newark, NJ, told the police,......

Last night, the campus of Seton Hall University was locked down for an hour after a man shot himself around 8:30PM. The man, identified as Anthony Papalia of Aberdeen, NJ, was not a student and was taken to University Hospital in Newark. The Star-Ledger reports Papalia drove to the school's South Orange campus because he was "despondent over [a] breakup" with his girlfriend, who is a Seton Hall student. The police aren't sure when or......

The cold and windy conditions that caused problems yesterday will continue through the day today. Today's high will be around 25 but the wind chill will stay around zero degrees for most of the day. With wind chills that low it is a good idea to cover up if you will be outside for more than a few minutes. We were reminded of this when our cherubic cheeks started getting numb on Gothamist's walk......

Photograph by forklift on Flickr An estimated three million people assembled along Broadway during yesterday's ticker tape parade to celebrate the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots. After the many floats with Giants players (and cars with some dignitaries, like Governor Spitzer, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver) rolled up the Canyon of Heroes, Mayor Bloomberg presented the team with keys to the city. When David Tyree,......

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/05/get_out_your_pr.php...

Photograph John McCain surrounded by New York Republicans by Kathy Willens/AP John McCain's Straight Talk Express headed into Manhattan today, taking him to Grand Central Terminal where he got the endorsement of former governor George Pataki. McCain, along with wife Cindy, appeared with Pataki, Alphonse D'Amato, Joseph Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate appears to be leading in many Super Tuesday polls over rivals Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Pataki,......