AP Photo/Jason DeCrow Oh, to be a confused, sweaty fly on the wall at the Waldorf Astoria last night, when Iggy Pop sang Madonna songs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Pop and the Stooges covered "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light" in a tribute to the pop queen, who was inducted along with Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp, The Ventures, and The Dave Clark Five. Introduced by Justin Timberlake, who......

The Columbia University community is currently divided over the controversy involving a professor's possible plagiarism, which has escalated to racial politics. After an investigation, Teachers College administration found plagiarism charges against Madonna Constantine were substantiated and sanctioned the tenured professor of counseling and clinical psychology. Further heightening tensions is last year's still-unsolved incident, where Constantine found a four foot-long noose affixed to her office door. Constantine denies the plagiarism allegations, suggesting she's actually the victim......

This past week things got stirred up at celebrity hotspot Socialista with a bit of a a Hepatitis A scare. Amongst the hundreds urged to get vaccinated were celebrities who attended actor Ashton Kutcher’s 30th birthday party at the bar; those on the Hepatitis A-list included Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. When health officials checked out the joint, they found no traces of soap, meaning the infected bartender was handling garnishes and glasses to the patrons......

The Columbia Teachers College professor who was in the news last year when a noose was found on her office door angrily denied she plagiarized others' work. Madonna Constantine, who the Teachers College sanctioned after a year-and-a-half investigation, will appeal the charges. Constantine, who remains a tenured professor, issued a statement, calling the memo (released to TC faculty) discussing sanctions "premature, vindictive, and mean-spirited," lacking "sensitivity and due process." She wondered "whether a White faculty......

After a year-plus long investigation, Columbia Teachers College has sanctioned a professor for plagiarism. And the professor happens to be Madonna Constantine, the professor who found a noose on her office door last fall. The Columbia Spectator got confirmation that the Teachers' College “found numerous instances in which she [Constantine] used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years: "Prompted by complaints from students and one former......

If you've been following the Julian Schnabel-branded apartment building, Palazzo Chupi, then you might be interested to learn that the remaining two units went on the market today. What's not good enough for Bono and Madonna may just be good enough for you! So if you've had your savings earmarked for that perfectly pink West Village apartment that you can call home, The NY Times has the listing and Curbed has the floorplan; here are......

Confetti, by Swifty at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large fight at an election on Eldert Ln. in Brooklyn, a stolen DHL truck on Crown St. in Brooklyn, and a child stabbed on 220th St. and 133th Ave. in Queens. Brownstoner notes that the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is looking for nominations for the best buildings in Brooklyn. Staten Island Assemblyman Michael Cusick wants 17-year-olds to have the right to vote in......

It's all in an Upper West Side day for the Material Girl! The tabloids have reported that Madonna is suing her co-op, claiming the board blocked her attempt to buy a neighbor's apartment. Madonna has a 6,000 square foot apartment at Harperley Hall at 41 Central Park West - a duplex with hair salon and gym. The summons filed in Manhattan Supreme Court accuses the board and Midboro Management of "breach of contract...and orders......

EVENT: This is pretty...interesting. The Sprinkle Brigade "unveils the future of Urban Beautification. Their upcoming show entitled, 'EQUIPPED' at the Riveria Gallery, focuses on the cutting edge in dog poo decoration." The brigade say the "art form" came about after spending "several years of experience wandering the streets of New York, decorating what most people consider to be the enemy." The opening is tonight and the show runs through the 23rd. Leave the pooper scooper......

The gasps you heard in front of certain American television sets Wednesday were because Project Runway's second episode packed a wallop. After American icon challenges during season 2 and 3, the fourteen remaining designers speculated this year's fashion icon could be Madonna, Britney ("she needs help," according to the severely coiffed Christian, who interned at Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen) or Snow White, it's possible that the actual icon was better than their dreams:......

Pitchfork-approved blog darlings Tokyo Police Club have spent the last year and change transitioning from flavor of the month boy band to reputable musicians with an enviable knack for short, hook-happy hits. On Thursday night these clever Canucks will have the chance to further extend their fan base when they perform at the “Woodie” Awards; they’re nominated for a “Breaking Woodie”. Broadcast on the 24-hour college network mtvU, the award show will feature performances by......

Hundreds gathered for the funeral of Linda Stein, who once managed musicians like the Ramones and later became a real estate broker "to the stars." Stein was found bludgeoned in her Fifth Avenue apartment on Tuesday, and her daughter Samantha Stein-Wells made tearfully shared a promise she and sister Mandy Stein made, "I had to see her one last time. One last time to see what this bastard had done to her. And we stood......

As the NYPD Hate Crimes unit, as well as the FBI and Justice Department, investigates the noose found outside a Columbia professor's office, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly commented about the school's cooperation. Apparently the school only turned over surveillance videos after the NYPD provided a subpoena - three days after the noose was found on Teachers College Professor Madonna Constatine's office door knob. Columbia said that educational institutions require subpoenas, because they are dealing with......

Yesterday morning, a swastika and a caricature of a yarmulke-wearing man were found in a building at Columbia University. This is the second hate crime in as many days found at the school's campus - a noose was found on the door of a Teachers College professor earlier this week. The graffiti was in the men's bathroom at Lewisohn Hall, where the School of General Studies is located. Columbia President Lee Bollinger, who was criticized......

The professor at Columbia University's Teacher College whose office door was found with a noose on it spoke out for the first time yesterday. Madonna Constantine told students that gathered for a rally, "This is a heinous and highly upsetting incident. I am upset that our community has been exposed to a blatantly vile incident like this. It is an act of cowardice. I would like the perpetrator to know that I will not be......

Faculty and students are reeling after a noose was found on the door of a black professor's office at Columbia University's Teachers College yesterday. The NYPD's Hate Crime task force is investigating the incident and the professor has been identified in the media as Professor Madonna Constantine, whose interests are listed as "Cultural competence in counseling, training, and supervision. Mental health issues of people of color in the United States and immigrants. Vocational issues of......

Margaret Cho returns to the stage in a whole new way with her stage show The Sensuous Woman. The production is at the Zipper Theater starting tomorrow (more details here) and is bringing burlesque back. The variety show will feature some famed burlesque performers, along with stand-up and sketch comedy acts. And of course, Margaret -- who we had a few questions for recently. Tell us about your new burlesque-style variety show The Sensuous Woman.......

EVENT: GRBG is helping in the celebration of the “Gangs of New York” Fall ’07 collection. Enjoy a photo exhibit of the fall look book shot in Coney Island, a screening of The Warriors and free Rum! 6 to 9pm // powerHouse Arena [37 Main St, Brooklyn] // Free READING: His book on the nightlife scene hit the stores yesterday, and today Rob the Bouncer will be joining them. He's not even quite sure what......

Before the Beastie Boys’ concert at McCarren Park Pool last night, Gothamist attended a press conference with the 3 MC’s and verified an interesting bit of trivia: Despite having formed in Brooklyn, rehearsed often at Adam Yauch’s parent’s crib downtown, and associated themselves with the borough constantly over the decades, the band itself had not yet performed in Kings County. Mike D broke it down like so, “When we came up none of the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at 39th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, falling debris from 820 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on East 214th St. in the Bronx. Queens Councilman James Gennaro was fined $2,000 after admitting to the Conflict of Interest Board that he asked a staffer to volunteer on his campaign, although he says he has no recollection of the 2003 incident MTA CEO Elliot Sander......

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the (insert tongue firmly into cheek) hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic......

The Observer has an interesting piece on The New Victorians, who are apparently bringing monogomy and early adulthood back. To get a mental image, think: Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in Boerum Hill, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss in Park Slope and Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon in the West Village. A new breed of 20-somethings in the big city, and apparently this new regime is more into nesting than late nights. The Observer......

Blender has a list of 100 Days That Changed Music, and not surprisingly a good amount of them took place in New York. Here are a few, see any missing? 99. December 11, 1965: The Velvet Underground play their first show, which was actually at a high school dance in Summit, New Jersey. The following year however, the Velvets became the house band at Warhol's Factory. 96. December 14, 1977: "Saturday Night Fever debuts in......

Forbes has put out their list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities, something to bicker about at the water cooler, no doubt. Here are some of the top-ranked New Yorker's and their earnings: Jay-Z at #9 with $83M David Letterman at #17 with $40M Donald Trump at #19 with $32M Sean Combs at #43 with $23M Derek Jeter at #50 with $28M Bill Clinton at #55 with $7M Regis Philbin at #64 with $21M......

It isn't very often a Beatle takes a small stage for an intimate show in New York. Last night, this very thing happened...and lucky for those in attendance, that Beatle wasn't Ringo. Paul McCartney played to a crowd of about 700 fans, press folk and a few celebs (Elijah Wood and Whoopi Goldberg) at the Highline Ballroom. While Macca was there promoting his new album, Memory Almost Full, his set list was full of oldies......

You may not yet have heard of Marco Pierre White, unless, of course you are one of the untold numbers of commis cooks and line jockeys in restaurants all over the world for the last twenty years for whom the iconoclast British chef changed the food game entirely. White's new memoir The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef (published in the U.K. last year as White Slave)......

Rocktavist Bono is battling a very local, personal cause...over fireplaces in his Manhattan apartment building (the San Remo). Apparently the smoke from other residents' fireplaces is ending up in his penthouse duplex, which he shares with his family (a wife and four children). The NY Times gets some inside info from the building on Central Park West: "Bono was so nice. He said, 'Listen, whatever I can do to get these things working, but it's......

Losing Something is a new play by theater and media group 3-Legged Dog (3LD), whose headquarters at 30 West Broadway were destroyed on 9/11. Their new space at 80 Greenwich Street is just three blocks from Ground Zero – a seemingly fitting spot in the shadow of no towers for their new multimedia meditation on loss. But this is not your grandmother’s multimedia; Losing Something utilizes a cutting edge technology called Eyeliner, invented in......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: "crack in wall of building" in Williamsburg, three alarm fire on West 65th, and an overturned truck on Park Avenue. Just what the meatpacking district needs: dirty bingo. "A Queens man is suing his ex-girlfriend for $1 million, claiming she just used him to get pregnant before running off with a man who was better endowed." Like that's never happened to you! Is Matzoh made in a converted schoolbus......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: suspicious package at City Hall Park, a crane collapse at the Battery Tunnel, and a 10-75 in Brooklyn Heights. The Tar Heel mascot for UNC's basketball team died today after being hit by an SUV on Route 4 in NJ on Friday. Jason Ray had left the hotel to go to a convenience store; he was scheduled to graduate this May. You know what we've always said the Broadway-Lafayette......