For most of our lives, we've been confused by NJ's favorite son, Bruce Springsteen: we didn't know how to reconcile his lofty, ambitious lyrics, the tragi-comic stories about everymen and women working dead-end jobs at factories, with his joyous, uninhibited Phil Spector-by-way-of-Mitch Ryder musical accompaniment. Do glockenspiels really belong in the same song as blue collars? more ›

It seemed as though New Jersey was thisclose to becoming just a little bit more naked, with a vote on allowing a portion of Asbury Park to become a topless beach happening last night. But the prudes win again! According to WCBS, city leaders found an ordinance in place that prohibits public exposure; mayor Ed Johnson says he doesn't plan to change the ordinance to allow nudity, but may update it for other reasons (the same law also prohibits bathing suits on the boardwalk!). more ›

As mentioned last week, another New Jersey beach is considering going topless, but as the Asbury Park City Council vote lingers in the stifling summer air, locals discuss why they wanna have the right to take it off. Reggie Flimlin, the 48-year-old woman who presented the idea to the City Council, told the Daily News that "baring your chest is really no big deal these days. Why are women's rights still at the bottom of the totem pole in regards to female toplessness? Men have better things to do than sit around and gawk at women all day long." Do they, really? more ›

Is New Jersey going nude? The state has a nude beach in Sandy Hook, but now 1010Wins reports that another one may soon be debuting in Asbury Park. Deputy Mayor and City Councilman John Loffredo said, "It's a person's prerogative if they want to go topless. I really don't see anything wrong with it." more ›

A school in Aberdeen, NJ, was locked down yesterday after a deer jumped through a classroom window. More specifically, it was a buck that joined a fifth grade class that was finishing up a vocabulary lesson. more ›

The Village Voice is reporting that Hilly Kristal was a millionaire. Not really surprising considering the owner of CBGB, who claimed to be broke, ran more than just a venue. Just look at all those kids wearing their Urban Outfitters t-shirts with the club's logo on it. Those cost money! So does everything branded with their logo at their own store.

Just weeks after the legendary former CBGB owner passed away, his heirs—who thought Kristal was broke—are finding out that the old punk impresario was worth a surprising $3.7 million. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large sinkhole at University Ave. in the Bronx, a carjacking on Foch Blvd. in Queens, and a hanging on Park Ave. in Manhattan.
• Not only was Gov. Corzine not wearing his seatbelt, his state trooper driver was doing 91 m.p.h.(!) right before the crash. The speed limit on the Garden State Parkway is 65 m.p.h.
• Nine people were injured this afternoon when the Staten Island Ferry made a "heavy landing" at the St. George terminal. Neither the boat nor dock was damaged and the incident is being attributed to the weather and currents.
• Mayor Bloomberg's appointment as head of the Word Trade Center Memorial Foundation last October is proving very profitable. Fundraising had stalled before his appointment, but the organization's fund has more than doubled since Bloomberg came aboard, to more than $300 million.
• A 16-year-old was fatally shot in the neck yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn. Police are searching for another teenager, but there is no known motivation for the killling.
• Site onNYTurf has a map titled "Pedicouncil or Pettycouncil" that shows where City Council members stand on a law restricting pedicabs in the city.
• The Brooklyn bookstore owner who plead guilty to helping fund terrorist organizations was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
• Brownstoner salivates at real estate porn involving a limestone mansion in Fort Greene.
• Curbed reports on the Chinatown apartment on Grand St. that suffered an impromptu demolition party as a hipster describes [we] "Tore the place down." There's also a crazy video of the incident taken by a passerby wondering why glass was flying out the window.
• Authorities are wondering how an off-duty parole officer staying late after a party in Asbury Park, NJ managed to accidentally discharge his weapon and shoot three restaurant workers with a single shot.

A guilty pleasure many people have is watching Dateline's To Catch a Predator. We assume so, because it's on a lot and because there's nothing as satisfying as watching people try to weasel their way out of chatroom transcripts and out of the clutches of swamp things. So we're glad that the Asbury Park Press and Staten Island Advance are keeping tabs on the show. more ›

The mysterious object that crashed into a Freehold Township, New Jersey home last week has been determined to be a meteorite. Three Rutgers University geologists and an independent metallurgist arrived at that conclusion after examining the golf ball-sized object with magnets and magnifying glasses. The meteorite, now named Freehold Township for the place where it landed, is magnetic, dense (it weighs nearly a pound), and has a texture pattern that is consistent with other meteorites according to the scientists. more ›

Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters. more ›

First we heard rumblings on eGullet. Then we got the first review from our favorite pizza blog, Slice NY. Next things got official when The New York Times, New York magazine, and the Village Voice weighed in, too. more ›

Tonight at the New School begins the 25th Asbury Shorts of New York, a festival of short subjects from around the world. Guest hosted by Tom Mooney, "President of Headquarters," this fest strives to "give people the opportunity to see these little gems in a real theater format on a big screen." Every year the Oscars honors short subject films and here's a great opportunity for you to see a few of them in the running. more ›