The NY Times reports on Mr. New Jersey's ties with the political elite. With it being common practice for high-ranking politicians to attend his concerts, it's seems it's a two way street, with Bon Jovi also showing his support at their functions.He calls her “Mrs. C.” And she calls on him to add a little celebrity gloss to her presidential campaign. Jon Bon Jovi and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been friends for more than a......

Tenants of the office building at 370 Lexington Ave. and East 41st St. are alleging that while they were barred from the building for more than a month during clean-up and decontamination of the area following July's midtown steampipe explosion, their offices were looted of cash, cellphones, electronics, and other portable valuables. The New York Post talked to the president of a graphic-arts company located in the building, who found that approximately $45,000 in items......

The rebuilding process at Ground Zero took another small step forward today as final plans for Towers 2, 3, and 4 were unveiled. Larry Silverstein and a group of architects unveiled updated designs for the buildings, which are supposed to start construction in January. These plans are more detailed than the initial designs released last year, with more information on the lobbies, public spaces, and building facades. Silverstein says the buildings will be environmentally......

It's been just about two weeks since the 7-alarm fire at the Deutsche Bank building, and the city and state are still trying to figure out how to proceed with the WTC-dust contaminated building's dismantling. The Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation asking for the building to be sealed up "to protect public health and the environment." It was only when the EPA had given its approval for a......

Former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (and former NJ Governor) Christie Todd Whitman testified in front of Congress yesterday about the EPA's September 11 response. With critics like Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Anthony Weiner of New York and Representative Bill Pascrell of NJ questioning her, Whitman called statements made about her leadership "misinformation, innuendo and downright falsehoods." The Daily News, which made Whitman its cover girl yesterday, called her a woman of "many......

Former NJ Governor and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Todd Whitman is alleging that in the days after the 9/11 attacks, she urged the city to get rescue workers and first responders to wear respirators, but was rebuffed by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. If true, the allegations would seem to severely damage Giuliani's Presidential aspirations, as he is running on the perceived strength of his leadership in the days following 9/11/01. Whitman also......

After a lot of planning and a lot of toxin-finding even up until a few weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a demolition strategy for the Deutsche Bank at 130 Liberty Street. The Lower Manhattan Construction Command CEnter says that deconstruction will start within a month, in hopes that the building will be gone by September 2007. But the Department of Buildings tells the NY Times, "Right now there are no plans filed......

The Daily News' Ben Smith looks at a possible stumbling block for Rudy Giuliani's presidential hopes. And it would be a big one. With September 11 fire responders falling ill and memos about the Giuliani administration opening downtown earlier, in spite of EPA warnings, becoming a bigger and bigger story this year, some who hope for "Giuliani 2008" are concerned that Rudy could be vulnerable, the way John Kerry was when the Swift Boat Veterans......

We always knew Gotham's air was special, but we didn't know just how special! Turns out that our fine metropolis has the filthiest air in the country! Huzzah! Or we did way back in 1999 back when the data that the Environmental Protection Agency's recent findings were taken. The results of a similar 2002 emissions study should be ready next year. We can only guess at how different the air is today then it......

On Sundays, Gothamist runs opinion pieces on issues relevant to life in New York. The views expressed below are solely those of the author. This week a federal judge served up former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman with an entirely warranted wake-up call. While more than 5,000 residents, workers and students from Lower Manhattan have filed a class action lawsuit accusing Whitman and the E.P.A. of misleading them about the health risks involved......

According to our trusty informants at Gothamist Contribute, the maple sugar smell returned for a fourth time last night:The maple syrup smell is a Canadian conspiracy to get us to buy more maple syrup! January 27, 2006 12:31 AM i smell it on 118th street!! January 27, 2006 12:22 AM The syrup smell is very strong near La Guardia as well. This is really freaking me out. January 26, 2006 11:26 PM cpw at 88th-check......

Mostly sunny, high of 80. Gothamist sees some rain on the weather.com radar, but apparently they don't think it'll come our way. Yesterday Gothamist was aimlessly perusing the Nola.com website in search of some Louisiana news. Turns out the American Meteorological Society recently held its 33rd annual Conference on Broadcast Meteorology there. Though the article's writer didn't come across as a beloved fellow weather lover--hey, he works for the Times-Picayune and probably had to run......

Gothamist is happy that New Yorkers will soon be able to breath easier. The Times reports this morning that the Environmental Protection Agency has set new rules for regulating the emssions from diesel-powered "tractors, bulldozers, locomotives, barges and other nonroad vehicles". Together, these sources emit more soot than all the cars, trucks and buses combined. The new rules will reduce particulate and nitrous oxide emissions by 90 percent. The EPA estimates that controlling these......