Hoboken PATH, 1998, by Triborough at flickr One hundred years ago today, the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad opened for business with one mission – to get the passengers to and from the various railroad terminals on the Hudson County New Jersey side of the river to or from Manhattan who would otherwise have to take ferries. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the PATH, the Port Authority is giving free PATH rides today between 6AM......

Two Jersey City mail carriers were arrested this week for selling marijuana when they weren't delivering most of the mail along their routes. 47-year-old Hector Pacheco Sr. and 37-year-old Al Spencer were arrested Friday afternoon with a third man as police raided a home and finding Pacheco wearing his postal uniform while grinding up marijuana to be deposited in bags that would be sold for $20. Cops seized 4 and half ounces of weed and......

Shortly before 2 this afternoon, three ships collided in Newark Bay, closing the bay to marine traffic. The three-way collision was between two dredging vessels, the 117-foot Melvin Lemmerhirt and the New York, and the 669-Foot Liberian tanker Orange Sun. The Orange Sun is reported to be carrying orange juice as its cargo. Reports also say the New York is taking on water, that there is a fluid leaking from one of the ships (presumably,......

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a campaign swing into our neighborhood yesterday, drawing a crowd of thousands to Yanitelli Center at St. Peter's College, and as well as supporters to a fund-raiser in Midtown last night. At St. Peter's, He told the audience, "I'm not running because of long-held ambitions. I'm running because of what Dr. (Martin Luther) King called the 'fierce urgency of now.'" Obama also complained about his opponents trying to......

Hillary Clinton proved the polls and pundits wrong with her New Hampshire primary win last night and dominated the front pages for a second day in a row. Clinton and John McCain, who won the Republican primary, are being called comeback...adults as New Hampshire polling centers had record turn outs. WNBC's Gabe Pressman writes that their wins are a defeat for pollsters and journalists who had written them off. Clinton chalked up at least......

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a suspicious fire in the area of Ludlow and Stanton Sts. in Manhattan, a crane vs. overpass incident at Westchester and Prospect Aves. in the Bronx, and an armed robbery on Shell Rd. in Brooklyn. Musician/actor Jon Bon Jovi is suing the maker of an energy drink for selling a coffee-based beverage called Mijovi. The owner of the NJ beverage company says that the name of his product is......

The 31st Annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks extravaganza is just around the corner. This is the largest display in America and takes a year to plan. This year's show will stretch wider than usual in a "high definition" format, choreographed to the New York Pops (simulcast on 1010 WINS, TV broadcast on NBC). The Daily News has an interview with Gary Souza, fireworks designer for the event; he says, "We have a new......

Sludgie the Whale was removed from the Gowanus Bay yesterday - and not without difficulty. The first time the Army Corp of Engineers tried to remove him, Sludgie slipped out of the knot and, as Newsday puts it, "plunged to the depths of the harbor, 30 feet below." The ACE's boat captain said, "It was a 'might knot' -- it might hold and it might not." Army Corp of Engineers: Can help get Intrepid......

This week New York Magazine chose Eric Harvey Brown as their look book subject. We decided to ask him a few questions ourselves, and dig a little deeper - beyond the beard (just a little though). How did NY Mag approach you for the Look Book piece? They found me walking past Times Square. Why do you think they picked you? I have crazy facial hair. Where did they shoot the photo? They shot the......

It was inevitable. The NY Times City section has a little feature about the Long Island City vs. Williamsburg as better place to live debate that emerged on the Queens West discussion board last month. You can see a graphic pitting the different neighborhood's charms/cornerstones of gentrification, like upscale pizza joint/French restaurant/pet boutique/etc against each other, and by the looks of it, Williamsburg wins since there's no trendy boutique in Long Island City. Or......

It looks like Donald Trump will get to build his 45-story Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium at 246 Spring Street. Though the city hasn't officially issued construction permits, the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation heard from city officials that the hotel would be allowed, and made its grievances known. The Trump SoHo would be part hotel, where owners only stay there for a certain number of days during the year and the apartments/rooms are......

There are many different stories flying around about the fatal argument at the midtown halal stand. The brother of victim Noel Gibbons spoke to the Daily News about what happened. Shannon Gibbons says that he, Noel, and a friend were waiting on line when Ziad Tayeh said they had cut in front of him. "I think I was in front of you," said Tayeh, according to Shannon Gibbons. "We just ignored him," he recalled. But......

What does $30 million in state funds bring Allentown, Pennsylvania? A plan to be a "Wall Street West" for the financial service industry in case of a terrorist attack. Pennsylvania wants Wall Street to put their "back operations" in Allentown, because 86 miles from NYC is a safe distance, in case anything crazy should happen. Oh, and because nine counties can be wired with enough fiber optic lines to be attractive enough for the big......

The Times today has an interesting story on the continuing issues that have been troubling the slowly reemerging commercial ferry business here. Earlier this week New York Water Taxi announced that it was going to have to raise the cost of a trip between Jersey City and Wall Street from $6 to $9, much to the dismay of the 2,000 odd commuters who ride the boats daily. The increase was, the Times says, due......

There's one sign the World Trade Memorial will be built - a builder has been selected to build the memorial's footings and foundation. NJ company E.E. Cruz was awarded the job, and Governor Pataki said, "This month, we will begin in earnest to build a fitting and lasting tribute to he thousands of heroic men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice on September 11." Now, besides finding contractors for other parts of the project,......

It's hot, humid, and I want to go to the beach. What are my options? 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. Queens: Jacob Riis Park 2 to Flatbush Ave., Q35 Bus to Riis Beach Staten Island: Great Kills......

After the deadly commuter train bombings in Mumbai yesterday, New York City has increased transit security once again. Police officers who would have clocked out at 3PM or 4PM were kept on through the evening rush hour, and the random subway bag checks were increased. Can you believe it's been almost a year since bag checks were instituted? Police Commissioner Ray Kelly explained, "We are acting on an abundance of caution. There are no......

Golf has always had somewhat of an "upper crust of society" feel to it, but sometimes that feeling goes even farther than one could even imagine. Case in point: Liberty National Golf Club. Liberty National, just across the Hudson River in Jersey City, just opened last month and has some of the most ridiculous member benefits that Gothamist has ever heard of. How ritzy, you ask? When construction is finished, the waiters will deliver......

"Where can I get a good view of the fireworks on 4th of July? Should I bring a folding chair? Can I bring alcohol? " If you haven't made friends with someone who has East River and/or Statue of Liberty waterfront views yet, we have some answers. The Macy's Fireworks Spectacular has 3 different fireworks launching sites this year (here's the map) - on the East River between 23rd and 42nd streets, between Liberty......

If you watched the finale of The Apprentice, you probably laughed when Donald Trump called SoHo an "artists' enclave" - we think the artists got edged out some time in the early 1990s. But, as both finalists showed, the chance to work on the Trump Soho, a 45-50 story hotel and condo building, was the real prize, versus a yooge building in Honolulu. Anyway, the computer graphic presentation of the Trump Soho was pretty......

The Department of Homeland Security cut the yearly antiterrorism budget for the "Urban Area Security Initiative" and New York and DC got the shaft, with their funds cut by 40%. New York City, which had received $207.6 million last year, will now get $124.5 million (DC went from $77.5 million to $46.5 million), while cities like Omaha, Louisville, Atlanta, and Jacksonville are getting more; ost notably, Jersey City/Newark got a 44% increase in funds,......

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for eastern Hudson County in New Jersey and New York County aka Manhattan, in New York. A severe thunderstorm has been moving from around Jersey City and Bayonne northeastward toward Manhattan. There are reports of a funnel cloud. When funnel clouds reach the ground they are considered tornadoes. If a tornado is spotted seek shelter immediately, preferrably in an interior room or basement. Stay away......

Mayor Bloomberg and Boston's Mayor Menino hosted a summit to stop the spread of illegal guns in communities, with thirteen mayors from other cities (Buffalo, Dallas, Hartford, Jackson, Jersey City, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Providence, Seattle, Trenton, Tulsa, DC and Yonkers) in attendance. Bloomberg referenced the death of 2 year old David Pacheco, saying, "The only thing that would have helped that child is if we had the courage to stand up and get the guns......

- WABC 7 interviews the man swallowed by his Long Island cesspool! - What acrobatics people will do on subways on Vimeo - Forgotten NY looks at a rally to save St. Savior's in Maspeth - check out the protester with Darth Vader cut-out - Mafia cop Louis Eppolito gets rid of his defense attorney Bruce "John Gotti's Lawyer" Cutler - Gotham Girls Roller Derby is in Brooklyn - for now - People are......

Earlier this week, Jersey City authorities were worried about a 13 year old girl, who text messaged her mother and told her that she had been kidnapped - but she was still sending her friends "carefree" messages. Yesterday, she was found in Brooklyn after she called her parents from a payphone, saying she had been raped and taken to Bellevue Hospital for an examination, and now, the police and even the girl's family have their......

WABC says that many buildings in the Financial District were evacuated due to a gas leak at a New Jersey power plant. Firefighters started evacuating people this morning at 11AM at some buildings, and then some buildings started to evacuate themselves (including 116, 180 and 200 Water streets, 5, 7 and 10 Hanover Square, 111 and 116 John streets, 40 and 49 Fulton Street, 70 Hike Street). When we mapped Linden, NJ - where the......

- The body of the second Jersey City police officer whose car drove off a raised drawbridge was found today - A woman looks out the window and gets killed by a stray bullet - The MTA's deadline for cell phone service providers to submit bids to wire subway stations and other tunnels has been postponed AGAIN - NYC made over $600 million from film and TV production - The police officer charged with criminal......

It's the day after Christmas, which also means it's a federal holiday, with government offices and schools and the like closed. Which also means it's kind of a slow news day in the area. The Daily News has decided to take the time to announce the new head of the Gambino crime family, Jackie D'Amico, aka Jackie Nose. With the Gotti sons supposedly out of the picture, D'Amico is the new acting head according to......

It's true-- we often tell people that if there was any justice in this world, Hoboken would be New York's sixth borough (along with Bayonne, Jersey City, Weehawken, etc-- seriously-- check out this map-- the border between the states should have been drawn at the river on the other side of Jersey City, not in the middle of the Hudson, which should belong 100% to New York State.) Anyway, until we go to war......