Once again, our precious Radiohead has bypassed Madison Square Garden in favor of, uh, greener pastures in New Jersey. The last time the greatest band in human history performed in an arena conveniently located for important, time-pressed New Yorkers, it was 2006 at Madison Square Garden (their impossibly-sold-out Roseland shows in November don't count, and we're not counting Occupy Wall Street either). A number of east coast tour dates were announced today, and the closest Radiohead will get to NYC is the Prudential Center in lovely downtown Newark. PATH train, here we come! more ›

The funeral for Whitney Houston now appears to be scheduled for Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. While a community leader with ties to the Houston family suggested yesterday the funeral and a public memorial would be held at the Prudential Center, the funeral home arranging the services said today that they would be much more private. more ›

The body of music superstar Whitney Houston is being flown to New Jersey for funeral services that will take place this week. Houston, who was born in Newark and raised in East Orange, died on Saturday afternoon, hours before she was scheduled to perform at a pre-Grammys event. One community leader who has ties to Houston's family tells the Star-Ledger that the funeral "has been tentatively scheduled for Friday at the Prudential Center." more ›

Shaquille O'Neal chatted with NJ's Herald News about the Nets, whom the Celtics are playing tonight at the Prudential Center in Newark, and guess what, he has an opinion of the team moving to Brooklyn! Shaq said, "I would have liked to see the new owner get with the guy who built the arena and keep the Nets [in Newark]. I don't want to see the team go to Brooklyn. Maybe the two heads can get together, they can do that and I can come down there and become general manager." more ›

The New Jersey Nets will no longer have to lose to home crowds at the Meadowlands' Izod Center: The team has made a deal to move to the Prudential Center in Newark for two years. The Star-Ledger reports, "After months of wrangling, a deal was struck Thursday to allow the Nets to buy their way out of their lease at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands... The Nets will pay $4 million to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority — which could be offset in part by advertising, suite revenues and other credits." more ›

The poor, poor NJ Nets. Not only are they 2-24 for the season so far (they lost to the Utah Jazz by 16 points last night) and not only is their mythical Brooklyn home still in progress, now a plan to relieve them from the Meadowlands and move them to more easily accessible Newark has apparently fallen through! more ›

Adding more fuel to the fire about where the Nets may play in the future, the Record says that the Izod Center (at the Meadowlands) and Prudential Center (in Newark) have stopped squabbling and may sign a deal, which "could have the Nets moving to Newark next fall for two seasons (or more) and the Izod Center becoming the long-term concert and family show mecca for North Jersey." The Nets, waiting to hear about what will happen with the Atlantic Yards, have been impressed with the crowds they've gotten at the Prudential Center. more ›

Two preseason games at the Prudential Center in Newark have been so highly attended that the Nets are considering moving there from the Meadowlands while they wait for a new home in Brooklyn. An October 13th preseason game against the Celtics drew 12,790 fans to the Prudential Center, three times the the size of a typical preseason crowd at the Meadowlands' Izod Center. Then, a game against the Knicks drew 15,721. Those are nice numbers, but getting out of their lease could cost Nets owner and Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner millions. more ›

A gay couple tells PIX News they were victims of a hate crime this past Saturday in Newark, NJ. After the Brtiney Spears concert at the venue, Josh Kehoe and Bobby Daniel Caldwell walked a couple blocks to their car when 15-20 teens confronted them, called them "faggots," beat them, took Kehoe's cellphone and left Caldwell with his jaw broken. However, police don't think it was a bias crime since the victims said the teens allegedly robbed a group of women a few minutes earlier. Kehoe also said that there was no police presence outside the arena— where the NJ Devils play (and the Nets are playing some pre-season games)—and it took police 45 minutes to respond. NJ.com commenters are debating safety around "the Rock"—"Hundreds of thousands of fans have come to The Rock and have had great times without any crime whatsoever," while others" and "If you lived here you would know.. this is just the type of sh*t you deal with being gay in the area." Flashback to 2007, when city officials bristled over characterizations about violence in Newark? more ›

Hey, New York Magazine's words "If you like Downtown Brooklyn you'll love Newark" are true when it comes to the NJ Nets. The team, which was supposed to move to Brooklyn for the 2009-2010 way back when, has been negotiating with the NJ Devils to play three pre-season games, according to the Star-Ledger. Nets CEO Brett Yormark only said, "We're exploring many different options, continue to regionalize the franchise. Preseason games afford us the opportunity to do this." An anonymous Nets official adds, "With Brooklyn still up in the air, the question is whether they're warming to the idea of moving to Newark, even though it's clear that getting to Brooklyn is best for the long-term health of the franchise." Over the weekend, City Councilwoman Letitia James told the Daily News the Atlantic Yards project was on its "last legs, and the wicked witch is almost dead" (she opposes the plan), but we bet Bruce Ratner loves zombies. more ›

The almost-new Prudential Center in downtown Newark was shut down yesterday. Officials say there were issues "related to its smoke evacuation system," according to the Star-Ledger, which also notes the arena has had to pay for city firefighters to stand in stairwells during events because of these issues. New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek and Mayor Corey Booker were spotted heading into the center this morning, to find out what was going on. more ›

• Devils 5, Hurricanes 1: To be fair, Carolina was without three of its best players, but even a full-strength Hurricanes team would have had trouble with the Devils. New Jersey allowed only 22 shots the entire game and blew by Carolina for its seventh win in nine games. That makes them tied for the Eastern Conference lead with Ottawa and Montreal and two points clear of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. The Senators and the Penguins, however, have a game in hand. Travis Zajac, Mike Mottau, Jay Pandolfo, Johnny Oduya and Zach Parise all took part in the scoring. This was classic shutdown mode for a team peaking at the right time.
• Islanders 3, Sharks 2: If you can't beat the opposing goaltender, why not bloody his face and then get the puck into the net? That more teams haven't tried this method is one of the world's biggest unsolved mysteries. Radek Martinek couldn't get the puck home, but he did do enough damage to Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov's mask that the netminder had to get stitches. He probably should have stayed in the dressing room. Andy Hilbert and Mike Comrie helped tie the game in less than a minute, and then Freddy Meyer did the glamorous work to give the Islanders a home win. They're one point out of a playoff spot, but they've played more games than Buffalo, Boston and Philadelphia, the teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings.

• Devils 2, Sabres 1 (SO): Aggressive play cost the Devils the win in regulation, but Martin Brodeur, Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias too center stage in the shootout to allow the Devils to continue their home dominance. They have picked up 21 of 22 points at their new Prudential Center in the last 11 games. Things didn't look so rosy when Jason Pominville tied the game with 1:47 to go, but the Devils bounced back. They held out during Buffalo's dominance of the extra session to make use of Brodeur in the shootout.
• Lightning 5, Rangers 3: Spotting the Lightning a three-goal lead didn't seem to be a good move. After Jaromir Jagr opened the scoring, Tampa Bay struck for four straight, and the Rangers couldn't recover.
• Canucks 3, Islanders 2 (SO): The Islanders can't be happy they traveled all the way to the Pacific Northwest only to see that second point disappear after a goal between the legs of Rick DiPietro. But he can't be blamed for this loss. His 43 saves were the only reason the Islanders made it to the extra session and the shootout.

Rangers 4, Devils 2: Given New Jersey's recent dominance over its cross-river rivals, Martin Brodeur's picking up his 500th win against Rangers would have seemed appropriate. Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lunqvist had other ideas. Lundqvist stopped 22 shots and Jagr added a goal and an assist as the Rangers on the Prudential Center ice. Even defenseman Marc Staal got into the act. Jamie Langenbrunner had two goals for the home team, whose fans eagerly booed... more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured firefighter on Myrtle Ave. in Queens, a robbery/mobilization on Broadway in Manhattan, and a suspicious death on Sheffield Ave. in Brooklyn. Five Hoboken police officers filed a federal lawsuit claiming discrimination by the town's police department. Their commander allegedly used the "N" word frequently and said "the white race was destined to rule and dominate others." You know you're screwed when you call your City Council representative... more ›

Yesterday, people critical of developer Bruce Ratner's massive, billion dollar Atlantic Yards project held the Third Annual Walk Don't Destroy Walkathon. And leading opponent Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn held a press conference asking a new question that goes beyond eminent domain and the size and scale of the plan. Now the question is whether the Atlantic Yards will be safe from a terror risk. more ›