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Florida Atlantic’s Alijah Martin got carried away just seconds from a Sweet 16 berth, leading to his coach having to apologize.

The sophomore guard attempted and failed to execute a fancy windmill dunk as No. 8 FAU was already guaranteed a 78-70 win over No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson with less five seconds remaining in their second-round NCAA Tournament game on Sunday.

Following the attempt, Nationwide Arena filled with boos at the act which can be seen as unsportsman-like.

FAU coach Dusty May appeared to apologize to FDU head coach Tobin Anderson, who the game announcers said was upset by the dunk, while shaking hands at the end of the game.

Martin scored 14 points in the win as Florida Atlantic advances to face Tennessee in the East Region semifinals on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

This is not the first time the Owls allegedly dismissed the Knights’ efforts in the NCAA Tournament, according to Anderson and his staff.

“They were on the floor right before we came out here,” Anderson said during a video captured at practice. “Thomas heard them talking over there.”

[An assistant coach continued] “I was walking behind. You guys were in the huddle. They were walking in the hallway. All they said was, “They’re ready to go home. They did their thing, but they look like they’re ready to go home.” That’s all they kept saying to each other.”

“Are we ready to go home?” coach Anderson asked his group. “We don’t look and act like a team that’s ready to go home.”

Fairleigh Dickinson was just the second No. 16 to upset a No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament history, but it ends without a Sweet 16 appearance for the New Jersey team.

This will be the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history for Florida Atlantic.

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“Hats off to FDU,’’ May said. “Incredibly hard to prepare for. Such a tough matchup. And their scrappiness, physicality, was exceptional. We just made enough plays to win. We settled in against their press and just had enough in us.’’

TEANECK, N.J. — The jokes of “F.D.— who?” go back more than 30 years, to the last time Fairleigh Dickinson University played Purdue in the N.C.A.A. men’s tournament.

Purdue fans held up signs with the slogan when the two teams faced off in 1988.

Purdue won.

F.D.U. faded back into obscurity.

So, for alumni of the New Jersey commuter school who remember the old jab, F.D.U.’s shocking victory against No. 1 Purdue on Friday was especially sweet.

On Friday evening, Marc A. Wolfe, who worked for the student newspaper in those days, reposted photos he took from the sidelines of the 1988 game, just before he watched his alma mater topple the Boilermakers, 63-58, in the first round of this year’s tournament.

“I’m excited that F.D.U. has done what was not only unexpected, but now people will know more about what’s possible,” Mr. Wolfe said.

F.D.U.’s basketball team has the shortest average height in Division I, while Purdue’s roster includes Zach Edey, who is 7 feet 4 inches. F.D.U.’s interim president, Michael J. Avaltroni, said that the David-and-Goliath win lined up with the legacy of the small university.

$1 a week for your first year.

“We have always really been about giving students a chance,” Mr. Alvatroni said, “oftentimes when they didn’t even know whether college was a good fit for them. And kind of transforming them along the way and giving them the opportunity to, in some cases, perform these very miraculous feats.”

The university, which also has campuses in England and Canada, bills itself as a global institution. A few hundred international students are also enrolled at the two New Jersey campuses.

But a vast majority of students there are in-state students and attend part time. The university’s Metropolitan Campus sits on the border of Teaneck and Hackensack, middle-class towns across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Seventy percent of the students at Metropolitan Campus commute, Mr. Avaltroni said. The other campus is in Madison, a small suburb further west.

Metropolitan Campus’s utilitarian brick buildings include the Rothman Center, a building with a tent-like roof that is home to the school’s men’s basketball team, the Knights. But the morning after the big game, the revelry was muted, with students away on spring break and the campus nearly deserted.

A thin banner spanned Teaneck’s main street, Cedar Lane. “Congratulations F.D.U. Men’s Basketball Team. Welcome to the N.C.A.A. March Madness Tournament,” it read.

Student athletes who stuck around for practices over spring break watched the game together on campus on Friday. Liam Deep, who runs track for F.D.U., watched alongside softball players.

Mr. Deep is from Toronto, but “I wasn’t from Toronto last night,” he said.

Mr. Avaltroni, the interim president, said both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have done well this year. “There’s been an enthusiasm on campus that I have not seen,” he said, adding, “I’ve been at the university for 20 years.”

The women’s team finished its season as regular-season champions, but lost in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Friday night to Columbia University. Mia Andrews, a guard on the women’s team, said her team “had mixed emotions because obviously, we had just finished our season.”

But after the players found out that the men’s team had won, they broke into chants in the locker room. “It was a fun moment,” she said.

Anete Adul was making her way back to Teaneck from Florida with the university’s golf team during the game. “We were in Orlando in the airport, and everyone was watching it, and it was so cool," she said.

Locals hope it could be another good basketball year for New Jersey. Last year, the state became the focal point of March Madness when another obscure institution, St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, made it all the way to the round of 8 as a No. 15 seed.

Watch parties for F.D.U.’s next game are planned for the Rothman Center as well as Hackensack Brewing Company, a craft brewery near Metropolitan Campus. This week, Princeton University also scored an upset when the Tigers, a No. 15 seed, beat No. 2 Arizona, 59-55.

When Mr. Wolfe was a student, after F.D.U. won the N.E.C. championship and made it to the N.C.A.A. tournament, “we got on a bus, us and a bunch of other students and fans, and drove 15 hours to Indiana,” he said. (The game was held on the University of Notre Dame campus.)

Mr. Wolfe lived on campus. He said it led to opportunities like working at the student newspaper and cemented his bond to the school.

“I figured if you commute to a school, it’s not the same as if you live there,” he said.

This year, the F.D.U. fans who had traveled to see the team’s first-round game — which was played at an arena in Columbus, Ohio — were drowned out by the crowd that had turned out for Purdue. But Purdue’s team was gracious after the loss.

Matt Painter, Purdue’s coach, put it simply: “They were fabulous.”

A brand-name drug intended for treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes has become something of a magic medication for celebrities looking to slim down for summer.

While the effects of Ozempic (Semaglutide) are nothing new to doctors like Colette Knight, Chair of Hackensack University Medical Center’s Diabetes Institute, the injectable drug seems to only recently have caught on in Hollywood.

Provided

"We’ve known about weight loss benefits of Ozempic for years before it became this new, hyped medication," Knight said. "Interestingly, many years later it’s become medication of popular use."

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member Jen Fessler admitted on an episode of "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" that she's on the popular weight loss drug.

"You said it, I didn't," she said. "But, whatever works, here I am."

Chelsea Handler admitted to Alex Cooper on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast she was on Ozempic, however, unknowingly. Elon Musk said he was fasting and on Wegovy.

There's been speculation that other celebrities including Mindy Kaling and Khloe Kardashian are also taking Ozempic, however, Kaling has neither confirmed nor denied while Kardashian denied using Ozempic.

Jimmy Kimmel joked about the popular weight loss drug in his monologue at the Oscars earlier this month: "I can’t help but wonder, ‘Is Ozempic right for me?’"

Ozempic works by slowing gastric emptying and helping patients feel fuller longer, aiding in lowering glucose levels and improving blood sugar, according to Dr. David Shaker, who specializes in internal medicine at Holy Name Medical Center.

Ozempic has been the drug of choice for patients with type 2 diabetes since having gained FDA approval in 2017, both Shaker and Knight say. It's a well-tolerated drug with few side effects, the most obvious one being weight loss, and sometimes nausea, Knight said.

In 2021, the FDA approved a near-identical drug to Ozempic called Wegovy. Wegovy is specifically intended for weight loss while Ozempic remains for patients with diabetes, the physicians explained.

It wasn't long, though, before the pharmaceutical industry experienced a Wegovy shortage.

"Since Ozempic was readily available, many providers — by patient request — were giving Ozempic," Knight said. "It's essentially the same drug that became sort of this extremely popular drug for weight loss."

From a safety standpoint, Shaker sees no issues in using Ozempic for weight loss.

"If you look at safety and relative to other medications in its class, there is nothing safe approved for weight loss," Shaker said, noting other weight loss drugs like Phentramine and Adipex.

The biggest question about Ozempic people seem to have is: "If I'm on Ozempic for weight loss, do I have to stay on it forever?"

According to both Shaker and Knight, Ozempic is not a magic pill.

"Because of the way celebrities are using Ozempic, the expectation is that it's this miracle drug and you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want. But if you stop the 'magic pill' without proper diet, you're going to gain the weight back.

"If you use Ozempic as training wheels, you’ll see results faster and help you deal with cravings — but you still need to choose good foods."

A healthy lifestyle is paramount when it comes to weight loss — medication or not, Knight says.

"For those people who follow dietary plan, restricting carbs or exercising, when you add a weight loss agent they can have more long lasting effects," Knight said. "Many patients who adopted healthy lifestyle changes [after having discontinued Ozempic] have kept off the weight. "

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HACKENSACK — The vision first laid out by city officials a decade ago to reinvent the downtown with a wave of mixed-use development is taking shape in the form of real bricks and mortar.

Over the past year, several large apartment buildings have opened, and they are now filling with tenants. Construction is booming across the city. Other developments are expected to begin leasing in 2023, and many more projects will likely advance in the coming year.

“I think we’ve turned a big corner now that we’ve had a few of the larger apartment complexes that are leased,” said Kathleen Canestrino, the deputy mayor. “Hackensack is really turning into something extraordinary. People are moving in and are really happy here. It’s really been very satisfying to see the culmination of a lot of hard work.”

The new apartments have been leasing quickly, Canestrino said.

The Brick, a 14-story, 378-unit mixed-use building at 150-170 Main St. that opened in December, is nearly fully leased. The Jefferson, a 377-unit complex at the northern end of the city on Kinderkamack Road near Route 4, within walking distance of NJ Transit’s New Bridge Landing-River Edge station, is filling up.

And the 271 apartments in the first building of the Print House, a planned 653-unit riverfront apartment complex at the site of The Record’s former headquarters on River Street, leased quickly after opening this summer. Construction on the second phase of the Print House, which features another 382 apartments, a courtyard, a clubhouse and a pool, will continue in 2023.

A 10-story former bank building at 210-214 Main St. that was converted into 126 apartments also opened about a year ago and is now fully leased, said Albert Dib, the city's director of redevelopment.

Among the projects expected to open in 2023 is The Walcott, a 235-unit building at Main and Anderson streets, near the Sears building. Workers are completing the first apartment building on the former municipal parking lot across from Bowler City and the Ice House, and they are starting work on the second building. Together they will house 379 apartments.

The foundation is being laid for a 220-unit building on Anderson Street at the site of the former city building department and Rudy’s restaurant.

A 110-unit building at Main and Passaic streets was approved by the city Planning Board, but the developer plans to modify the proposal to change the parking layout, Dib said.

Projects that will likely come before the Planning Board over the next year include a proposed 90-unit building at 463 Main St. and a 268-unit building on a municipal parking lot at State Street and Trinity Place that would include 60 apartments set aside for people with low to moderate incomes.

Canestrino said that although plenty of recent progress has been made in the downtown's transformation, there is more to come.

“We’ve turned a corner, but we’re not at the end of the road yet,” she said. “Projects are moving forward, and we have people calling us every day with new investments.”

UPDATE: Preservation New Jersey Names USS Ling One of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in NJ. Read the latest NEWS HERE.

UPDATE: Charges Upgraded for 5 Suspects in USS Ling Vandalism. Read latest NEWS HERE.

It’s sad and hopeless looking sight to see – a U.S. Naval submarine mired in the muck of a river not deep enough to allow for its draft when the ship is on the surface. Submersion would be totally out of the question. The vessel is the USS Ling, a 312-foot long, 2,500-ton veteran of World War II, which now rests on the silty bottom of Hackensack River in Hackensack. Until a just a few years ago the Ling was the centerpiece exhibit of the NJ Naval Museum, which was located on the property adjacent to the ship’s berth. But the submarine was closed to the public after the walkway leading to it from shore was swept away by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, leaving no access to the foundered ship. The museum subsequently closed in 2015. Today the shoreline to starboard side of the ship is overgrown with weeds, vines and sumac trees, and the submarine and museum are in need of new home. Flotsam washed from the river, beer bottles and illegally dumped garbage litter the muddy riverbank along side the forlorn ship. With not even enough water beneath it to keep her afloat, the sub lists to one side with the slope of the bank, exposing gaping holes rusted through her hull at the bow and stern. To its port side a narrow channel in the river leads no more than a few yards downstream before it flows beneath a seemingly impenetrable boundary to navigation; a low draw bridge which seldom if ever opens anymore. Stranded in muck, imprisoned by steel barriers, and rusting away; it is indeed a sorry fate that has befallen the once swift and proud Naval warship.

The Venerable Old 297

The USS Ling (SS -297) is a Balao-class submarine of the United States Navy, named for the ling fish, which was first laid down in November of 1942 by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia. She was launched August 1943, and was moved to the Boston Navy Yard for completion and testing. Ling was commissioned on 8 June 1945. She headed out to sea to test her equipment in September of 1945. After the WWII ended later that year the Ling sailed to the Panama Canal Zone where she operated until March 1946. She then sailed to New London, Connecticut, where she was decommissioned in October 1946, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

In March 1960, the Ling was towed to Brooklyn, New York, where she was converted into a training ship at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, simulating all aspects of submarine operations. She was reclassified a Miscellaneous Unclassified Submarine, and struck from the Naval Register, in December 1971.

The USS Ling in better days, berthed in Hackensack and open to the public as a museum.

Six months later the Ling was donated to the Submarine Memorial Association, a non-profit organization formed in 1972 with the purpose of saving the ship from the scrap yard. They petitioned the Navy to bring the boat to Hackensack, New Jersey to serve as a memorial. Many citizens and corporations contributed time, professional services, andfunds toward the restoration of Ling. She arrived at her present home at 78 River Street in January 1973, where she was restored to near-mint condition—scrubbed, painted, and polished for public tours. Her compartments were refurbished and outfitted with authentic gear that recreated the bygone era of the World War II battle submarine. For the next four decades the Ling would be the centerpiece of the New Jersey Naval Museum at Hackensack and open to the public for tours.

Tactical Maneuvers

Since 1972, the New Jersey Naval Museum had paid one dollar per year to rent its riverside site for Ling. In January 2007, the North Jersey Media Group, owner of the property, decided to redevelop the land, and informed the museum that the site was going to be sold within the year and that the museum and submarine would need to be relocated.The Ling was closed due to damage in 2012 from Hurricane Sandy. The museum itself closed for emergency repairs in July 2015. The museum was housed in a trailer on land that was once headquarters of the North Jersey Media Group, which was sold to Gannett, publishers of The Record. In 2016, the museum’s lease was terminated by the former publisher of The Record, Stephen Borg, whose grandfather negotiated the original deal to lease land to the museum for $1 a year. Last year the Hackensack Planning Board voted to subdivide the 20-acre parcel of land into four lots for a redevelopment project, which would include a hotel and 700 residences.

In October 2016 the Star-Ledger reported that the Navy would be retrieving historic artifacts on loan to the Museum, which had been damaged over time and by bad weather, to prevent further deterioration. The Navy acted after the museum failed to present a plan for protecting the artifacts until a new home could be found.

The Navy’s Jay Thomas told the paper, “We share the concern of veterans whose story is contained in these historic artifacts. This step is difficult, because sharing our Navy’s history is an important part of our mission. However, so is protecting the collection.”

Among the articles retrieved by the Navy, numbering 100 in total, were missiles andGerman and Japanese submarines that were part of the museum’s outdoor exhibit. The Navy said its intention was to ship the items back to its Washington Navy Yard. At the time of this writing, however, several large shipping containers remain in the abandoned parking lot at the museum site, presumably containing said artifact. Other ordnance, such as torpedoes, missiles and anti-aircraft guns, remain strewn around the unmaintained museum grounds just rusting away.

According to an article publish on NorthJersey.com in December, 2016, “Neither the Borg family nor the city is claiming any responsibility for the sub. Borg said he would be willing to offer financial assistance to the museum for relocation of the artifacts, with the exception of the Ling.”

The article goes on to say that, “Gilbert De Laat, president of the naval museum, has said the sub needs at least 17 feet of channel to navigate the river. A June 2015 survey preparedby the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates that the channel near the Ling is just 10 feet deep. Plus, Ed Wrocenski, project manager for the Army Corps survey, explained that the sub could be mired in sediment that has clumped together over time. “It could be silted in there,” Wrocenski said. “It’s tough to get that thing moving. You have to remove all that.”

The Oradell Dam has considerably altered freshwater flow in the Hackensack. The river has only been channelized to a point at the river bend in Hudson County. The accumulation of silt affords navigation only for small boats. The fate of the Ling may ultimately be connected to the ability for it to be moved from its location. Federal regulations require that the Court Street Bridge, just downstream of the museum, be opened on request, but that has not happened in a very long time.

Run Silent, Run Shallow?

At the time of this writing the NJ Naval Museum web site (www.njnm.org) simply offers this message to its visitors: “The NJ Naval Museum is relocating. Our new location to be announced in the future. The USS Ling continues to be closed to the public for tours during this period. Thank you for your cooperation.”

In August of last year Paterson Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres made a proposal to take the Ling and reopen it once more as a floating museum to be located on the Passaic River just upstream of the Great Falls National Historic Park. Unfortunately this plan would requiresomehow towing the vessel down the narrow winding Hackensack River to Newark Bay, then pulling an about face around the tip of Kearny Point and sailing up the Passaic, which is unnavigable through stretches due to shallow waters. Moving the Ling up the Passaic River to Paterson would also seem highly improbable, given the obstacles of the Dundee Dam at Clifton/Garfield and the Great Falls at Paterson––not to mention those gaping holes in the sub’s hull.

“No, no, no!” Hugh Carola, program director at environmental group Hackensack Riverkeeper was quoted as saying in an online interview when asked if the move was possible. “Did I say ‘No’ enough times?”

Exterior photos ©Mark Moran/WeirdNJ.com, interiors ©Gordon Dedman

The preceding article is an excerpt from Weird NJ magazine, “Your Travel Guide to New Jersey’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets,” which is available on newsstands throughout the state and on the web at www.WeirdNJ.com. All contents ©Weird NJ and may not be reproduced by any means without permission.

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