The appellate court judges were in the city for a meeting, a spokesperson said.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE "A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way," according to an adage.
Last week, a bit of news flying around town proved that saying true.
On the surface, it didn’t seem as if the rumor had a leg to stand on. It said nine Supreme Court justices had been in Lambertville a little more than a week ago. The very idea raised a lot of questions, not the least of which was what were they doing here? Why, for goodness’ sake, didn’t we hear about this sooner? And where did they whoever "they" are manage to hide nine high-profile people who supposedly travel with an entourage of buff and armed security guys?
The presence of nine Supreme Court justices was news to some city officials. When presented with such an absurd rumor, they didn’t laugh as one might expect. Instead, an awkward moment of silence followed.
Then, "How’d you hear that?" Hmm.
The words were like flashing red lights that spelled out, "Somebody really was here."
Those somebodies turned out to belong to a group of federal judges from the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. They stayed at the Lambertville House on Bridge Street, complete with their buff and armed entourage.
The hotel, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, would not divulge the purpose of the judges’ conference in keeping with its policy of protecting its guests’ privacy. General Manager David Slaski, who oversees the establishment’s 26 guest rooms and three conference rooms, did say, however, the federal judges’ conference was similar to many of the conferences hosted by The Lambertville House, except "security made it a little bit more interesting."
According to a spokesman for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the judges simply were in Lambertville for a meeting.
"The meeting was a business meeting, just discussing the business of the court," the spokesman said. "I don’t think it was anything remarkable or newsworthy. It was just discussing the internal business of the court."
"They thoroughly enjoyed their stay," Mr. Slaski said. "We had compliments like crazy from them. They said they’d be back."
Mr. Slaski said the hotel has a long history of hosting VIP conferences. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, stayed there "a while ago," Mr. Slaski said, and former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman also parked her luggage at the hotel a little more than a year ago.
Within the last year, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine stayed there, too. Other guests of note include actors Jason Biggs, a New Jersey native who starred in the movie "American Pie," and Verne Troyer, who played Mini-Me in "Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me," and Vince Vaughn, who has appeared in "The Cell," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and the 1998 remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, "Psycho."
"If you want to go to a historic river town, we’re only 45 minutes from New York City," Mr. Slaski said as he tried to explain the hotel’s attraction for show-biz types. "A few of them attended family events in the area."
Newshounds from the National Enquirer ensconced themselves in the hotel, too.
"The National Enquirer actually stayed here when they were digging for Zora," Mr. Slaski said.
Despite many employees knowing the former Lambertville resident well, no one divulged any information about her, he added almost proudly. Zora Andrich’s claim to fame was being picked by Evan Marriott on the Fox reality show, "Joe Millionaire."
The Lambertville House was built in 1812. History has it that it was a popular rest stop in the 19th century on a stagecoach line that ran from Philadelphia to New York. Through the following years, guests have included presidents and other dignitaries. The hotel earned a Four Diamond rating from AAA for five consecutive years, with another recently announced for 2004.

