By Ivan Pereira
Hundreds of commuters and airline passengers were forced to have a sleepover on the A train in the early morning Monday after they were left stranded for seven hours in Howard Beach by the monstrous blizzard that swept through the city.
Comment.
By Joseph Staszewski
Going forward, it’s about finishing what’s started for Mary Louis. The Hilltoppers were on the verge multiple times of breaking open their game against Francis Lewis Sunday, but consistency and a killer instinct haven’t been traits exhibited in the early season by TMLA.
Comment.
By Zach Braziller, Dylan Butler, Marc Raimondi and Joseph Staszewski
For the first time in a long time, Queens had one of the best football teams in the PSAL.
Comment.
Whitestone Times
By Jon Wettingfeld
On the crisp night of Dec. 18, amid a spectacular display of lights festooning neighborhood houses along 149th Street, there was an equally spectacular turnout at the spacious hall at the Veterans of Foreign War Post No. 4787 in Whitestone for our local VFW group’s big holiday party and fund-raiser.
Comment.
Andrew B. Marshall, a 57-year resident of Little Neck until March, died of natural causes Dec. 15. He was 94.
Comment.
Queens Village
By Ivan Pereira
The Queens Public Library has always been the place for readers to find books on famous literary heroes such as Tom Sawyer and Harry Potter, but they can also check out the latest adventures of Super Mario and Master Chief as well.
Comment.
Arthur Kelley, a life-long Douglaston resident, dies Dec. 6. He was in his 80s.
Comment.
By Rebecca Henely
As the Church of the Holy Child Jesus in Richmond Hill marked its 100th anniversary this year, a priest with the help of Community Board 9 and City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) worked to get the parish special recognition.
Comment.
By Rebecca Henely
The same day that Republicans gained control of the state Senate, Sen.-elect Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) was pegged to restore the Democratic majority in the upper house in Albany even though he will only be a freshman.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
Gloria D’Amico, who became the first woman to serve as Queens County clerk, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. She was 83.
Comment.
Ridgewood
By Rebecca Henely
When her daughter Carly Nieves suffered a relapse at age 12 of the cancer she had been diagnosed with when she was 7, Lisa Horner promised her daughter they would make a positive out of the suffering Carly was going through.
Comment.
Long Island City wholesale sandwich maker Bimmy’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, Crain’s New York Business reported. Bimmy’s has less than $50,000 in assets and more than $500,000 in liabilities, Crain’s reported.
Comment.
Queens Village
By Howard Koplowitz
A Bellerose street turned into a demolition derby Saturday night after a pickup truck rear-ended a BMW by 88th Road and Commonwealth Boulevard Saturday night, causing a nine-car accident, police said.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
Police fatally shot a Glendale man Wednesday after responding to a domestic dispute call from the man’s mother, police said.
Comment.
Little Neck Ledger
By Anna gustafson
City officials have not come through on promises to fix leaks at JHS 67, resulting in health problems for students, Little Neck parents and school officials told a Community District Education Council 26 meeting last week.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
Last year, when Tony Avella was a city councilman, he secured a $250,000 city technology grant for PS 79 in Whitestone.
Comment.
Crime
RICHMOND HILL — The NYPD requested the public’s help in finding a 13-year-old girl who went missing from her home in Richmond Hill.
Comment.
Crime
FAR ROCKAWAY — The NYPD reported that an employee of the city Department of Correction was arrested and charged Sunday with driving while intoxicated.
Comment.
By Ivan Pereira
Police Officer John G. Scarangella gave his life to help protect the streets of southeast Queens 29 years ago and the city honored the member of New York’s Finest Monday by renaming the street outside his precinct in his honor.
Comment.
By Rebecca Henely
A 19-year-old Brooklyn man was shot and killed in front of a store in St. Albans Friday in what those who work in the area believe was a gang-related conflict. Graffiti identifying one gang was painted over with rival gang signs on a wall near the murder site hours later.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
The spirit of Kwanzaa is coming to the Rochdale Village Community Center Sunday as part of a fifth-annual event held by the complex and the Afrikan Poetry Theatre.
Comment.
By Ivan Pereira
A Jamaica man who has had brushes with the law involving illegal drugs was arrested again Sunday after officers found 500 of pounds of marijuana in the back of his minivan after he ran a red light, police said.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
Dozens of advocates for elderly southeast Queens residents with Alzheimer’s disease who use the Friendship Center in Jamaica rallied outside the building last week after the city Department of Health decided to cut the center’s funding so drastically that it will most likely be forced to close.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
A group in Ridgewood plans to transform a garbage-strewn eyesore into a community greenspace after receiving an award earlier this month.
Comment.
Jackson Heights
By Connor Adams Sheets
A Hindu priest finally got some justice last week after being forced to toil for $50 a week in a Corona temple for seven years.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
A railroad company unpopular in Middle Village, Maspeth and Glendale paid for 21 new trees in Juniper Valley Park last month.
Comment.
Jackson Heights
By Rebecca Henely
Administrators, parents and community leaders banded together as part of a task force at IS 61 last week to combat school bullying, which is a problem for 81 percent of students at the Corona school.
Comment.
Fresh Meadows
By Anna Gustafson
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) introduced a resolution last week condemning the anti-Christian violence in Iraq that has prompted an exodus of Christians from the country.
Comment.
Fresh Meadows
By Bob Harris
The state Regents has agreed to grant a waiver so a woman with no education experience, ties to any public school system or advanced academic degrees can become city schools chancellor.
Comment.
Forest Hills Ledger
By Joe Anuta
A Rego Park child care center opened its new location last week despite continuing cuts in the city’s day-care budget.
Comment.
By Rebecca Henely
About 30 Humanistic Jews met at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Flushing to ask two Muslims about their beliefs and their place in America at an event Saturday run by the Brooklyn-based Dialogue Project.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
Queens legislators said they were disappointed to learn the group ride van service along the axed Q74 and Q79 bus routes ended Friday because of low ridership and said they planned to fight to reinstate the buses.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
After a long, arduous approval process, two large Willets Point businesses have closed on deals to move to the College Point Corporate Park, clearing one more hurdle for the city Economic Development Corp.’s plans to revamp the neglected Iron Triangle into a $3 billion development.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
Police arrested four men last week thought to be connected to a string of construction site robberies in northeast Queens.
Comment.
Crime
FLUSHING — An apartment fire earlier this month killed a senior citizen in her Flushing home, but did not cause extensive damage to any neighboring apartments, according to the FDNY.
Comment.
Crime
FLUSHING — Two Flushing women were arraigned Dec. 16 on charges of assault and harassment, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
The special education students in the PS 205 building in Oakland Gardens used to be known as “those kids upstairs.”
Comment.
By Philip Newman
For the third time in as many years millions of straphangers, commuter train riders and motorists in the New York City metropolitan area will once again pay more for transportation starting Dec. 30.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
Bayside resident Joel Bondy was suspended last week without pay from his position as executive director of the city Office of Payroll Administration after federal prosecutors accused individuals affiliated with the agency of defrauding the city of $80 million, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city Comptroller John Liu said.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
Around this time of year, longtime Bayside residents Phyllis and Jeffrey Steiman are normally celebrating Hanukkah with their children and grandchildren.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
City officials are looking for a site to build a high school in northeastern Queens, particularly in the Bayside and Auburndale area, a city School Construction Authority spokeswoman said last week.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
Standing amid towering piles of presents in her office last week, state Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside) said she received more gifts this year than ever before that she will distribute to needy families and hospitalized veterans.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
As the official scorekeeper for the New Jersey Nets and the owner of Crown Trophy on Bell Boulevard for decades, longtime Bayside resident Herb Turetzky’s world has long been dominated by sports and not so much poetry.
Comment.
By Philip Newman
The MTA has approved the use of taxicabs to pick up and drop off elderly and disabled Access-A-Ride passengers in a trial program some officials said would cut costs by 70 percent.
Comment.
Crime
RIDGEWOOD — A Queens transportation worker was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to a 17-year-old girl who was on her way to school Friday, according to police.
Comment.
Crime
WOODSIDE — Police have asked the public to help in the search for a fugitive that robbed a Chase bank Monday.
Comment.
Crime
JACKSON HEIGHTS — A 31-year-old sex offender from Jackson Heights has been charged Monday with failing to register his electronic identifiers, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Luis Ortiz is the first man to be charged under the 2008 Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act, the DA said.
Comment.
Letters
The midterm election has been called a referendum by the usual and expected detractors, the “Obstrublicans,” and indeed it was. But it was not a referendum directed at the Democratic policies which any middle-class, unduped American should cheer. It was a referendum on President Barack “Can’t we all just get along?” Obama.
Comment.
Letters
An open letter to Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Executive Director Christopher Ward.
Comment.
Letters
It is a rare occurrence today for people to frequent their corner candy shop, neighborhood pharmacist or local vegetable stand. With the ever-increasing popularity and expansion of superstores such as Target, Wal-Mart and Costco, for example, individuals crave the convenience of “one-stop shopping,” a megastore where you can buy anything from plumbing supplies to fashion accessories, a warehouse where products too numerous to list are categorized and organized for your purchasing pleasure.
Comment.
Letters
The well-known dialogue between Joseph Welch and then-U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the U.S. Army hearings, when Welch finally toppled McCarthy by accusing the senator of having no shame or decency in his treatment of a young Army lawyer, has been referred to on many parallel occasions when public officials have acted in an outrageous manner.
Comment.
Letters
An open letter to Hillcrest High School Principal Stephen Duch.
Comment.
Letters
An open letter to state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose).
Comment.
Editorial
As happens every year at this time, our thoughts turn to our readers who will spend the holidays without loved ones defending this country in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas. Like them, we look forward to the holiday season when that will not be the case.
Comment.
Opinion
By The Greater Astoria Historical Society
Opinion
By Kenneth Kowald
Half a century ago, I was editing the weekly newspaper in Forest Hills when I was offered an appointed position in the city government. It was for the post of secretary in the Department of Air Pollution Control. I was still a “wet behind the ears” kid.
Comment.
Business
By Ivan Pereira
Bayside is now home to the first branch of the La Bottega Italian restaurant chain, but its manager and chef promises that diners will get a one-of-a-kind experience and meal every time they come through his doors.
Comment.
Astoria Times
By Rebecca Henely
It was a night where visitors to the library were allowed to make some noise. With a slideshow, a live band, presents and a big cake, Queens Library officials, legislators and community members celebrated the Woodside Library’s 100th anniversary last Thursday.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
The $858 billion bipartisan tax compromise bill President Barack Obama signed into law Friday exposed divisions on economic issues between Queens Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
St. John’s University said it has not given permission for a Citi Field bar to use its name in promoting a College Night at the establishment.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
A group of lawmakers announced legislation Sunday that would cap increases in parking meter fees after the city proposed a fee hike that is scheduled to take effect in January.
Comment.
Astoria Times
By Rebecca Henely
A Rikers Island prisoner who killed one man and attempted to finish off two others at the scene in Woodside last year pleaded guilty Friday to trying to hire a hitman to murder the two witnesses so they could not testify against him, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
A city agency announced that it found radioactive material in and around a Ridgewood building, and will continue to test the site. Area officials said that the material was left over from the World War II-era nuclear experiment known as the Manhattan Project.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
Using the services of minority- and women-owned businesses accounts for only 2.3 percent of the spending by city agencies, according to a database rolled out last week by city Comptroller John Liu.
Comment.
By Ivan Pereira
This holiday season, the Queens Public Library is asking its users and others to lend a helping hand to increase its selection of materials.
Comment.
By Joe Anuta
A 10-year-old couldn’t get any more suave than the young men at a Woodside school last Thursday. They were wearing ties, black slacks and, in some cases, bright red cumberbunds and matching bow ties. The ladies, often head and shoulders above their male partners, held their heads high as the room descended into silence.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
The girlfriend of former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate has filed a $35 million civil rights lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court against the city, the Queens district attorney’s office and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, alleging that LIJ doctors conspired with the police and DA officials to coerce her into saying Monserrate intentionally cut her with a broken glass two years ago.
Comment.
By Rebecca Henely
Both openly gay Queens city councilmen applauded the U.S. Senate’s vote to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy Saturday.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
The dreams of many immigrant children died in the U.S. Senate last week, but Queens legislators are working to ensure they live on.
Comment.
By Anna Gustafson
State Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) and state Sen.-elect Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said this week they plan to introduce a bill that would require a future nomination of a city schools chancellor to be confirmed by a majority vote of the City Council after a public hearing.
Comment.
By Connor Adams Sheets
The Woodhaven man who went on a wild, drug-fueled shooting spree throughout several Queens neighborhoods in August 2006, killing one man and shooting at 13 others, was sentenced last Thursday to 384 years to life in prison.
Comment.
By Ivan Pereira
After spending more than a month in a coma following a surfing accident in Rockaway Beach, a top Astoria male model died Friday, his family said.
Comment.
By Howard Koplowitz
Every one of the borough’s 18 state Assembly districts had an increase in its Asian population between 2000 and 2009, according to new data released by the U.S. Census last week.
Comment.
Arts
By Anna Gustafson
Video game controller in hand, Beijing artist Feng Mengbo was in full concentration mode at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City last week as he navigated the world he created, where Chinese Red Army soldiers throw cans of Coca-Cola at Mario Bros. characters and elude giant, writhing space creatures.
Comment.
Arts
By Norm Harris
Making a triumphant return to Flushing Town Hall with the Latin Jazz Coalition, which he founded in 1986, Bellerose’s own Greek jazz maestro Demetrios Kastaris led along his new Conjunto Kathari Band through two sets of inspiring, soulfully uplifting and spicy jazz compositions for the enjoyment of the capacity crowd.
Comment.
Food
By Suzanne Parker
The first time we sought and found Bliss on Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside was in 2005. We enthused over its well-executed and creative New American offerings. Not so long after our accolades, there was a parting of the ways between business partner and chef, and the restaurant entered what we heard was a dark period.
Comment.