U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) had plenty of advice to take back with him to Washington, D.C., after he held a round table at Elmhurst Hospital Monday, during which a bevy of health officials and community leaders addressed everything from the cost of insuring employees for small businesses to undocumented immigrants in the health care system. Comment.

When 16 soccer teams take to the pitch in Flushing Meadows Corona Park later this month, they may not have the talent brought to the table at the World Cup, but that does not mean the world will be any less represented. Comment.

Recession? What recession? There was no belt tightening going on during a recent Wednesday evening at Aged, Forest Hills’ newest steak house. Without reservations, it would have been touch and go securing a table at 6:30 on a weekday evening. Comment.

WOODSIDE — A Woodside man allegedly burglarized a store and tried to pass himself off as a customer locked in overnight when an employee walked in on him, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

JACKSON HEIGHTS — A Corona man was arrested Friday after being spotted breaking into a store, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

FLUSHING — A California man was arrested July 9 at Citi Field after he was caught vandalizing a foul pole, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Gregory Gaines, 50, was charged with making graffiti and possessing a graffiti instrument after a security guard caught him writing “Jack 7/9/2009” on the pole with a permanent marker. Comment.

SUNNYSIDE — A Sunnyside man was arrested by police in the 108th Precinct after he allegedly fired a Roman candle at a police officer intent on citing him for illegal fireworks, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

It is a birthright for Americans to have quality health care regardless of their status in society and circumstance of life. Anyone opposed to that should hang their heads in shame and not attend a house of worship where principles of human dignity are celebrated. Comment.

State Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside) was elected to represent Queens, but is living on Long Island. This is an apparent violation of state law, which requires elected officials to reside in the districts they represent. The mortgage papers she signed on her house in June 2008 state she is using the property as her principal residence. Comment.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has increased fares on subways and city buses to $2.25, citing its ever-increasing deficit. Was it not too long ago the MTA had a huge budget surplusi What happened to all that moneyi Did it suddenly disappeari Comment.

Shown in the Focus on Queens page in the July 2 edition of the Flushing Times was the fund-raising dinner for a City Council candidate. Comment.

Now we know state Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside) does not live in Bayside. She represents our community from her residence in Glen Head, L.I. that is, when she goes to Albany. Comment.

It will take the wisdom of Solomon to resolve the dispute that has emerged between the Sikh community and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Sikh Coalition has filed a lawsuit demanding the MTA abandon a seldom-enforced policy that requires Sikh men working for the MTA to put the MTA logo on their turbans. Comment.

There were two great parties Saturday night. The first was for Kristen Karoff, who graduated from Adelphi University cum laude with a bachelor’s in business administration by majoring in management and minoring in mathematics. Congratulations, Kristen, on a job well done, as you must have put a tremendous amount of time and energy into your education. Your parents, Carolyn and Bernie, also deserve a lot of credit for both supporting you and being there for you. More young people should be lucky enough to have such great parents. We now expect big things from you. Comment.

Readers who were around in the 1970s will recall the city’s finances were in such bad shape the state in effect took over the city and pulled it out of near-bankruptcy. Comment.

The 30th City Council District in western Queens promises to be a competitive race this year, with incumbent Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) being challenged by former Councilman Thomas Ognibene. The recent political history of this district is unusual, since there have been two special elections for the seat during the past year. Crowley won the last election in November. Comment.

On June 24, 1964, newspapers reported on the disappearance of Queens College junior Andrew Goodman. Young people gathered on the college campus. Comment.

Sport is one area where no participant is worried about another’s race, religion or wealth: and where the only concern is “Have you come to playi” — Henry Roxborough Comment.

With our economy still in disarray, more people are telling me they are considering work-from-home opportunities for two reasons. First, job security has become an issue and is on Queens residents’ minds. Second, with the Internet, work-from-home ventures can be a beacon of light for people getting laid off. Unfortunately, with home careers rising, there are lots of scams to watch for. Comment.

Northeast Queens denizens who patronize Bayside resident Marcos Lagos’ new business had better come looking for a fight. Comment.

City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) says he is out to prove the office of city comptroller is more than data and numbers — it is about the people they affect. Comment.

The Long Island Rail Road will provide extra trains to Citi Field in Queens for Paul McCartney’s three concert performances July 17, 18 and 21. Comment.

Jay Walder, who grew up in the Rockaways and has already had what some transit advocates call a distinguished transit career in New York and London, has been appointed head of the MTA. Comment.

The New York League of Conservation Voters issued its annual environmental scorecard last week and handed out top scores to City Councilmen Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and Thomas White (D-South Ozone Park), both of whom received 100, while giving the least favorable marks to Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Rockaway Beach) at 17 and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Maspeth) at 22. Comment.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) is one step closer to giving up his bachelorhood. Comment.

The family of a 23-year-old Astoria woman found dead in her apartment last weekend encircled the victim’s wailing mother Monday afternoon as the body was removed from the apartment that the two women shared for many years on 30th Avenue. Comment.

The rise in unemployment among African Americans in the city has outpaced by more than four times the jobless rate among white and Hispanic residents, a new report issued by city Comptroller William Thompson’s office found. Comment.

John F. Kennedy International Airport is getting major additions that will benefit New Yorkers who want to travel in green style and for passengers who are looking for a good meal before they head to the skies. Comment.

City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said he will once again rally College Point, Whitestone and Mitchell-Linden residents later this month to protest the city’s plans for the College Point Corporate Park, which include moving five Willets Point businesses to the area. Comment.

As former state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio awaits sentencing in October after setting up a fake consulting company that took in nearly $1 million in corrupt payments, it remains unclear whether an investigation into Jamaica Hospital, which paid him $400,000, is underway. Comment.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) demanded more than $100 million in emergency funding be released for state colleges and universities this week, with public schools suffering budget cuts during a weakened economy. Comment.

The Woodside woman who spray-painted her tag on subway cars throughout Queens was sentenced last week to six months in jail, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Comment.

To nosh it is to love it. Comment.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Queens last week to announce legislation that would make it easier for the city to remove graffiti in neighborhoods and to praise the addition of several new trucks to existing graffiti clean-up fleets. Comment.

For a brief series of moments on Monday, a small slice of Queens was bathed in Hindu ritual and pageantry courtesy of a frenetic collection of sights, sounds and an elephant named Minnie. Comment.

As the state Senate shakily returned to business last week after a month of accusations and stalemates, the Queens senator who helped incite the chaos June 8 defended his actions. Comment.

Astoria’s Lynne Serpe said she will focus on environmental issues in her bid for City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s (D-Astoria) seat this fall as a Green Party candidate, but will also give equal weight to a proposed rezoning of the community, the economy and expanded library service. Comment.

An Astoria restaurant owner managed to snag one of the nation’s most familiar faces for a new short film in which he acts and makes his debut as a producer. Comment.

Poultry can be as high-maintenance to photograph as the world’s most demanding supermodel. Comment.

“This December,” Michael Wolf proudly proclaims, “will mark my 33rd year in a mental institution.” And who can blame him for being proudi Thirty-three years is a long time for anything, especially on the same job, this one at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village as the last surviving academic teacher in its Department of Client Education. Comment.

In putting on the White Box Theatre Festival, a series of one-act plays by new playwrights, both the Long Island City-based Queens Players and the literary journal Ampersand Review had to step our of their comfort zones. Comment.

A Texas man has been indicted on grand larceny and other charges after allegedly swindling his elderly aunt out of her Corona home, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Comment.

ROCKAWAYS — An unlicensed motorist was arraigned last week on several charges after he allegedly went on a road rage tirade at the intersection of Shore Front Parkway and Beach 84th Street, the Queens district attorney said. Comment.

NEW JERSEY — A 5-year-old Maspeth boy was recovering at a Philadelphia hospital this weekend after he nearly drowned at a campground, New Jersey state police said. Comment.

ASTORIA — Police released the image last week of a man wanted in connection with a robbery. Comment.

ELMHURST — A Manhattan man was arraigned last week on charges of injuring a person inside a store and wrecking another nearby shop, the Queens district attorney said. Comment.

I have seen state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) come to meeting after meeting over the years and rail against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s operation of the city school system with mayoral control. He is the sponsor, however, in the Senate of the mayoral control extension bill that passed the state Assembly with the mayor’s blessing. I was hoping he would support our community, not the mayor. Comment.

June 30 has come and gone and the circus government filled with senators who are a bunch of clowns did not resolve their differences. Now we have real serious issues as a result, one of them being mayoral control of city schools being lost. Comment.

In just six months, New Yorkers were pushed to the breaking point with a litany of broken promises and failed leadership by state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) and his conference colleagues. Time and time again, Smith and his colleagues proved they were more interested in political perks than standing up for New Yorkers and producing results. Accountability and responsibility were pushed aside for political expediency. Comment.

Last week, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) circulated a letter that appeared in local newspapers which attempted to distance herself from the ongoing outrage in Albany. A similar letter was printed and mailed by Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria) to his constituents. Each letter blamed the Republicans for the stalemate in the Senate. Each ignored the fact it was Hiram Monserrate (D-East Elmhurst) whose vote gave Republicans their claim to a majority. Comment.

For over a quarter of a century, the East Bayside Homeowners Association has worked to prevent the annual blight that affects many neighborhoods each summer and fall: illegal political posters, signs or stickers placed on public property and a campaign that has been successful in the Bayside area with our civic organization loudly denouncing the occasional campaign that ignores the law and permits such violations, which has led to candidates losing. Comment.

An open letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Comment.

Last week, someone was murdered in Forest Hills. According to newspaper reports, the victim had met his killer on the Internet. This is at least the third such incident is recent months. Comment.

For more than a year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been talking about renewing the governance law first enacted in 2002. The law gave him and city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein control of city public schools. At midnight July 1, that law was allowed to lapse by a state Senate mired in a partisan battle. Comment.

With the fall of former Democratic state Assemblyman Tony Seminerio, who until his recent resignation represented the people of the 38th Assembly District in western Queens, a special election will be held. Comment.

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July. We attended two barbecues on the Fourth. The first was at 10 a.m. in Bowne Park in Flushing. It was billed as a post “Tea Party 4th of July Freedom Rally” to celebrate the birth of our nation. They had petitions to be signed protesting taxation without representation. The signed petitions were to be sent to both Albany and Washington. They were also protesting the mortgaging of their own as well as their children’s future. Comment.

Our city history is difficult to chronicle. Historian Allan Nevins found its essence too elusive to capture: “Over its skyscrapers hangs some demon forever waving a wand and exclaiming, ‘Presto, change!’ At his command, the change comes — comes through growth, the successive waves of immigration from abroad and migration from within, the passion for rebuilding engendered by high land values, the want of reverence for the past.” Comment.

Summer affords many options for children. One could be spending part of their summer at a sleep-away camp, with its friendship and camaraderie, songs around a roaring campfire, overnight field trips and sobbing on a sagging bunk bed with a flashlight and picture of Mom and Dad. Comment.

Studio Square co-owner Tommy Demaras knows Astoria. The 42-year-old New Jersey resident spent his first four decades living in the Queens neighborhood. He is the co-owner of the nightclub Cavo and The Rock Fitness Club. Comment.

Though milk prices in the city have been higher than the national average, milk in Queens remained in the middle of the pack, City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) said Sunday. Comment.

Five Queens residents are facing felony charges after the city Department of Investigation uncovered some allegedly shady dealings in the food vendor industry. Comment.

A federal judge has approved a settlement that would not restrict Yankees fans from moving around during the playing of “God Bless America” after a 30-year-old Astoria man was ejected from the baseball team’s park last summer, the New York Civil Liberties Union said. Comment.

As the health care debate heats up, Congress is addressing a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) that would create an independent institute to study which health care treatments work. Comment.

If a tree falls in Astoria and the city has not witnessed it, does it pose a threati Comment.

With the City Council’s 2010 fiscal budget, Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) trailed the pack in member item funding, though his office said the councilman made up for some of that by seeking private grants for constituent groups. Comment.

LAGUARDIA AIRPORT — An American Airlines flight landed safety June 30 at LaGuardia International Airport after suffering a birdstrike on its final approach from Miami, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Comment.

As the state Senate deadlock approached the one-month mark this week, both sides of the aisle struck a few optimistic notes on hopes of a resolution after closed-door meetings with Gov. David Paterson while a Queens assemblyman failed in an attempt to coax the governor into further action. Comment.

Do girls just want to have funi Well, yes, but they also want to know what guys are thinking. That is the main thrust of “Boyology,” a new guide to teenage boys written by Jackson Heights author Sarah Burningham. Comment.

State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) accused Con Edison last week of paying its maintenance workers low wages and few benefits despite the utility’s $1.2 billion profit last year. Comment.

Even as the current economic crisis shrinks the job market, immigrant women from Queens are getting a career boost from a century-old Manhattan nonprofit. Comment.

The embattled state Senate may be moving closer to approving a revised version of mayoral control, which ended last week after state lawmakers failed to renew the school governance law, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) said. Comment.

City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) started his political career crunching numbers in the city budget office more than 20 years ago, and although the post of head number cruncher may not be the most tantalizing to some, he begs to differ. Comment.

Elected officials and nonprofits are rallying behind a transgender Jackson Heights woman who was severely beaten by a pair of men in Woodside last month after the Queens district attorney’s office did not initially categorize the attack as a hate crime. Comment.

More than 1,500 bicyclists will take to Queens streets Sunday for the second-annual Tour de Queens bike ride that has attracted more than double the number of riders than the inaugural event — a sign biking is becoming increasingly popular and convenient in the borough, according to one of the ride’s organizers. Comment.

Federal transit officials have cited the MTA Bus Co., made up of the formerly private bus lines serving much of Queens, for dramatically increasing ridership. Comment.

Police were still searching for suspects in two separate hit-and-run incidents that took the lives of two Queens men during the July 4 holiday weekend. Comment.

Sikhs, many from Queens, rallied last week to protest what they said was the failure of school officials to enforce rules against bullying and harassment in schools, some of it by teachers, staff members and security guards. Comment.

Census workers are facing a challenge next year in counting the people of Queens in the southeast part of the borough, in areas of Richmond Hill and southwest Queens, where some communities had fewer than 40 percent of households respond to the survey in 2000. Comment.

You couldn’t blame a producer or theater devotee last summer for having doubts about the wisdom of mounting a revival of “Hair,” the iconic 1960s musical. Comment.

Unleash your inner urban nomad this summer with a series of experimental musical performances housed under Bedouin-style tents, as part of the 11th annual Warm Up music series at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center through Sept. 5. Comment.