From consistently moldy food to a reported freon leak and large holes in the floor, the two Waldbaum’s serving the Howard Beach and Lindenwood communities are a disappointment at best and a health hazard at worst, residents fed up with the chain that has a monopoly in the two neighborhoods said this week. “They really have us held hostage here,” said Lorraine Caraccio, of Howard Beach. “Do we have other supermarkets? Yes. But are they really convenient to get to? … Continue reading
Fourteen restaurants were apparently not enough to satisfy Ridgewood’s appetite. LaKeisha Harris, the executive director at the Ridgewood YMCA, said her organization planned on showcasing a total of 18 Queens eateries in this year’s Taste of Ridgewood – a food fest that offers up a smorgasbord of morsels inspired by cuisines from across the globe and which attracts diners from throughout the borough. The Taste of Ridgewood, which was first held last year, was established as an annual tasting event … Continue reading
Flying thousands of feet in the air, her destination point more than an hour away, Howard Beach resident Jennifer Fernandes recently faced one of the scariest moments of her life as her 12-year-old son had a severe allergic reaction to the nuts served to him on the plane and suddenly was unable to breathe. “He had one nut, and his tongue went numb and then he couldn’t breathe,” Fernandes said of her son, Jonathan. “I saw him holding his neck; … Continue reading
Pedestrian safety has become a hot topic in Queens, and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) used the opportunity to renew his push for safer streets outside a public school in Rego Park. Peralta has been calling for safety reforms, such as speed cameras and assigning a new crossing guard to PS 206, for the better part of the past year. And with recent launching of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative to curb traffic fatalities throughout the city, … Continue reading
Five JFK International Airport baggage handlers whose jobs included unloading U.S. mail onto outbound international flights allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of money orders and checks bound for Japan, China, Korea, and elsewhere, and deposited them into their own bank accounts, according to law officials. The defendants – who are from South Ozone Park, Hollis, and Brooklyn – are also charged with stealing credit cards and using them to purchase iPad minis and other items from Best Buy kiosks … Continue reading
Calling a damaged and collapsed fence running along part of the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge and Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach an “eyesore,” Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) this week urged the National Park Service to clean up the area that residents said has been a problem spot following Hurricane Sandy. “Our hardworking families have been through enough after Sandy, and they deserve a neighborhood that they can be proud to call home,” said Goldfeder, who penned a … Continue reading
A recent audit released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer says that questionable procedures used by the city’s Department of Education could have resulted in collusion among three of its milk vendors that were awarded city contracts in 2008 totaling more than $134 million. Stringer’s audit revealed that three Jamaica-based milk vendors — Beyer, Bartlett and Elmhurst — became business partners shortly after the contracts were awarded by the DOE in 2008. “We see possible collusion when rival bidders become business … Continue reading
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, left, led an informational seminar Monday at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center to help Queens residents learn more about the Affordable Care Act – the federal health care reform law commonly referred to as Obamacare. As part of the session, Katz helped individuals sign up for health coverage under the ACA before the current open enrollment period ends March 31. Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Bruce Flanz, right, joined Katz for the event, which also featured assistance for residents offered by multilingual health … Continue reading
The numbers are remembered easily, but swallowed hard, rolling off their tongue, but sinking, heavily, into stomachs lined with anxiety, after having to cite them so many times in the nearly year and a half following Hurricane Sandy. For Broad Channel resident Sophia Vailakis-DeVirgilio, there’s the $250,000 flood insurance plan – and the $69,000 that was awarded. For Palmer Doyle, of Belle Harbor, there was also the $250,000 flood insurance plan that was supposed to help him piece his life … Continue reading
Queens dogs in danger of being left out in the cold during this frigid winter recently landed some help from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the nonprofit New York Cares and the NYPD. The three organizations partnered to launch “Operation Gimme Shelter,” a pilot program to provide free dog houses to at-risk pets, which comes in the wake of an increased number of reports to the NYPD about dogs left outside without property shelter during … Continue reading
Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) was at the head of a Standing Committee on Education hearing last week bringing into question the practice of storing personal student information in the name of efficiency. The state Education Department signed a contract in 2012 with inBloom, a non-profit information collector, with the intent of helping teachers access educational resources, materials and sensitive student data. The deal has since been met with wide skepticism over whether or not students’ personal information could and should … Continue reading
The Abbracciamento family is much bigger today than it was when their restaurant started in Rego Park 65 years ago. Joe Abbracciamento Restaurant cooked up its final dish over the weekend before the community staple closed its doors for good Sunday. Owner John Abbracciamento said the amount of emotional support was overwhelming at times and left him feeling like everyone was part of the family. Abbracciamento said it would take a few more days for the reality to hit him, … Continue reading
The streets of Rockaway were flooded with the sounds of bagpipes and many a reveler decked out in green last Saturday, when thousands of people celebrated the 39th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. “This is our second parade since Sandy, and Rockaway is coming back,” Michael Benn, president of the Queens County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, told a cheering crowd. Many of those attending Saturday’s festivities – the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City – … Continue reading
When Amy Wu walks down the streets of Queens – whether it’s Jackson Heights or Richmond Hill or Jamaica – she sees an outpouring of stories, all those countless pieces of people – their histories and passion and failures – that almost always go unsaid as everyone rushes past one another in a world that can seem to have very little patience for even the tiniest of small talk. But it is these stories that Wu wants to hear – … Continue reading