Former City Councilman Dan Halloran’s eight-week trial came to a close Tuesday when a federal jury found him guilty of bribery and corruption charges on a five-count indictment. Halloran, who used to represent communities in northeast Queens, was convicted of helping to funnel taxpayer dollars from discretionary funding to pay for a drummed up scheme with two insiders who later revealed they were undercover FBI informants, prosecutors said. He was also found guilty of his participation in an elaborate scheme … Continue reading
A boy shouted out, “Holy Cow,” as the motor-powered Lego model he just helped build started to come alive with its gears moving suddenly. Bricks 4 Kidz group launched a free summer program inside the Shops at Atlas Park to build up children’s mechanical skills while they build moving Lego models. “As they have fun, every child walks away knowing they’ve accomplished something,” said Lamacca Holmes, a teacher at the summer program. “And then they can say, ‘Hey mom look … Continue reading
Just over four months since bringing a congressional hearing to her home borough, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) followed through on her commitment to bringing more resources to Queens’ small businesses. A small business development center was announced as the borough’s newest resource for entrepreneurs looking for more dynamic assistance in arguably the most diverse borough of New York City. The program, housed at LaGuardia Community College, will plant an advisor in the Flushing branch of the Queens Library to … Continue reading
Two men from south Queens were arrested and charged with murder on July 16 in the fatal beating and robbery of a Richmond Hill man, ending a crime spree by the suspects that began in early June, the district attorney’s office said. Nestor Rodriguez, 20, of Woodhaven, and Carlos Genno, 22, of Ozone Park, allegedly attacked Nazmul Islam, 55, a leader of the U.S chapter of the Bangladeshi ruling party, in Richmond Hill on July 9, Queens District Attorney Richard … Continue reading
Summertime for these young Howard Beach athletes means face time with some of the state’s top soccer pros. More than 50 kids between ages six and 15 teamed up with members of the New York Cosmos soccer club last week as part of the Our Lady of Grace Soccer Association’s summer camp program. Members of the North American Soccer League team ran through drills and taught lessons in teamwork all week long at the Pals Oval in Ozone Park, looking … Continue reading
A Queens College science research and teaching laboratory will soon receive what many consider to be a much-needed facelift after state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) provided $2 million to the school. The classroom in need of renovations was originally built as a teaching laboratory for physical chemistry in 1949 and was changed into a student research laboratory in 2010. The switch only facilitated the building of new floors, leaving the original tabletops, gas, vacuum and water supply lines and wooden … Continue reading
The winning projects of the biennial Friends of the QueensWay symposium on July 19 all made use of old and unused objects that can be found along the defunct Rockaway Beach line, but transformed them into ways to help turn the 3.5 stretch of railway into a public greenway. Carrie Wilbert’s $5,000-winning project, The Queensway Steps, was brought to life in Paris, where she is studying. Ivan Mrakovcic of the Friends of the QueensWay group said members were extremely interested … Continue reading
A Queens Library branch in Richmond Hill will be closed temporarily this week in order to make way for roof renovations, the branch announced. The library, at 103-34 Lefferts Blvd., was slated to close its doors at the end of business July 26 so crews can move in and install a new roof with an anticipated reopening date near the end of September, a spokesman said. Limited library services were also established at a mobile library to be used near … Continue reading
The city Department of Environmental Protection has not finished a final report on the April 30 flood that severely damaged homes in Lindenwood, but city Comptroller Scott Stringer said his office would move forward with reimbursing those who suffered damage without the report. Though residents have become impatient with the city’s progress in helping them, the comptroller’s office said its inspectors have been out in the community, evaluating homes that were damaged and in need of repair. The comptroller’s bureau … Continue reading
Mosquitoes around parts of northeast Queens were found to be carrying West Nile Virus, the city Health Department reported, but posed no threat to the residents living in the southern part of the borough. It was the first West Nile detection of the season, the city said, mostly emanating from Douglaston and College Point as well as part of Staten Island. No human cases of the virus were reported, the DOH said, and there was no cause for alarm just … Continue reading
Queens wants its fair share of city wheels. Lawmakers and transportation advocates rallied around legislation that would help accelerate the Citi Bike share program into Queens, where demand has already proven its presence. U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) spearheaded the Bike to Work Act of 2014, which would give pre-tax commuter benefits to workers. “Thousands of New Yorkers have already embraced the city’s bike share program as a viable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective form of public transportation,” Crowley said. … Continue reading
An ongoing debate over Select Bus Service routes in Woodhaven has put into motion another hot-button issue: street side parking. Residents in Woodhaven have spent the better part of the past month voicing their concerns and reactions to a city Transportation Department proposal to bring new bus routes to Woodhaven Boulevard and other parts of southern Queens, sparking some heated discussions over congestion and traffic. But one potential consequence of the plan has received more attention this week as residents … Continue reading
A former drug rehabilitation center in Rockaway is being converted into a homeless shelter, the city said, despite pleas from elected officials and residents living nearby who argued they were not given a fair warning. Homeless shelter proposals have left parts of the borough in frenzy over recent months with similar instances occurring in East Elmhurst and Glendale, where residents in each respective community have strongly opposed plans to install shelters in their neighborhoods. The latest spot – a former … Continue reading
Eight members of the Queens Library’s board of trustees were nixed on Wednesday, thanks to a new state law enacted last month with help from Borough President Melinda Katz. Katz came out with the announcement Wednesday evening, taking responsibility for six of the eight members she removed from the board under a new state law she and other elected officials worked to pass in June in the name of transparency. In a statement, Katz said she chose to nix the … Continue reading
Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out new improvements to the city’s controversial post-Sandy Build it Back program, which he said started construction on roughly 44 homes in Queens. Hundreds of other design consultations have also been completed in Queens too, meaning those homeowners can soon begin construction on their homes, de Blasio press officer Amy Spitalnick said. Following stalled reimbursement checks that were supposed to be sent out as of Dec. 31, the program has since issued 397 checks totaling … Continue reading