Category Archives: Neighborhoods
Police are combating a spike of at least nine burglaries in April within a few blocks of each other in Maspeth. The burst of crimes happened in the area of Maspeth surrounded by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, Long Island Expressway and Queens Boulevard. Eight of the nine were concentrated between 51st and 47th avenues and between 61st and 66th streets. Police say a suspect or group of suspects who knows the area is burgling houses, mostly in the afternoon. Officers … Continue reading
Shoppers looking to buy some fresh and healthy produce will soon have that opportunity while enjoying some fresh air. Beginning this July, an outdoor green market will be coming to Forest Hills. Community Board 6 (CB 6) voted to approve the market at its meeting on Wednesday, May 9. According to Frank Gulluscio, district manager of CB 6, the green market will be on Queens Boulevard near the Forest Hills post office and the Forest Hills Jewish Center. It will … Continue reading
St. Helen’s School in Howard Beach will see a new principal at the beginning of the school year in September 2012. A letter sent home from the school to parents last week explained that current Principal Mrs. Kathleen Bollinger would not be returning for the new school year. Upon learning of her decision, Msgr. LoPinto made arrangements to compile resumes for the principal’s position. A search committee was appointed to review resumes and conduct interviews resulting in an offer for … Continue reading
A week after its photo appeared in The Forum, this home at 101-16 157th Ave. in Howard Beach has a significantly different appearance. Neighbors had complained about an unkempt yard, a broken down car in the driveway and general disrepair. The owner previously told next door neighbors, however, that he would be back soon to clean up the property, which his late mother had lived in. It looks like he made good on his promise. On March 10, the car … Continue reading
“I heard the speed coming from behind me.” That’s how eyewitness Adam Pedroza described the seconds before a 45-year-old woman was struck and killed as she stepped off the sidewalk on Thursday evening. Estella Peralta had just stepped off the curb onto Rockaway Boulevard, according to Pedroza. “It was less than three seconds before she was up in the air,” he said. The woman was about to cross Rockaway Boulevard from the corner of Nissan of Queens over to P.C. … Continue reading
Firefighters discovered the badly burned body of a man when they responded to a brush fire in Forest Park early on Saturday morning. Police are now investigating the death and an autopsy is being performed to determine how the man died and why the body was involved in the grisly incident. Minutes before 6 a.m., police and fire officials responded to the small area of brush that was aflame a few dozen feet into the park near the corner … Continue reading
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott defended the turnaround program and special education reform at a town hall meeting in Ozone Park Tuesday night. Community Education Council 27 hosted the event to give parents and teachers a chance to ask face-to-face questions of the Department of Education’s highest official, and they took their chance. Although most of the meeting was civil and respectful, emotions peeked out when parents started asking about a citywide reform of the special education system. The reform lets … Continue reading
Renovations are underway at the Forest Park Carousel for its opening at the end of the month, and the company formed just last month to run the attraction says it will be $3 or less per ride when the horses start running. Last week, the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation announced they selected NY Carousel Entertainment as the new operator. The company, which hadn’t officially existed before March, was created by a group of amusement industry lovers with the … Continue reading
After Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed that he once again wants to close fire companies to bridge a budget gap, politicians and firefighters were quick to object in what’s become an annual tug of war. Last year, Bloomberg proposed closing 20 fire companies, including four in Queens: Engine 294 on Jamaica Avenue, Engine 306 on 214th Place, Engine 328 on Central Avenue and Ladder 128 on Greenpoint Avenue. Once again, 20 companies are on the line in Bloomberg’s revised $68.7 billion … Continue reading
A traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be on display next month in Juniper Valley Park, and volunteers are needed to help host it. The replica is a half-size, 252-foot recreation of the gleaming black memorial in Washington D.C. The Queens Veterans Day Parade Committee spearheaded bringing the wall to Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village with help and sponsorships from the United Veterans and Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth and Maspeth Federal Savings. The wall, emblazoned with the … Continue reading
There’s been a “dramatic” spike in drunken driving arrests recently across Middle Village, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Glendale, police from the 104th Precinct reported this week. Precinct commanders say it’s due to proactively pulling drivers over. So far this year, officers in the precinct have arrested 78 motorists for driving under the influence, said Capt. John Travaglia, executive officer of the 104th, who focuses heavily on traffic in the area. Just during the last 28-day period of crime statistics, officers made … Continue reading
Residents at a local community board meeting got a chance to chime in on the potential addition of speed humps to roads in Woodhaven before the official vote. At the Community Board 9 meeting on Tuesday, May 8, Chairperson Andrea Crawford announced that, when the board next meets in June, it would vote on whether or not to install speed humps in three areas within their district. The three speed hump locations are all in Woodhaven: 80th Street between Park … Continue reading
Sidewalks throughout Community Board 5 are getting substantial repairs recently as the Department of Transportation sweeps through to rectify problems. Sidewalk violations, tree damage and sidewalk issues in Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village are all getting attention right now, CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano told the board at its meeting on May 10 at Christ the King Regional High School in Ridgewood. Giordano said most of the repairs are likely sidewalk violations the DOT has issued over the … Continue reading
A Brooklyn man was arraigned last week in relation to a rash of manhole cover thefts that occurred across the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Andrew Modica was arrested in Bensonhurst and was arraigned on four charges, including reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. According to police, Modica stole several Con Edison manhole covers while pretending to be an employee of that electric company. Police said that he stole a car and … Continue reading
The building that houses New York’s bravest in Forest Hills could be added to the list of New York City landmarks if it gets the approval of a city agency and the City Council. Engine 305, a firehouse on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, has been nominated for landmark status by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The facility was built between 1922 and 1924, and was intended to serve the population boom of that neighborhood during that time. It had … Continue reading