Category Archives: Howard Beach
Click here to flip through The Forum’s first Bridal Guide in its entirety. We’ve all heard the stories. Love at first sight. High school sweethearts reunited years later. They accidentally collided on the street and instantly knew. But seriously? Are people just making this stuff up, or does this happen to real people? How does any bride really know she’s found the one for her? Some brides know instantly. Others have to be convinced over years. Marisa Ricciardi knew Kevin … Continue reading
Click here to flip through The Forum’s first Bridal Guide in its entirety. Back in the day, the father-daughter dance at a wedding had a bit more concrete meaning than it does today. Then, the festivities would begin with the father leading his daughter out onto the dance floor. At some point in the intricate dance, the father would pass his daughter off to her new husband, who would dance her away. The pass symbolized the father’s acceptance of the … Continue reading
With subway trains zipping overhead at the corner of Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, local legislators and transportation advocates last week shared their vision of what a reactivated train would bring to central Queens. In a joint press conference on Feb. 9, State Assemblymen Phil Goldfeder and Mike Miller joined others in calling for the rehabilitation of the currently defunct Rockaway Beach Rail Line in order to have trains actively connecting communities in central and southern Queens, as well as … Continue reading
It just sort of happened. That’s the way that Joseph DeCandia, Jr., of Howard Beach—recently honored as Man of the Year by the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps—described how he, then a 9-year-old kid growing up in Brooklyn, got involved working with his father, Joseph DeCandia, Sr., at Brooklyn’s Lenny’s Pizza in the 1960s. At the time, DeCandia, Jr., now 49, who would normally be riding his bicycle along 86th Street, stopped by one day at … Continue reading
With bullying becoming an increasing concern among parents and children, one Woodhaven resident is hoping to introduce a form that could give children an avenue to combat bullying at their school. Evelyn Delorbe, a member of the Parent Teachers Association at Middle School 210, introduced the bully form at the Our Neighbors of Ozone Park meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The form would allow kids from 5th grade and up to anonymously report to the school a bullying incident or … Continue reading
A new $3.5 million facility in Howard Beach, recently completed, may be the solution to relieving residents of the smell of dead fish and stagnant water that has been a problem in past years. NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials announced on Monday the completion of a new $3.5 million destratification facility—designed to improve water quality and curb odors—along the Shellbank Basin, a tributary of Jamaica Bay. Water stratification occurs when water masses with different properties form layers that … Continue reading
No injuries were reported in a brush fire that took place Sunday in Howard Beach. According to New York Fire Department (FDNY) officials, calls began coming in around 5:25 p.m. on Feb. 5 reporting a brush fire on the side of the bridge on 78th Street and 161st Avenue. Engine 331 and ladder truck No. 173 responded to the scene. Within 10 minutes of the initial 911 call, around 5:35 p.m., the brush fire was elevated to a two-alarm fire. … Continue reading
Barbara Sheehan, the Howard Beach resident recently acquitted for the 2008 shooting death of her husband, retired NYPD Sgt. Raymond Sheehan, will by the time this newspaper is published have been seen this week doing several major television interviews. But this time it’s not the murder charge or even the horrible past, riddled with 18 years of domestic violence that brings Sheehan into the media spotlight. It is the loss of her job,as a payroll secretary for the New York … Continue reading
A parade of angry speakers vented at a public hearing on the state’s political redistricting plan that has riled politicians and residents who feel their communities are being split. “Your proposed maps have created an unprecedented level of resentment toward the political process and disenchantment with the status quo,” said Ali Najmi, a community organizer advocating united representation for Richmond Hill and Ozone Park. More than 100 speakers signed up to voice their opinions at Queens Borough Hall Tuesday where … Continue reading
There would be no layoffs of uniformed workers or teachers and no tax increases to balance the budget for next fiscal year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Thursday,Feb. 2, when he laid out his fiscal plan for 2013 and beyond. However, Bloomberg’s $68.7 billion preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal yearwill exhaust the last of New York City’s reserves to close a $2 billion deficit and face a new challenge. For the first time, Bloomberg said, pension and fringe benefits … Continue reading
Hoping to fix what appears to be a poor outside lighting situation at a Howard Beach Catholic school, state Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder has asked city transportation officials to step in. Goldfeder, who represents Howard Beach as part of the 23rd District, recently sent out a letter to Queens Transportation Commissioner Maura McCarthy asking her to address street lighting behind the St. Helen’s Roman Catholic School, at 157th Avenue. Specifically, the assemblyman is referring to a portion of the grounds behind … Continue reading
The much anticipated opening of TD Bank on Cross Bay Boulevard brought scores of both curious passersby and new customers to the grand opening festivities on Saturday morning. The branch saw a steady influx of brand new customers throughout the day and has been busy since. John Spagnuolo, the new store manager, says that TD has received a very warm welcome. “I think people here will appreciate the common sense, community-oriented approach to business that defines TD.” Spagnuolo, himself a … Continue reading
The puzzle pieces on the wall of what will be the new nearly $5 million, 10,000-square-foot autistic services facility at 164-14 Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach are meant to be symbolic, said Andrew Baumann, CEO of nonprofit New York Families for Autistic Children (NYFAC). “Autism is a puzzle; it’s about finding the missing pieces,” he said. The Ozone Park-based nonprofit, which provides services for more than 300 families in Queens and Brooklyn, hopes to help those families find those … Continue reading
Parents that live in the Community Education Council (CEC) District 27 will have one last chance to voice their opinions and concerns on the controversial middle school choice proposal. The District 27 President’s Council will host a presentation of the middle school choice proposal on Monday, Feb. 6 at P.S 65 in Ozone Park at 6 p.m. The Department of Education’s (DOE) Division of Portfolio Planning will put on the presentation for parents that attend the meeting. Since it was … Continue reading
The efforts to restore Jamaica Bay—an economic staple for the local community—are one step closer to completion after a recent $7.2 million grant to make long-awaited restorations to the bay’s Yellow Bar Hassock Island. Funding from the grant, legislators and project officials said, will be used as nearly half of a $15.5 million effort to restore roughly 50 acres of salt marsh habitat at Yellow Bar Hassock and place 300,000 cubic yards of dredged material there. The dredging work at … Continue reading