Category Archives: Middle Village
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
For most 6-year-olds, Christmas is a day to open presents and spend time with their families. Unfortunately for Colin Flood, his Christmas was spent in the hospital after learning that a flu he was battling turned out to be something much worse. On Dec. 23 of last year, Colin Flood was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer that produces malignant white blood cells in the blood stream and bone marrow. Now Colin needs a bone marrow transplant … Continue reading
Schools Rebuke plan to Replace Teachers: Bloomberg Wants to Close, Reopen Schools to get $58 Million
By Jeremiah Dobruck Updated below Grover Cleveland High School’s assistant principal Michelle Robertson bellowed at Mayor Michael Bloomberg. An immigrant from Barbados herself, she told the mayor about students in her English class who arrive not knowing how to speak the language—and a year later, pass the state’s English Reagents Exam. She yelled out how the largely immigrant population at her school in Ridgewood competes with specialized high schools in math and science contests. “We know our students are not … 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
Whether or not New Yorkers are getting more frustrated waiting behind sanitation trucks, Maspeth and Middle Village’s councilwoman is calling for the uniformedworkers to get the same protection other city employees do when dealing with the public. Last week, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) introduced a bill to increase the penalty on anyone who assaults a sanitation worker. According to the Sanitation Department, there were six incidences of violence reported involving sanitation workers and civilians in 2010, but in first … Continue reading
One man went on a graffiti binge through Middle Village, indiscriminately marking up about two blocks with yellow spray paint on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 31, police said. At a meeting of the civic group Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together, the commanding officer of the 104th Precinct said cops don’t know what set off the painting spree, but they caught him nonetheless. “We’re still not sure what he was doing,” Capt. Michael Cody said. “He’s in custody now. … Continue reading
The Gibbonses are back home. In October, Eamen Gibbons’ brother, George, was killed by a drunken driver after closing his bar for the night. George had just opened the bar, Gibbons’ Home, that month before the 37-year-old’s life was tragically cut short. After a month-long manhunt and pushed back hearings, the Gibbons family is still waiting to hear what will happen to the man who allegedly hit George in a wrong-way car wreck. Right now, he’s charged with second degree … Continue reading
Carl Berner, a longtime civic activist who has lived in Middle Village since 1938, celebrated his 110th birthday at a small party at his home on Friday, Jan 27, hosted by the Juniper Park Civic Association(JPCA) and his daughter, Emily. According to Bob Holden, president of JPCA, Berner is the oldest man in New York City. Berner, who is one of the original members of JPCA, first immigrated to New York from Stuttgart, Germany in 1928 when he was 26 … Continue reading
A 22-year-old Middle Village man was shot and killed after a carjacking that started in Woodhaven and ended in a wreck and police shootout in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn around 4 a.m. on Jan. 26, police said. Christopher Kissane of 73-06 68th Road in Middle Village allegedly tried to steal two cars in the wee hours of Thursday morning in Queens before successfully stealing one in Woodhaven. Police said he tried to break into one car at Myrtle Avenue and fired … Continue reading
Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought his agenda to Queens in January when he reviewed a previous speech in Albany pushing his $25 billion economic development package including the Ozone Park convention center. He spoke to a packed house at Queens College on Thursday, Jan.19, but not everyone was happy to hear it. One protester stood up in the middle of Cuomo’s speech and started yelling. She identified herself as a teacher aligned with the Occupy movement and shouted “Mic Check” as … Continue reading
A Vigil for Victims of Canine Discrimination will be held this Saturday in Manhattan at Lincoln Center in the memory of Nick Santino, a New York soap opera actor who recently killed himself after being wracked with guilt for euthanizing his dog. Santino has appeared in shows such as “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.” Santino killed himself on Jan. 26 after he’d had his pit bull, Rocco, put to sleep because of a strict ban his apartment building had … Continue reading
Four banks in a two-mile radius were hit by robberies in the last two weeks, including two neighboring banks held up back-to-back in Middle Village. In all four cases, a sole perpetrator matching one of two descriptions used a threatening note to extract money from a teller. It worked at all but one of the banks. Three of the banks are within blocks of each other along Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. A fourth bank about a mile and a … Continue reading
Parents rallied Tuesday at their local Community Education Council meeting, putting pressure on the Department of Education to install a new system for parents to request bus service for kids who must walk a hazardous route to school. At the CEC 24 meeting that covers a swath of Queens including Middle Village and Ridgewood, parents in the audience cheered as the council voted unanimously to support a resolution asking to reveal an opaque process that parents say covers life and … Continue reading