Category Archives: Ozone Park
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
The vote to change two streets in Ozone Park and Woodhaven will have to wait until at least March in order to be resolved. Originally scheduled to take place at the Feb.14 Community Board 9 meeting—which covers both neighborhoods—Community Board 9 officials confirmed that the vote has been pushed back until March in order to accommodate residents who live in Woodhaven and Ozone Park. The February vote, which was to be held at Kew Gardens, was rescheduled to be held … 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 Queens man faces 25 years to life in prison after being convicted on charges stemming from a 2010 afternoon home invasion in a small, quiet Long Island hamlet. A Nassau County jury found Aadam Yusuf, 30, of South Ozone Park, guilty of first-and-second degree robbery, first degree burglary and fourth degree conspiracy charges for his role in a Nov. 2010 armed home invasion in Woodbury, Long Island, which involved at least two other Queens residents as suspects. According to … 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
The plans to turn a 3.5-mile abandoned rail line in Queens into a greenway have taken a detour, with some officials envisioning trains running down the long-dormant rail line once more. State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder is one of several people that have recently proposed the idea of reactivating the abandoned Rockaway Beach branch of the Long Island Rail Road line, which was shut down in 1962. Goldfeder represents the 23rd District encompassing Ozone Park, Lindenwood, Howard Beach, Broad Channel and … Continue reading
If a city plan goes through later this year, a number of Queens-based high schools could have their teacher staffs cut in half in time for the 2012-13 school year. After the Jan.1 deadline passed for the city and the teacher’s union to agree on teacher evaluations, the city proposed a turnaround plan, which would see grant money come to the 33 schools on the Persistently Lowest Achieving list (PLA) but would also include cutting up to 50 percent of … Continue reading
Responding to recent reports regarding a spike in small crimes around Resorts World Casino, Community Board 10 chairwoman Betty Bratton told residents last week that previous reports of a crime wave were exaggerated. “Rumor City is abounding,” she said, regarding a potential crime wave happening around the area due to the casino. At the Feb. 2 meeting of Community Board 10, Bratton took issue with a previous report by the New York Post, which reported that petit larcenies and misdemeanor … Continue reading
Two weeks before a scheduled vote on two proposed street changes affecting Woodhaven and Richmond Hill, a crowd of angry residents let city Department of Transportation officials know that they were against any such changes. While roughly a dozen of the more than 70 residents who attended the informational hearing Feb. 1 in Ozone Park on the proposed traffic changes to two streets in the area were from Richmond Hill, an overwhelming majority of the people were Woodhaven residents, as … 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
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Ozone Park) and State Senator Joe Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) both received political donations in recent months from Genting New York, the parent company of Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park. The political gifts came around the time Gov. Andrew Cuomo started pushing for legalized table gaming and announced plans in January for Genting to build a 3.8-million-square-foot convention center in Ozone Park. Goldfeder received $4,100 this September, and Addabbo has received a total of … 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