Category Archives: Woodhaven
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
Community Board 9 could have at least two vacancies on their 50-member board thanks to the recent resignation of one member and the request for removal of another. The majority of the board members present at Tuesday’s monthly meeting at Kew Gardens Community Center voted 25-7 to recommend the removal of Rajinder Singh Bawa from the community board. According to Andrea Crawford, chairperson of Community Board 9, Bawa’s recommendation for removal came on the heels of Bawa missing several board … 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 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
Animal cruelty and police officials are searching for a man who beat a cat to death in Woodhaven Tuesday night and threatened the life of a nearby bartender who tried to stop him. Nancy Kennedy, the bar manager at Neir’s Tavern on 78th Street, told The Forum Wednesday that on Tuesday, just after 7 p.m., she was working her regular shift at the bar that she has worked at for several years when a man, who she described as a … 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
Citing several violations dating back to 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week moved to close a Woodhaven-based cheese plant. According to a 17-page docket filed Jan. 30 at the United States Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, the FDA is looking to close down Mexicali Cheese Corporation, located on 87th Avenue in Woodhaven, in light of numerous violations, including FDA inspectors finding life threatening bacteria in the facility and unsanitary conditions during several inspections. The cheese plant … 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
Heading into Wednesday night’s meeting regarding two contentious street changes in Woodhaven, the city Department of Transportation recently stopped short of guaranteeing that the street changes would not go through after meeting public opposition. The issue stems around two proposed street changes—one which would convert 89th Avenue from a two operation to a one-way eastbound operation between Woodhaven Boulevard and 97th Street, and another changing 84th Street from a one-way northbound to a one-way southbound from Liberty Avenue. Residents in … 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