Residents in Woodhaven said they were worried about the fate of the partially collapsed building on Jamaica Avenue after hearing it would not be demolished, but renovated instead. A legal bought between the owner of the 78-19 Jamaica Ave. property and the city ended with an agreement that renovations would be made to restore the collapsed roof atop the structure. It was a stark contrast to what the Buildings Department ruled earlier this year when it declared the building hazardous … Continue reading
The city transit system is back on track. Threats of a system wide strike brought constant fear to the first half of July as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was failing to strike a deal with Long Island Railroad unions on a new contract. But parties from both sides of the debate came aboard compromise just days before the wheels stopped. Gov. Andrew Cuomo invited representatives from both sides of the table to meet with him last Thursday morning to settle … Continue reading
The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) wrongfully paid contractors for services that were not provided after Hurricane Sandy and failed to keep appropriate logs of site visits, an audit by city Comptroller Scott Stringer revealed. Stringer said the agency came up short in overseeing contractors that were hired to provide emergency shelter as well as helping those in need apply for public housing or securing home repairs after Sandy displaced thousands of residents. After the storm, DHS signed 20 emergency … Continue reading
Rego Park native Michael Conigliaro announced his bid for the state Senate this week, challenging state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) on the Republican and Conservative party lines. His announcement came just after another Republican, former City Councilman Thomas Ognibene, declined a run for the same seat. Conigliaro, who manages a real estate law firm and serves on the Forest Hills Our Lady of Mercy Church parish, rolled out a wide array of GOP support Monday on the heels of … Continue reading
Parents of young children in Woodhaven will not have to look high and low for open pre-kindergarten classes come September, because the Woodhaven Public Library will be rolling out its free program in the 2014-2015 school year. It is the first of its kind not only in the city, but also in the entire country. Southern Queens was seen as an area that greatly needed universal pre-K classes, due to competitiveness of the current programs, according to Joann King, director … Continue reading
The 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, along with precincts across the rest of the borough, will not see any of the city’s 1,000 new cops hitting the streets this summer due to a more severe need for officers in city districts with higher crime. Under the terms of the city budget agreement reached in June, 200 civilian workers will be hired for desk jobs that are currently held by officers so they can return to patrol. Another 600 officers were … Continue reading
Time has not put a damper on the fight to bring Civic Virtue back to Kew Gardens and advocates said they were planning a major rally for the cause. Richard Iritano, leader of the Civic Virtue Task Force, said he and his team were making hundreds of phone calls and emails to organize one a massive effort against the removal of the historic statue and call for its immediate return to the front of Borough Hall. After months of waiting … Continue reading
Commuting by bus in southern Queens will soon get a little bit easier. Numerous bus countdown clocks are expected to be installed in the Community Board 9 district over the next year. Each clock costs about $20,000 and use a GPS tracking system installed on the buses to estimate their arrival time, officials said. So far, only two countdown clocks have been installed in Staten Island, but the city Department of Transportation said it plans to install them across the … Continue reading
Armed with hoses, brushes, squeegees and towels, a small army of volunteers joined with Dr. Jerry Antonino to raise money for the Our Lady of Grace Soccer program on Sunday. The program this year celebrates its twentieth year as part of CYO Soccer and since its inception in 1993 has become a cherished institution in the Howard Beach community. Despite the threat of overcast skies throughout the morning, cars continued to roll through the team of bumper scrubbers, wheel washers … Continue reading
As many political experts have pointed out, the questions surrounding the long-standing dominance and subsequent effects of party politics have never been easy to answer – perhaps because they are as varied and complex as Queens itself. Some in the borough contended that dominant parties make it more difficult for political neophytes to enter the fray while others said that the traditional political machines have made strides to better represent Queens’ diverse and ever-growing population. “Newcomers to politics often find … Continue reading
Queens GOP Executive Vice Chairman Robert Beltrani assumed the role of chairman in the wake of Phil Ragusa’s death as the party continues its efforts to get more Republicans into elected office. Beltrani, who works as a judge with the New York State Division of Parole, was automatically named chairman to fill the vacancy left last month when Ragusa died. He will serve as chairman for the remainder of Ragusa’s term, which runs through September 2015, according to GOP spokesman … Continue reading
Good deeds do not go unrewarded at the 106th Precinct. Officer Matthew Peters was presented with the June cop of the month award during a crowded 106th Precinct community council meeting on July 9 for swiftly catching a robber and returning an elderly victim’s stolen bags to her. Peters, 34, was one of two officers sent out to look for an alleged perpetrator after they heard a 65-year-old woman had been robbed. While canvassing, Peters said he saw a man fitting … Continue reading
The city moved forward with flood mitigation work in Broad Channel over the weekend in some of the most vulnerable areas, the Transportation Department said. Regular flooding along Cross Bay Boulevard in Broad Channel received a bit of extra attention over recent weeks when the city set out to rebuild roads at higher elevations by bringing bulkheads to West 11th, 12th and 13th roads in Broad Channel. A spokesman for the DOT said most of the work along Cross Bay … Continue reading
The battle to preserve never ends for members of the Richmond Hill Civic Association. The group announced a Victorian-themed Strawberry Social event for Sunday afternoon at the Forest Park Carousel as a means to promote Richmond Hill’s history and push for more preservation through landmarking in southern Queens. Group president Ivan Ivan Mrakovcic said he and his group welcomed social gatherings in the community in order to keep the society relevant in Richmond Hill. “We picked Forest Park because it … Continue reading
Rockaway beach bums were slapped with a controversial sky advertisement over the weekend and one southern Queens lawmaker said he has seen enough. Reports of an airplane sporting a pro-swastika flag over the Rockaways sent Queens residents into confusion as to why the sensitive symbol was up in the sky. State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) took that opportunity to call on the city Department of Consumer Affairs to up its efforts in combatting inappropriate signage. “I have two young … Continue reading