Results tagged “queens”

Firefighters responding to a deadly Woodside fire that killed three and injured four in an illegal basement apartment yesterday could have arrived sooner — had they not been routed to the wrong address first. A 911 operator mistakenly entered a two instead of a five and sent Engine Company 292 and Rescue Company 4 on a "wild goose chase" to 62nd Street instead of 65th Street, a delay that cost firefighters about 2 minutes and 30 seconds, according to the fire union.

Yesterday afternoon, NY1 reports, "Authorities received a 911 call about a stabbing and found the bodies of Paul Johnson, 47, and Regina Alston, 46," in a Jamaica, Queens home. "Alston had multiple stab wounds, while sources say Johnson hung himself and had cuts on his body." The Daily News says the couple's teen daughters were present at the time and one jumped out of a second story window to escape. The landlord said they were good tenants but recently Johnson moved out after a fight.

A fire claimed the lives of three men and critically injured four others when it ripped through an illegal basement apartment this morning in Woodside, Queens. The blaze broke out in the two-story home's improperly partitioned basement at around 2:45 am, according to the Daily News. When firefighters arrived at the "chaotic scene," they discovered "badly-burned victims" on the "front sidewalk, just inside the front door and beneath a basement window." The surviving victims were taken to the New York Hospital-Cornell Burn Center. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

The Queens woman found guilty of suffocating her abusive stepfather and cutting off his penis in 2007 was sentenced yesterday to five to 15 years in prison — the maximum sentence for the charge of second-degree manslaughter. Brigitte Harris, 29, was acquitted of murder charges last month, but found guilty of the lesser manslaughter charge after her lawyers argued she wasn't attempting to kill the victim, Eric Goodridge, but protect her nieces from a "pattern of repeated systemic sexual abuse" perpetrated against her since she was 3 years old.

Whenever there's a story about the site of the World's Fair you can be certain the words neglected and/or deteriorated will be used. Last year the city was criticized for not better preserving the 130' x 166' terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map at the New York State Pavilion. The winter weather dislodged and even cracked panels after a decision not to protect it was made.

One day in September 2008, Queens High School student Stephen Cruz suffered a lacerated forehead when school safety agent Daniel O’Connell, without provocation, allegedly kicked open a restroom stall that Stephen was using. Cruz claims that after he tumbled to the floor bleeding from his head, O'Connell (whom the students called RoboCop) walked away saying, "That's life; it will stop bleeding." Typical robot.

A member of the notorious MS-13 gang told police that the gang's El Salvadorian leaders put a hit out on a federal agent meddling in the gang's NYC activities. Walter "Dukes" Torres was arrested along with four others for hassling passersby in Queens last month and said he was in New York "for the specific purpose of participating in the planning and execution of the murder plot...Gang members were trying to get their hands on a high-powered assault rifle, like an M-16. to penetrate the agent's bulletproof vest." Another gang member said bosses were "exceedingly angry" at the unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Police arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with two rapes in the Rockaways last month. The Daily News reports that DNA evidence linked Malcolm Johnson to the crimes. He was charged with "rape, sexual assault, robbery, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon."

Queens has been long ignored by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, but the 160-year-old St. Saviour's in Maspeth has gotten a lot more attention than the likes of Jack Kerouac's old stomping grounds. In fact, Curbed recalls that at one point, "a deal was worked out to save the main church building and relocate it to a nearby cemetery, while the Parks Department works on a potential deal to acquire the land and turn it into a much-needed park." Here's a complete timeline of the saga.

A man between 30 and 40-years-old allegedly tried to abduct an 8-year-old boy in Astoria Wednesday morning and the police are on the search for him. Police said the man, who was wearing a beige baseball cap, gray hoodie, and a long gray overcoat, grabbed the boy by the wrist and pulled him along saying "Come go with me." The boy broke away from the man and ran crying for help; his mother tried to confront him but he got away. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or online.

Hooters has added insult to injury. If it isn’t painful enough to wear those tight, little, crotch-riding orange shorts, waitresses at the restaurant chain also have to dip into their paychecks to pay for the uniforms - which is illegal.

Things are not looking good for State Senator Hiram Monserrate. The NY Times reports that the Queens Democratic party is "expected to dump" him, after his misdemeanor conviction for reckless assaulting his girlfriend: "It is extremely rare for a party to seek to unseat one of its own incumbents, even those dogged by scandal."

An elderly Manhattan diamond merchant with business and health problems shot and killed his 78-year-old wife in their bed yesterday, and then fatally shot himself in the chest, according to investigators. Police found the couple in their Fresh Meadows home after co-workers at Green Bros. Jewelers reported that Morris Green, 76, hadn't showed up at his Fifth Avenue office. The jeweler's business had been hit hard by the economic downturn, and he faced crushing medical bills after a recent heart surgery. But at least one person who knew Green refused to believe it was suicide.

Two girls have died from a horrible van crash in St. Albans, Queens that occurred at 5 p.m. yesterday. Both were foster children: The first, a 15-year-old, died late Monday night, and the other, a 5-year-old died at 4:30 this morning. The Daily News reports that driver Shelia Bethea, 45, "crossed the double-yellow line on Dunkirk St. in Saint Albans while going between 60 and 70 miles an hour, slamming her minivan into another van."

An explosion rumbled through a Flushing, Queens neighborhood after a man was trying to empty out his propane tank. A neighbor said, "I felt the ground move. I thought it was a plane coming down. There was a big rumble...I was in my basement and still felt it. I ran outside and saw debris everywhere."

Ten years ago Demetrius Edwards pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old Brooklyn girl at gunpoint. According to the justice system, his debt to society has been repaid, so he was recently released from prison and moved into his parents' apartment, about 100 feet from the St. Raphael Elementary School on 37th Street in Queens. It's no surprise parents are panicking, but although Edwards is a sex offender with a record and a "Level Three" status—which means he's at "high risk to commit another sex crime"—nothing in the law prohibits him from living by the school.

Following the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death (which was yesterday), a fan of the author is speaking out again about the lack of recognition the beat gets in his one-time home borough of Queens.

Former Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, who resigned after being indicted on fraud charges for basically selling his influence for $1 million, actually racked in $2 million in bribes! Seminerio's trial is taking place, and audio of his bragging to informants was played. For instance, he'd steer state money to the Long Island Rail Road in exchange for jobs for friends: "Anytime that I would, ah, give them a $250,000 contribution or $500,000 for repair of the railroad, I need two jobs. Even if I didn't have anybody, then I find two people and get them jobs.

While some Brooklynites are lobbying to get trees removed from their neighborhood, Canadian street artist Poster Child is planting them around the city. There's already a dwarf pine in a long-retired newspaper dispenser on Bedford Avenue, and now he's gone and planted another in a telephone booth in Astoria. Personally, we'd like to see an entire greenhouse in one of the four remaining enclosed booths (as long as no one's using them anymore, that is). Challenge.

The latest Improv Everywhere mission brought the troupe to the Best Yet grocery store in Astoria, Queens to end fruit segregation... in musical form!

Finally deciding a lawsuit first filed in 2003, a federal jury has found Exxon Mobil liable for $104.7 million in compensatory damages for contaminating groundwater in NYC. The city had originally sought $250 million to cover construction of a treatment plant to purify the water in five wells in southeastern Queens. (The well water is used when the upstate reservoirs system is out of service during repairs, droughts and other emergencies.) The jury found Exxon Mobil guilty of failing to warn government agencies when it decided to add M.T.B.E. to gasoline. So what is M.T.B.E.?

Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in College Point, Queens to protest the brutal attack that left a 49-year-old gay man clinging to life. Jack Price had been walking home on October 8 when he was savagely beaten—broken jaw, broken ribs, collapsed lung— by two men who called him gay slurs. Price's brother told the Daily News, "Nobody should have to worry about looking behind their backs. Parents have to teach their kids. They learn hatred and all that stuff at home."

The Queens gay man who was nearly beaten to death spoke out about the brutal attack for the first time yesterday. Jack Price, 49, who is still in the hospital recovering from multiple injuries, told the Daily News, "I thought I died. I was bleeding all over the place."

Initial reports about the brutal beating of an openly gay Queens man Friday night (video) mentioned that one of the alleged assailants told the victim, "My father is a C.O. [correction officer]. You will never do anything to us." That stupid boast had been unsubstantiated, until now. Last night the father of Daniel Rodriguez, the second man arrested in the alleged hate crime against Jack Price, came forward to speak to reporters.

All of the trees in Queens are leading to a ton of problems lately. First the decision to chop down a 600-year-old tree nearly tore a community apart, then trees were falling on top of houses during the great wind storm of early October, and now MyFoxNY reports that a group of angry homeowners in the borough are up in arms about a tree stump.

The second man accused of beating an openly gay man in Queens Friday morning was been returned to NYC last night, after being arrested in Norfolk, Virginia, late Tuesday. But the sister of suspect Daniel Rodriguez, 21, insists her brother did not commit a hate crime—because he has gay relatives and even once had a homosexual roommate. Christina Rodriguez tells the Daily News, "This wasn't a hate crime. If he's guilty of anything, he'll man up to it." Rodriguez's brother Eddie also vouched for him.

The city's recurring "restaurant weeks" are all about getting your money's worth by visiting an establishment that would ordinarily be beyond your reach; there's no sense paying $25 for a prix-fixe at a place that ordinarily charges about that about much or less, which is why the Water's Edge is an ideal choice for Queens Restaurant Week. Situated literally on the edge of the East River in Long Island City, next to Deitch Studios, the three decade-old restaurant could easily be misidentified as a private catering hall—which it is. But it is also an Asian-inflected seafood restaurant with three star ambition, and it re-opened a few weeks ago after an extensive face-lift.

Hmm, is this a threat or a promise? The local Community Board in Long Island City is trying to block a liquor license sought by Gus Drakopoulos, who operates the Sin City strip club in the Bronx. Drakopoulos wants to open another topless club near the Queensboro Bridge, and he's willing to go nude nuclear if the SLA denies his license. According to state law, dancers in a strip club serving booze can only reveal their breasts. But sober gentlemen above the age of 18 are entitled to the Full Monty, and that's what Drakopoulus is vowing to give them.

Queens Assistant District Attorney Scott Kessler delivered closing arguments yesterday in state Sen. Hiram Monserrate's assault trial—and he's sure somebody is a liar. According to the Daily News, the prosecutor argued that the senator's girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, was telling a lie or two in hopes of keeping Monserrate a free man—and from losing his Senate seat.

A merchants' association in College Point, Queens recently installed a number of security cameras in the neighborhood to deter graffiti. Early Friday morning, one of those cameras captured in vivid detail the shocking assault on openly gay local Jack Price, 49, who was leaving a 24-hour deli. The attack left him in a medically induced coma with collapsed lungs, broken ribs, damaged spleen, and a metal plate in his jaw. This video shows how it happened, but be warned: It is extremely disturbing.