Results tagged “queens”

Earlier this week, firefighters found the body of a homeless man stabbed to death on a Jamaica, Queens street. Police believe he was killed when trying to stop an attack on a woman. Now surveillance video not only shows part of the his struggle with the attacker but also that pedestrians walked by the dying man—and ignored him—for over an hour. more ›

Days after Queens public school teacher Simon Watts was arrested and charged for allegedly sexually abusing five students since 2007, more girls have come forward. One father told the Daily News that his 10-year-old daughter gave him a handwritten letter on Thursday that read, "Mr. S. Watts has touched me inappropriately when I was in the 4th grade. He has rubbed my arms, gave me mashages [sic], touched my face and told me I was beautiful." The father said, "I thought it was good. A teacher was taking an interest in my daughter... I'm upset. I'm angry. How did this go under the radar for so long?" Watts, who was removed from the classroom, was also investigated for abuse when teaching in Brooklyn. more ›

Since Monday the Hawkcam has been observing the 2010 nest of some Red-tailed Hawks in Queens. Yeah that's right, HAWKCAM! Right now the baby red-tails are being fed, and it's worth a time out from your day to take a look. [via Wildlife of NYC] more ›

Tonight PETA plans to protest some of the restaurants they've called out for serving live animals (HuffPo has a pretty intense video slideshow). Earlier this month they wrote letters to various District Attorneys concerning the restaurants in their jurisdictions which were plating animals with pulses—some of which were well documented by the Gastronauts club (maybe next time the creatures will steal their cameras!). more ›

Looks like all that bribery actually worked! Despite having a much lower participation average than the country, New York City's census response rate went up to 59%, two percentage points higher than in 2000. That's especially encouraging since the national average dropped a percentage point since 2000. Regional census director Lester Farthing said, “Imagine what would have happened if we did not do all this promotional and advertising stuff." more ›

A 38-year-old Queens public school teacher has been charged with sexually abusing five of his female students—ranging in age from eight and ten—over the course of the last three years. Simon A. Watts, 38, of 114-44 197th Street in St. Albans. Watts, molested the girls while working as a fourth-grade teacher at P.S. 15 (Jackie Robinson School), in Springfield Gardens, DA Richard Brown alleges [pdf]. Watts was arraigned yesterday on charges of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, first-degree sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child. The details are, obviously, revolting. more ›

In today's playground news: no spaceships, prisons, or burning orbs are mentioned, but residents of Woodside, Queens want a certain group banned from their local play area. According to the Daily News, the Hart Playground—and more specifically its bathrooms—has been taken over by day laborers. One community Board 2 member told them, "People are afraid to use the park. [Men] come and they stay all day and they're urinating, drinking and washing clothes and taking baths in the fountain. It's not even an area where they should be without a child." more ›

A homeless man was stabbed to death yesterday morning in Queens. According to WABC 7, "The violence erupted at 88th Road and 144th Street in Jamaica," and it's believed he was killed while trying to break up a fight between a man and a woman. The Post spoke to a man who saw the incident replayed on surveillance video, and the video apparently showed a woman walking on 144th Street, "at 7:20 a.m. when two thugs accosted her from behind and 'one of the men tried to grab her wallet.'" The homeless man was stabbed multiple times. more ›

After a seven-alarm fire ravaged buildings on Grand Street in Chinatown, killing one and injuring dozens, the hundreds left homeless are struggling now that they have been cast out of their apartments. And some have now been relocated far from the Lower East Side—the Daily News reports, "More than 100 people were whisked from the Skyline Hotel on 49th St. to hotels in Harlem and one near LaGuardia Airport, drawing outrage from the newly homeless." more ›

The tragic murder of 15-year-old Brandon Bethea triggered the investigation that led to a massive gang takedown in Queens. Bethea was killed by a stray bullet in 2008 in a Far Rockaway project, shot by a gang member firing into a crowd. The gunman's arrest sparked a wiretap investigation that took down 104 people identifying with "Flocc," a gang alliance between members of the Crips and the Bloods. "It was that investigation that got us up on the phones as we learned about the [gang] activity in that area," Deputy Chief Robert Boyce told the Daily News. more ›

A nearly two-year long police investigation, "Operation Under Siege," revealed over 100 suspects, dozens of guns, and piles of drugs, all in connection to a plot to assassinate cops. The team behind this plot? A strange alliance of the Bloods and the Crips, traditionally rival gangs. They allegedly set aside their differences to plan the assassinations of patrol cops in projects in the Rockaways. Police Commish Ray Kelly said one gang associate "intended to position himself on rooftops and shoot police officers who were compromising his business in Far Rockaway and South Jamaica." more ›

Some grifters were trying the old "pigeon drop" or "empty wallet" scam on elderly targets in Queens. You know the pigeon drop: It's when someone claims there's a wallet/bag/something full of money and another person suggests you all put deposits down to prove you're all (you and the other scammers) are committed to sharing the money. According to the Daily News, "Looking for marks on Queens Blvd., the grifters left a wallet that appeared to be stuffed with cash on the sidewalk last month. [A 78-year-old] senior was walking to a bookstore when she saw the wallet - and was accosted by two men who opened it and claimed it held $300,000." more ›

The Queens DA's Office announced that Larry Greene, 20, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly punching and causing the death of his seven-month-old son Xiah. Greene, who had been babysitting his son, brought the unconscious baby to the New York Hospital Queens on Tueday. The child was pronounced dead and Green initially said he dropped the baby, but later admitted that he punched Xiah in the chest because he had been crying. Prosecutors also say that he told Xiah to "toughen up" and that Greene was allegedly upset because the baby seemed to like his mother more. more ›

Flushing Assemblywoman Grace Meng is putting together an advisory board to encourage local business owners to display signs in English, not Chinese or Korean, as is common in the neighborhood. Meng says that the foreign signs often scare away potential customers, hurting business for the area. She told the Daily News, "I represent many constituents...who are not comfortable with not being able to fully understand signage outside of stores and inside stores." more ›

PETA is now focusing their gaze on the city's octopus community... which some find quite delicious! The organization's David Perle tells us they're addressing disturbing practices they've found in Manhattan and Queens restaurants, and aim to stop the "chopping up or slowly steaming live octopuses and serving them while they're still conscious." more ›

Over the weekend, an 81-year-old Queens man returning from a bridge game was brutally beaten after being followed into his Astoria building. WCBS 2 reports that Mayer Behmoiras (pictured) was hurt so "terribly his wife, Frances, said at times he thinks he's back in 1947 and he's working at Macy's." Now police say that a 23-year-old man has been arrested for the crime. more ›

A 12-inch water main near the intersection of 140th Avenue and 159th Street in Springfield Gardens, Queens broke before 5 a.m. this morning, leaving many street flooded and some residents with six feet of water in their homes. Residents, including one from a home where a cesspool/sewage line broke, are being evacuated or told to move their cars. One resident lamented to WABC 7, "My whole room is totally underwater, I loss everything. What I have on my back is all I have left." The main is reportedly from 1969. more ›

A Queens spa owner was charged with second-degree assault, unlawfully practicing medicine and first-degree reckless endangerment for performing "butt enhancement" surgery. Barbara Nieto, owner of Perfect Image Stethics in Corona, performed the surgery on Augusta Velez. According to Queens DA Richard A. Brown [PDF], Nieto removed fat from Velez's stomach and re-injected it into her buttocks, and allegedly injected her with a pain relieving substance. more ›

According to actor Sam Rockwell, currently starring on Broadway with Christopher Walken, "we all do impersonations of Chris these days, every actor has a Chris Walken impersonation." And in this week's New Yorker, it sounds as if Walken doesn't really get all of that. more ›

A brush fire started in Spring Creek Park this afternoon around 161 Avenue and 83rd Street, sweeping through six areas of brush in the salt marsh. The fire first started around 3:45 this afternoon, flared up around 4 and was finally put out just after 5 p.m. The Spring Creek Park Preserve takes up 75 acres on the Queens/Brooklyn border and is "the largest undeveloped salt marsh in northern Jamaica Bay." Reader Valerio Bruscianelli sent us this photo, taken from South Street Seaport, and from this vantage point it looks like Gothamist HQ is the one up in flames! more ›

Heads up, Queens: Iron Man is coming your way! The blockbuster's sequel starring Robert Downey, Jr. is due out this May, and currently has a regular website set up along with a promo site for something called Stark Expo. Yes, it's all part of a well-oiled marketing machine, but the latter features Flushing Meadows Corona Park as the venue for the fictional event. It's just too bad the Hollywood fat cats didn't rejuvenate the now-decrepit World's Fair site for real. more ›

What does one do with an old, now landmarked, theater in Queens? That's the big question for the owners of Ridgewood Theatre—in January the facade was landmarked, but the interior can still be renovated—leaving a few options on their hands. more ›

38 people—including an NYC firefighter, a sanitation worker, and a highway repairman—were indicted yesterday [pdf] on charges of operating two "highly sophisticated illegal sports gambling enterprises" in Queens and as far afield as Nevada and Costa Rica. The enterprises allegedly generated approximately $178 million over the past three years, and included toll-free telephone numbers and five known gambling websites, such as 5dimes and Big on Sports. Queens DA Richard Brown gloats: more ›

Amidst the stifling heat of summer, residents of one Queens neighborhood close their windows to shut out the noise of “guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, singers and amplifiers," emanating from a nearby church, reports the Queens Courier. According to Patheos.com, worship for Pentecostals, like the congregation of the Love & Praise Assembly of God at 108h Street and Jamaica Avenue, is "a sensory experience filled with music, body movements, sounds, dancing, shouting, praying out loud, and speaking in tongues." It lasts a long time, upwards of two hours, and is capped off with a "moment of silence." But for neighbors, it seems like that moment never comes. more ›

On April 1st the Queens Tribune alerted area residents that a Wal-Mart was moving into the neighborhood. The article (credited to Wiegot A. Bigbocks) has since been taken down... because it was an April Fools prank. LOL Queens, right?! Not so much. Today the Daily News reports that locals were outraged over the idea that the evil corporation was making a new home for themselves in the area. more ›

Though Queens is the biggest borough with the most profitable mall in the country, it boasts only five chain bookstores (one of which is the Borders in JFK) and one independent bookstore, forcing many residents to schlep into Manhattan any time they need a new book. "It's pretty extreme how few [bookstores] there are in Queens," Seaburn Books employee Ariadne Reza told the Daily News. Barnes & Noble spokesman David Deason cited tough times for expansion, but Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. has reportedly been reaching out to chains. There hasn't been a bookstore in the 150-storefront Queens Center Mall for 10 years, when good old Walden Books closed down. more ›

According to Jamaica residents, the house at 88-18 Burdette Place has about 15-20 homeless people living inside, and the trash is overwhelming the neighbors. The property is strewed with condoms, needles, diapers and other trash, and locals are worried the neighborhood may not be safe. Neighbor Amy Anderson told NY1, "My concern is when they set fires to keep warm, this is an attached house with families over there. It only takes one match." Residents say multiple contacts to city officials have done nothing; the Buildings Department says the abandoned house is currently owned by Wells Fargo, and upkeep is their responsibility. This is reportedly the fifth house in three years to have attracted homeless in the area. more ›

After the announcement that city counter-terror cops would be sent back to their home boroughs to fight rising crime, Maybe Bloomberg wants New Yorkers to feel safe on all fronts. "We move people around all the time," he said, according to 1010Wins. "We have enough patrols to keep the city secure." Contrary to what was originally reported, the police department says that just eight of the 67 patrol cars in the unit—usually used to flood Manhattan terror targets like Times Square of Madison Square Gardens—"will patrol in parts of Queens and Brooklyn that have experienced crime increases." more ›

The Brown's family home sits on the border of Rosedale, Queens and Valley Stream, L.I., giving them a lot of confusion, but some benefits. They are one of 84 families living along the border, getting two addresses and two options for things like utilities, cable, insurance and, unfortunately, taxes. Myrna Brown told the Daily News, "We get our utilities from Queens, and we can use the Nassau County school district." more ›

State Senate President Malcolm Smith, who was recently called out for his extravagant pork-barrel spending, may be in trouble again, after failing to record two lucrative property sales on mandatory financial disclosure forms. In 1995 Smith bought two adjoining plots at 230th Street in Queens through his company Smith M. Realty. Since then, he's sold both to a developer netting $500,000, but that profit went undisclosed in 2002 paperwork for the legislature, and was only nominally explained thereafter. Coinciding with an investigation, which also involves his recently terminated campaign treasurer Joan Flowers, the Democrat has hired a lawyer who told the Post his client is "honest," "decent" and "law-abiding." "They can subpoena all the documents in the world. They're not going to find any evidence of wrongdoing by Malcolm Smith," he said. more ›