As reported in the Advance last week, Staten Island’s three City Council members have embarked on a campaign to press for more frequent nighttime service on the Staten Island Ferry. And they intend to put the issue front and center in this year’s mayoral race.
Their first objective is to pass legislation in the Council that will force the city Department of Transportation to reduce ferry headway intervals to a maximum of 30 minutes around the clock. The three intend to introduce such a bill on Wednesday. At the same time, they say they will press the mayoral candidates for their positions on the issue.
Mid-Island Republican Councilman James Oddo, North Shore Democratic Councilwoman Debi Rose and South Shore Republican Councilman Vincent Ignizio officially kicked off their effort at a press conference at Borough Hall on Thursday. They were joined by members of the St. George Civic Association and the
An apartment in the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City that was padlocked after a sweeping drug bust in which dozens of alleged drug dealers were arrested.
Rose Perez recalled the fear she felt living down the hall from some of the craven drug dealers who operate out of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
“A lot of people were coming every day” to buy drugs, said Perez, 51. “I had a very, very big problem.”
Perez and other residents of the country’s largest public housing development
Queens Taste 2013: Another Year, Another Successful Gala with the Borough’s Best Culinary, Beverage, Business and Entertainment Industries
(Flushing, NY) — A wide variety of top-notch food and drink options provided the basis for a festive atmosphere as 40 vendors and more than 900 attendees filled their bellies and networked during Queens Taste 2013 at Citi Field’s Caesars Club on May 14.
Hosted by the Queens Economic Development Corporation, the eleventh annual extravaganza included performances by a Big Apple Circus clown, an appearance by 1969 Miracle Met Ed Kranepool, a booth displaying work by local emerging artists curated by Jackson Heights-based Zoescope and a stand up routine by Steve Hofstetter of the Laughing Devil Comedy Club in Long Island City.
Crowd shot taken behind the table where O Lavrador was serving bacalao.
The owner of a popular Sunnyside pub is expanding his bar/restaurant business by opening a gastropub in the heart of Long Island City.
Pat Burke, 39, who owns the Courtyard Ale House on Queens Blvd, is in the midst of establishing an up-market pub at 47-10 Vernon Blvd, in Hunters Point. The pub, to be called Woodbines, will represent Burke’s fourth establishment in New York City.
Burke, who is from County Cork, bought the Courtyard 14 years ago.
Four years ago, Burke then ventured into Manhattan and opened an establishment on 9th Avenue, called the Brickyard Gastropub. Last year, he moved into Williamsburg and converted an old building into a pub, calling it the Kent Ale House.
Past and present city officials gather for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new legislative archives collection at LaGuardia Community College. Photo courtesy LaGuardia
By Karen Frantz
TimesLedger Newspapers
Scores of legislative documents, photos and other records that recount the sometimes mundane but other times controversial history of the City Council are now available in an online database LaGuardia Community College unveiled last week.
The topics to sift through are seemingly endless. One highlight of the online collection includes text of a local law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and letters in support of and in opposition to the bill dating from the 1970s and ’80s.
“I am quite disturbed over the fact that you do not stand for civil rights,” said one supporter of the bill, Alfred S. Farrugio, in a letter written in 1975 to then-Council Majority Leader Thomas Cuite.
Jamille Harley takes stage at The Laughing Devil Comedy Club in Long Island City.
It’s Queens version of “Last Comic Standing.”
Long Island City is engulfed in a winner-take-all joke joust to determine the borough’s best comedian.
The multiset competition, hosted by The Laughing Devil Comedy Club on Vernon Blvd., will crown the top crackup Saturday night, with the winner taking home a $2,500 check.
“You’ve got to fire a perfect set four nights in a row,” said club owner Steve Hofstetter. “The whole idea is to give these people exposure.”
The field of 100 funny people began sparring on Tuesday, with two days of grueling
Nicolas Almonte is suspected of allegedly going on a carjacking spree armed with a BB gun, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. Photo courtesy NYPD
By Karen Frantz
TimesLedger Newspapers
A Long Island City man who allegedly went on a carjacking and robbery spree in the borough last week is being held without bail and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, the district attorney’s office said.
The weapon he was carrying and allegedly used to steal several cars and some cash turned out to be a BB gun, DA Richard Brown said.
“The defendant is accused of terrifying the Long Island City community by walking up to vehicles and pedestrians and demanding their property while pointing a weapon at them,” Brown said. “Fortunately, the gun turned out to be a BB gun and nobody was physically injured. However, that does not negate the fear that
FORTUNE — A short subway ride from Midtown Manhattan, Peter Weijmarshausen is building a factory that reimagines mass production. Weijmarshausen is the co-founder and chief executive of Shapeways, a company that lets people design and order objects printed on high-end 3-D printers.
It’s not a new idea, but in the last year 3-D printing has become newly available: In 2007, when he first started the company within the incubator of Royal Philips Electronics, Weijmarshausen would have paid as much as $500 to print a self-designed iPhone case, for example. At Shapeways today, a designer will pay around $20. This promise recently spurred Andreessen Horowitz to lead a $30 million round of funding in the company.
It’s hard to imagine how a machine could “print” an iPhone case until you’ve seen it. So, last Friday
Albany, NY – May 15, 2013 – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today kicked off round three of the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC)s, hosting council co-chairs and local economic development officials in Albany to detail the third round of the process and officially launch the 2013 competition.
“Over the past two years, the Regional Economic Development Councils have been a tremendous success, transforming our state’s approach to job creating from a traditional Albany top-down model to a community-based, bottom-up process,” Governor Cuomo said. “From Niagara Falls, to Plattsburgh, to Long Island, the results are clear in communities all across the state as new projects are being launched, creating jobs and supporting local economic growth. Today we are building on
Police crews today in Long Island City where an armed man allegedly stole two vehicles before failing to take a third.
Cops tonight busted a Long Island City man who went on a wild carjacking and robbery spree that prompted a massive manhunt stretching from Queens to New Jersey.
Suspect Nicholas Almonte, 27, was taken into custody in Greenpoint at about 6 p.m., police said.
Almonte first stole a black Mercedes at gunpoint at 9:37 a.m. on Borden Avenue near 25th Street, a short distance from his home at 20-25 Borden, cops said.
A witness said he pointed a handgun – possibly a pellet gun or a fake, sources said – at the driver and forced his way into her car.
Rafat Ali (@rafat) 5/11/13, 3:30 PM Final one: A tourist in our own city, at Roosevelt Freedom Park on Roosevelt Island, NYC. pic.twitter.com/wbLXiHNHyI
Long Island City from the Queensboro Bridge to Hunters Point was at a standstill for awhile last Thursday beginning around 9:30 a.m. as a suspected armed robber allegedly filched three high-end vehicles.
Police briefly closed down the bridge and part of Borden Avenue in their pursuit of the suspect. About eight hours later they arrested Nicolas Almonte, 27.
The spree began at 9:30 a.m. when Almonte stole at gunpoint a black Mercedes sports car from a woman at 21-27 Borden Ave., police said. He allegedly drove her around for several minutes until at Queens Plaza the victim made her escape without injury.
Almonte allegedly vacated the Mercedes, which was later recovered.
Then at 10 a.m., after he tried but failed to steal a white Ford van, police received a call that an armed
Kevin Walsh leads the way during a tour of Calvary Cemetery.
By Joe Anuta
TimesLedger Newspapers
There are about 3 million people buried in Calvary Cemetery, the oldest graveyard in the borough.
“Which means,” Kevin Walsh, of Forgotten New York, said to a group of about 30 people last Saturday, “there are more dead people in Queens than alive.”
Forgotten New York is Walsh’s historical association, which runs tours and puts out articles. He and Richard Melnick, of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, were conducting a tour of the graveyard, one of many explorations of the city’s past they organize together throughout the year.
For the layman, examining the names of everyone buried in Calvary would be about as exciting as flipping though a phone book, but Walsh and Melnick, like shamans in baseball caps, weaved through headstones and obelisks to summon the
The owners of a controversial Long Island City strip club could be one step closer to getting a long-coveted liquor license.
But civic leaders pledged this week to continue their fight against Show Palace, the glitzy, all-nude eatery that cropped up in the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge.
Last month, a Supreme Court judge rejected the State Liquor Authority’s decision to deny a license to 21 Group Inc., the owners of Show Palace.
Local lawmakers and others argued a strip club conflicted with the neighborhood’s new, family friendly rebirth.
However, Judge Manuel Mendez said the reasons outlined by the State Liquor Authority in its 2012 decision were not enough to justify its rejection.
“The denial of an application for a liquor license cannot be based solely on community reaction and the views or recommendations of elected officials,” Mendez said in a decision handed down last month.
Mendez also said the SLA had not proven its concerns
Police are hunting for a gunman who stole two cars at gunpoint in Queens Thursday morning.
The man held up the drivers of two vehicles in Long Island City, getting away each time with the vehicles. A third attempt failed and the suspect got away, according to reports.
The carjackings happened around Borden Avenue and at Van Dam Street and Thompson Avenue in Long Island City, according to preliminary reports.
Local madman proposes food crawl. /// *Queens People! * * Momo Crawl on Sunday, May 19th. 1:30pm. * *This must be done. * With the opening of Friends Cafe last week,* there are now 19places serving momos in the Little India vicinity of Jackson Heights. * These Himalayan dumplings quietly have become the most popular dish in Queens. To celebrate this influx of Himalayans to the area, I am organizing my 2nd Momo Crawl. This population of Tibetans, Nepalese, and the surrounding cultures have had such a positive effect on our area, I want to be strong in welcoming new immigrants to New York City. These entrepreneurs of our area, *these locals* who have the courage not to open up a Subway, *need our support. *That’s what this is about. Also, *expression*. Last year we kept it to 30 people because of space limitations, but this year we have use of the *Jackson Heights Diversity Plaza* and are* now aiming for MASSIVE – *This crawl is expected to have 100-125 attendees. *Meeting place:* Jackson Heights Plaza (37th Rd between 74th Street and Broadway, or 7301 37th Rd, Jackson Heights, Queens) At the meeting point, *attendees will be given a map* of the area in exchange for *2 bills of any denomination* they choose. These maps will be * stamped* at each location, and will assist us to *pick a winner *at the end of the crawl. The* winner will be presented with a giant momo trophy*, which you should look for displayed somewhere on 37th Road by the end of next week. (see progress of momo trophy in the pictures linked). * * *It’s a dream come true. * Query me any Questions, I hope you can join us, Jeff Orlick and in case you didn’t know, *I am the:* Creator and organizer of the Roosevelt Avenue Midnight Street Food Tour, Tastes of the World Tour , Real Pizza of New York app, Little India Insider app (defunct), Roosevelt Avenue Midnight Taco Crawl, The Ambassador Program (you will hear more about this in June), and Trick or Eat, among other events. Also, Co-producer of Woks and Lox and the Viva la Comida Festival. I use the pseudonyms *Jeffrey Tastes* and the* Queens Qustodian*.
Ice Rider co-owners Jet Thomason (l.) and David Burdick are joining the LIC Flea Food, set to open in June. The duo uses a customized bicycle to shave the ice.
An artisans’ flea and food market is coming to the Long Island City waterfront, designed to lure shoppers to what’s quickly becoming one of the borough’s trendiest neighborhoods.
Local media magnate Josh Schneps, of Schneps Communications, is set to launch the LIC Flea Food on June 15 on the corner of 5th St. and 46th Ave. It will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday into November.
“We’re trying to find a mix between food and fashion and collectibles and antiques,” Schneps said. “Long Island City could use a destination that can give people a reason to spend the entire day in the neighborhood.”
