Fire Damages Baybridge Condos

Update From NY1
The Blaze occurred in the Baybridge Condos.
Several Queens residents were left out in the cold after a fire in Clearview Friday evening.
Witnesses say the fire started at Jordan Road.
As firefighters battled flames on the second and third floors of a condo, the flames it spread to a neighboring building.
“They crashed our [...]

How Clean is That Restaurant?

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
January 31, 2009
Diners to Get a Quick Guide to Cleanliness
By GLENN COLLINS
For the first time, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will compel the city’s nearly 25,000 restaurants to publicly post inspectors’ cleanliness ratings, which have previously been available only online or at the department. Rating signs, [...]

Fire Engulfs Homes in Bay Terrace Queens

FOX NEWS
Fire Engulfs Homes in Queens
NEW YORK CITY – Firefighter fought a fast-moving fire that tore through some houses in Bay Terrace, Queens, Friday night. The fire went to three alarms, authorities said.
SkyFoxHD was over the scene, where firefighters battled the flames while engulfed in thick smoke. The fire spread quickly from one house to [...]

Watch Super Bowl Ads Today, Get Stuff Done on Sunday

If you’re one of the many who aren’t that into football but stay glued to your TV on Super Bowl Sunday for the commercials, you can head on over to Adweek right now to catch several of this weekend’s big campaigns.
This is the Bay Terrace Cafe’s way of thanking all our loyal customers for their [...]

Mets New Stadium – Taxpayer Field

FROM NEWSDAY
BY KEITH HERBERT
January 30, 2009
Two members of the House of Representatives are demanding that the Mets scrap their $400-million naming-rights deal with financially troubled Citigroup because of the bank’s receipt of federal bailout money.
Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner requesting he “dissolve” the contract [...]

Permanent WTC Memorial to Open on Tenth Anniversary of Attacks

From Crain’s New York

Date set for permanent WTC memorial opening
Published: January 29, 2009 – 2:20 pm
(AP) – The head of the agency that owns the World Trade Center site says the Sept. 11 memorial will open on the 10th anniversary of the attacks — and will remain open.
But that doesn’t mean the memorial will be [...]

It’s a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

FROM THE NY POST
QUEENS IS KING IN 5-BOROUGH SURVEY
By BRIGITTE WILLIAMS-JAMES and LARRY SUTTON
January 29, 2009 –
Queens residents are the city’s most cheerful – while people in The Bronx give their borough, at best, a Bronx cheer.
A new survey says 51 percent of people living in the home of the Mets, the Unisphere and the [...]

New plans announced for Bay Terrace Shopping Center at community meeting

Queens Chronicle

New plans announced for Bay Terrace shopping
by Laura Shin, Chronicle Contributor
01/29/2009

Consumers who frequent the Bay Terrace Shopping Center have several changes to look forward to in the coming months. Cord Meyer Development Co. representatives revealed new plans for the property and addressed concerns at the Jan. 22 meeting of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance.
Empty [...]

DOT Tells Motorists & Pedestrians Where To Go But Won’t Let Them Get There Safely

BAYSIDE TIMES
DOT Tells Motorists & Pedestrians Where To Go But Won’t Let Them Get There Safely.
Avella seeks traffic signal at 19th Ave. and Utopia Pkwy.
By Nathan Duke
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 5:05 PM EST
Councilman Tony Avella says he is upset that the city denied his request to place a traffic signal at the intersection of Utopia [...]

Idling Parents and Idle Minds

From the NY News
Motorists who idle their engines by a school for more than a minute will risk a $100 fine under a City Council bill passed yesterday. The measure is aimed at curbing exhaust pollution that feeds the city’s asthma epidemic, backers say.
Opponents blasted the one-minute rule as another excuse to slap motorists with [...]

North Flushing Says “NO” To McMansions

FROM THE DAILY NEWS
Homeowners group head Sandi Viviani and civic group head Tyler Cassell have been working on new Flushing zoning.
In an effort to ward off oversized McMansions, city planners have proposed new zoning for 257 blocks in northern Flushing.
The plan is designed to help the area keep its look and feel of mostly single-family [...]

Every Vote Counts!

From the New York Daily News
Also reported by Queens Crap
City Board of Elections commissioners voted unanimously today to reverse their December decision and allow disputed paper ballots to be counted in the yet-undecided 11th SD race, signaling the beginning of the end of what has been an extremely contentious and drawn-out process.
Depending on how long [...]

City accused of bias against blacks, Hispanics in ex-con jobs ban

New York Daily News
BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, January 27th 2009, 3:24 AM
A city ban on hiring ex-cons for hospital jobs is unfair to blacks and Hispanics, a city woman claimed in a complaint to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Shanae Leath, who was convicted for her role in a mugging nine years ago, [...]

Smoking Ban Hits Home. Truly.

January 27, 2009
Belmont Journal
Smoking Ban Hits Home. Truly.
By JESSE McKINLEY
BELMONT, Calif. — During her 50 years of smoking, Edith Frederickson says, she has lit up in restaurants and bars, airplanes and trains, and indoors and out, all as part of a two-pack-a-day habit that she regrets not a bit. But as of two weeks ago, [...]

Civilians, cops tag-team vs. graffiti

Queens has made major strides in the war on vandalism.
Graffiti complaints dropped dramatically across the borough in 2008 — including a 20% decline in Queens’ northern precincts — even as citywide totals jumped more than 10%, according to preliminary NYPD stats.
The number of graffiti complaints includes calls from the public to report vandalism to the [...]

Parks Dept. Says Fort Totten Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station Unnecessary

Customers of the Cafe were pleased to learn that NYC Parks & Recreation has decided an on-site CNG fueling station in Fort Totten is not necessary. According to Queens Parks Commissioner Lewandowski, the Fort Totten tram will fuel at Park’s fueling site in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It’s possible that community pressure had a [...]

Still lots of parking spots for big shots, despite Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts

Y ERIN EINHORN
DAILY NEWS CITYB HALL BUREAU
Monday, January 26th 2009, 4:00 AM
Adams for News
Mayor Bloomberg said last year he’d crack down on elected officials who have designated parking spaces for themselves or their staffs outside their offices, but some pols still have the perk.
Mayor Bloomberg yanked free parking spots from a handful of elected officials [...]

Jack Fein Documentary and Last Interview

On March 28, 2008 at 5:32 in the morning, Jack Fein the unofficial historian of Fort Totten passed away. Fein who spent 36 years in the military is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Jack Fein has been higlighted as Fort Totten’s last protector since the bases closing in 1995. Jack Fein has devoted his time [...]

Bay Terrace Community Alliance – Meet Your Local Merchants Night

It was standing-room-only at the BTCA’s January meeting. The huge turn-out on January 22nd, solidified the BTCA’s reputation as the “Voice of Bay Terrace.” In addition, the organization’s credibility was further enhanced by the presence of State Senator Stavisky, Gene McSweeney from Assemblywoman Carrozza’s office, Rabbi Yossi Blesofsky, four announced candidates for City Council in [...]

No Explanation Needed

This was submitted by one of the Cafe’s regular patrons.

No Explanation Needed!

Thieves target running cars

BY VICTOR G. MIMONI
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 6:31 PM EST
Numbers of northeast Queens residents don’t want their cars to get cold, so they leave them running with the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked – and then find that they are suddenly “hot.”
Crime prevention officers in both the 109th and 111th precincts report [...]

January 22nd Meeting in Bay Terrace – Important Shopping Center Updates

BAY TERRACE COMMUNITY ALLIANCE, INC.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
THE BAY TERRACE COMMUNITY ALLIANCE WILL WELCOME REPRESENTATIVES FROM BOTH CORD MEYER DEVELOPMENT & WALDBAUM’S WHO WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE UPDATES CONCERNING THE BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER.
Special Guests Include:
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky
Rabbi Yossi Blesofsky

The next meeting of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance will be held on [...]

Anti-smoking group gives New York a mixed grade

State praised for taxes, laws, but rapped on prevention
By Heather Senison
hsenison@gmail.com
ALBANY – Despite the state’s increased focus on getting smokers to quit in 2008, the estimated economic cost of smoking was $14.1 billion, according to an American Lung Association study.
Each year, the association evaluates how successful the state’s smoking-prevention programs are in comparison with the [...]

Councilman proposes community service be required for high school graduation

By Kathleen Lucadamo
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, January 17th 2009, 8:49 PM
City Councilman Eric Gioia is calling on Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to make community service a requirement for graduation.
City high school students would need to complete 20 hours of volunteer work to earn a diploma under Gioia’s plan, which he will release today.
“The service requirement [...]

Grace Meng, Jimmy Meng & Caroline Meng

On a snowy Sunday morning in Bay Terrace, a few early birds sitting in the Cafe were discussing Newly-elected Assemblywoman Grace Meng who took her oath of office in Flushing on Saturday at a ceremony at Queens College. Part of the conversation focused on Grace’s sister Caroline and the anti-Semitic venom she reportedly spewed on [...]

Change is Coming!

We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began. The trials we face are very different now, but severe in their own right. Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast. An economy [...]

Bay Terrace Ben’s Deli – Lease Extension

Victor Mimoni reports in the Queens Courier that a lease extension between the Bay Terrace Ben’s Deli and Cord Meyer Development is a done deal. The lease extension will allow Ben’s to remain at their current location in the Bay Terrace Shopping Center.
Panera Bread, which was going to take over the Ben’s location has agreed [...]

Street Games

During a long ago time when every home didn’t have a computer, the streets were our playground.

Jet Ditches in Hudson; All Are Said Safe

A big thank you to Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger, the pilot who guided his plane, fellow crew members and passengers to safety.

New York Hospital Queens Expansion on Schedule

From the Queens Chronicle
The $300 million expansion project at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing is right on target for a scheduled completion in mid-2010.
The seven-story wing will provide 80 single-bed rooms, in accordance with a 2006 state law. The remaining space will be used for surgery and expanded services.
Located on the front side of [...]