An Unguarded Fort, and Neighbors Who See a Risk

New York Times
March 22, 2009
Fort Totten
An Unguarded Fort, and Neighbors Who See a Risk
By JAMES ANGELOS
FORT TOTTEN in Bayside, Queens, sits atop a hilly peninsula near the Throgs Neck Bridge, where the waters of the East River meet Long Island Sound. The fort was built during the Civil War to guard the city against attack [...]

Bayside activists protest lack of security at Fort Totten

Times Ledger
Bayside activists protest lack of security at Fort Totten
By Christina Santucci and Stephen Stirling
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 4:37 PM EDT
Dozens of residents and community leaders descended on the security gates at Fort Totten Saturday morning to protest the recent termination of private security services in the historic park — a move they say could [...]

Rally to Protect Fort Totten

*IMPORTANT RALLY*
PROTECT THE FORT!
ORGANIZED BY
BAY TERRACE COMMUNITY ALLIANCE
&
FRIENDS OF FORT TOTTEN PARKS

DATE: SAT., MARCH 7, 2009 AT 11:00 AM
PLACE: FORT TOTTEN FRONT GATE
CROSS ISLAND PKWY @ 212TH ST.

GUARD SERVICE IS GOING TO BE REMOVED FROM THE ENTRANCE TO FORT TOTTEN PARK DUE TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG’S BUDGET CUTS!
THE INCREASED POTENTIAL FOR VANDALISM, ARSON [...]

Soaring charges hit condo, co-op owners

Crain’s New York
Soaring charges hit condo, co-op owners
Worse lies ahead as income from flip taxes and retail units ebbs just as defaults rise
By Amanda Fung
Published: February 22, 2009 – 5:59 am
Residents of a 54-unit Upper East Side co-op got the bad news last month—despite the board’s intense efforts to trim expenses, maintenance fees are rising [...]

Cops: Queens Man Fatally Stabs Wife, Hangs Self at Baybridge Condominium Estates

1010 WINS
Cops: Queens Man Fatally Stabs Wife, Hangs Self
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Queens couple was found dead Sunday in what police believe was a murder-suicide.
The woman, 57, had been stabbed to death inside the couple’s home at the upscale Baybridge Condominium Estates in the Bayside neighborhood, police said.
The man, 64, hanged himself [...]

Hot Dog!

Crain’s New York
Hot dogs won’t lack buns in Queens
By Hilary Potkewitz
Published: February 22, 2009 – 5:59 am
Residents of Jamaica, Queens, can sleep soundly. Their buns are staying in the oven.
After emerging from bankruptcy early this month, Interstate Bakeries Corp. wasted no time in trumpeting the glad tidings: Its Jamaica factory, the city’s largest maker [...]

Relay to Fight Cancer

Queens Courier
BY VICTOR G. MIMONI
Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:08 PM EST
There’s a party on Bell Boulevard in Bayside, but it’s serious.

It’s a complimentary informational kick-off party, at the Outback Steakhouse, to spread the word for the American Cancer Society (ACS) 5th annual “Relay For Life,” scheduled for this June, at Fort Totten.
The Kick-Off Party will [...]

Fort Totten Gate Security: An Ever Changing Story

At a meeting held on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, Fire Department Chiefs and Unit Heads decided to completely eliminate gate security at Fort Totten. This is contrary to earlier reports from official FDNY sources that the security would be provided by light duty fire fighters.
At this time attempts are being made to obtain copies of [...]

Fort Totten Gate Security – Update

According to reliable sources, the FDNY has decided that terminating Fort Totten gate security is a bad idea. Light duty firefighters will continue to protect the Fort’s front gate. Fire marshals will share some of the responsibility.
BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

Welcome to Water World

New York only to get hotter, rainier and more flood-prone, say scientists

NY Daily News
BY Adam Lisberg
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, February 17th 2009, 4:10 PM
Fox/AP
A scene from the movie, “The Day After Tomorrow.” The mayor warned that New York will become more prone to flooding in the coming decades.
New York will be hotter, rainier [...]

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD
Gate security at Fort Totten will be discontinued on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Fire Commissioner Scoppetta is taking this action in response to the Mayor’s recently announced budget cuts. Termination of the security contract will threaten Fort Totten and the surrounding community.
Both FDNY and NYPD house units [...]

Cablevision Blocks Verizon FIOS From Carrying MSNBC

This may interest anyone who is planning to become a Verizon FIOS customer.
Inside Cable News
Cablevision holds an exclusive carriage agreement with MSNBC. All other potential MSNBC providers, like Verizon, are therefore frozen out in areas where Cablevision operates. It is not known how or why Cablevision got an exclusive carriage deal for MSNBC but not [...]

19th Council District: Throw Another Hat in the Ring

The race for City Council in the 19th CD is really heating up. Tom Cooke will be officially adding his name to an already crowded field of qualified candidates. He joins Jerry Iannece, Paul Vallone, Steve Behar & Debra Markell who are all seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by Tony Avella. [...]

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Speeding Kills, and 39 Percent of New York Drivers Are Doing It

NY Daily News
TERMINAL VELOCITY REPORT

Drivers speed across city with tragic results, new study finds
BY Pete Donohue
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, February 12th 2009, 2:21 AM
Speed kills, and drivers are ignoring the limit at an alarming rate, a study obtained by the Daily News reveals.
Nearly 40% of drivers ignore the 30-mph city street limit, says the [...]

A Tree Once Grew in Queens

Much of Fort Totten’s landscape is now scarred with the remains of what were once large, majestic trees. According to Parks’ Forestry Division, the trees could not be saved. Random observers have described the wood and stumps as appearing to be healthy. In all fairness to Parks, those were not expert opinions.
Everyone seems to be [...]

State Senators Introduce Fair Share Tax Reform

From NewsLI.com
State Senators Introduce Fair Share Tax Reform
February 10, 2009
- Initiative Would Raise More than $6 Billion in Revenue to Nearly Halve Budget Shortfall While Reforming New York’s Tax Code to Make it Fairer
(Albany, N.Y.) A group of Democratic Senators today introduced the Fair Share Tax Reform Act of 2009, an initiative that would raise [...]

Mark Green Announces Candidacy For Public Advocate

From NY1
Democrat Mark Green, the city’s first public advocate, has told NY1 he will once again run for the office.
Green held the position from 1994 to 2001.
He says his experience is necessary during these tough times.
“Given the extraordinary economic crisis, it’s especially urgent that the person who’s the next public advocate,” said Green, “the number [...]

World’s Fair map could be in peril

From NY Daily News

The city has let ice blanket a faux-marble road map from the 1964 World’s Fair multiple times this winter instead of dishing out $20,000 to protect the cartographic curiosity, Queens News has learned.
Preservationists fear frost will dislodge or fracture panels on the 9,000-square-foot map in the New York State Pavilion, a [...]

The Secret Haunting of Crocheron Park

Two of the Cafe’s regular customers were overheard having this conversation:
Milhouse: (as he sips his morning coffee) Hey Corn, you know the Halloween event that goes on every year in Fort Totten?
Cornelious: (biting into his bagel) You mean the one where all the vehicles have no place to park and end up driving up and [...]

The Nanny (Fran Drescher) for New York Senator

From U.S. News & World Report
The Nanny (Fran Drescher) for New York Senator
February 06, 2009 04:50 PM ET
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Fran Drescher seems to have a thing for jobs that last six years. First it was The Nanny, the sitcom that ran from 1993 to 1999 and, through reruns, continues to win her fame [...]

Queens GOP Got Screwed by Mike

The Queens Republican Party has finally realized they were screwed by Mike. Maybe this time they’ll have enough backbone to let Bloomberg know he’s not welcome in the GOP.

From the NY Post
OLD PALS STILL GOP’D OFF AT MIKE
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
Last updated: 2:22 am
February 9, 2009
Posted: 1:50 am
February 9, 2009
Mayor Bloomberg’s on-and-off courtship of Republicans was [...]

WINTER OF DISCONTENT LINDSAY’S SNOWSTORM, 1969

From NY Daily News
40 years ago, snow caught Queens – and Lindsay – by surprise
BY Owen Moritz
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 9th 2009, 3:45 AM
Mayor John Lindsay touring Queens after the Blizzard of ‘69. AP
Mayor John Lindsay touring Queens after the Blizzard of ‘69.
The forecast was for flurries.
Just one day later, as New Yorkers dug [...]

Price of Cigarettes Going Up in NYC

It’s going to cost more to destroy your health.

From MyFoxNY
Price of Cigarettes Going Up in NYC
Last Edited: Sunday, 08 Feb 2009, 5:06 PM EST
Created On: Sunday, 08 Feb 2009, 4:57 PM EST
NEW YORK – What a drag! A pack of cigarettes will soon cost more than $10 in Manhattan.

That’s because a 62 cent federal tax [...]

Turf War Brewing in New York City Parks

Customers in the Cafe are starting to wonder if Parks & Recreation will ever get it right.

From 1010 WINS
Posted: Sunday, 08 February 2009 7:16PM
Turf War Brewing in New York City Parks
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A turf war is brewing in New York City.
The city council will hold a hearing Monday on a bill [...]

There Used to be a Ballpark

There Used to be a Ballpark – Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium and Ebbet’s Field, home to the “Boys of Summer.”
It’s called progress!
EBBET’S FIELD & THE BROOKLYN DODGERS

SHEA STADIUM

YANKEE STADIUM

“Last Summer at Coney Island”

“Last Summer at Coney Island”
(aka, Mayor Bloomberg never met a developer he didn’t like)

When Vintage New York Is Lost

From the NY Times
February 8, 2009
When Diners Pick Up Stakes, and Vintage New York Is Lost
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Hey, Alabama, you want a piece of us?
Olde New York, that is.
Now that an Alabama couple have purchased the Cheyenne Diner on Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, they say they are eyeing the historic Ridgewood Theater in Queens, [...]

Padavan Says He Emerges Stronger From Tough Race

From PolitickerNY
Padavan Says He Emerges Stronger From Tough Race
By Jimmy Vielkind
ALBANY—Even after Jim Gennaro conceded defeat in his bid to unseat State Senator Frank Padavan, the two are still bickering.
Padavan put out a statement last night  decrying Gennaro’s “negative attacks” and saying he was vindicated by a re-count showing he won by 578 votes. This [...]

Queens Woman in JetBlue tussle grounded for 5 years

From BusinessWeek
Queens Woman in JetBlue tussle grounded for 5 years
DENVER
A woman accused of punching an airline attendant who tried to stop her from smoking during a flight has been sentenced to five years of probation, during which she can’t fly on commercial airlines.
Christina Elizabeth Szele (ZELL’-ee) of Queens, N.Y., was ordered Thursday to pay $7,987 [...]