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 [...]

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 [...]

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 – 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

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Queens: A blue-collar boro shifts gears

Daily News
By Lisa L. Colangelo, Friday, February 6th 2009, 10:16 AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Queens, long known as a haven for middle-class New Yorkers, may be outgrowing its blue-collar roots, a new report says.
In fact, it’s more expensive to live in Queens than in Orange County, Calif.; Stamford, Conn., and even Nassau County, according to “Reviving [...]

Fort Totten Park won’t need natural gas station unless Parks Decides Differently?

Despite verification that the compressed natural gas tanks proposal was dead, a statement from Parks said: “The Parks Department has not made any decisions about implementing temporary or mobile fueling stations at this time.” Customers in the Cafe commented that Parks Department seems to have mastered the ability to talk out of both sides of [...]

Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza: Deputy Majority Whip

The Bay Terrace Cafe has learned that Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza has been appointed Deputy Majority Whip. This is a prestigious Assembly leadership position.
Congratulations Assemblywoman Carrozza!

Marshall Backs Effort To Honor Park Activist David Oats

Queens Tribune

Marshall Backs Effort To Honor Park Activist
David Oats
By Brian M. Rafferty
David Oats loved Flushing Meadows Corona Park. One of his first assignments as a young reporter was to speak with Robert Moses, the visionary power broker who masterminded so much of the development in the city – as well as the creation of the [...]

The Prosecutor From East Elmhurst

From Time
Thursday, Feb. 05, 2009
The Prosecutor
By MICHAEL WEISSKOPF
Eric Holder Jr. was trained long ago in crime and punishment. He grew up in the East Elmhurst section of Queens, N.Y.–so populated by cops and firefighters that rush hour looked like the shift change at a station house. A popular teen prank was setting off the red [...]

Avella: Legalize Sports Betting as a Cash Cow for the City

Queens Chronicle
02/05/2009
Avella attacks mayor over budget proposal
by Peter C. Mastrosimone , Editor-in-Chief
A key Queens lawmaker who intends to run for the city’s highest office blasted Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget plan this week as unnecessarily draconian.
City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) contends that the spending cuts and layoffs Bloomberg proposed for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1, [...]

15th Annual Little Neck Bay Beach Clean-Up

Bayside Anglers Group Ltd.
Proudly presents

15th Annual Little Neck Bay Beach Clean-Up
“Bayside Waterfront Day”
10 AM on Sunday, April 19, 2009
(Rain or Shine)
We welcome all volunteers and their families to help us in
the Spring-cleaning of one of our most popular local fishing spots.
Through the support of the NYC Dept. of Parks, Partnership for
Parks and the [...]

Congratulations to State Senator Frank Padavan

The Bay Terrace Cafe congratulates Frank Padavan on his reelection to the New York State Senate and wishes him continued success. Based on past performance there is no doubt that Senator Padavan will work tirelessly on behalf of all his constituents. We look forward to Senator Padavan visiting the Cafe.
Newsday.com
Padavan set to return to NY [...]

Mets Ought to Bank on Jackie Robinson Field

Philadelphians seem to have a better understanding of New York sports history and tradition than the current owners of the Mets.
From NBC Philadelphia
By   JERE HESTER
Updated 7:25 AM EST, Wed, Feb 4, 2009
Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Six decades later, the Mets have the opportunity to do the right thing, and name [...]

Fort Totten on the “Fringe”

FORT TOTTEN ON THE “FRINGE”
On Thursday February 5, 2009 the TV show “FRINGE” is  scheduled to shoot interior and exterior scenes at Fort Totten Park.
Approximate time:    9am – 6pm

Nassau lawsuit targets Queens strip club billboard

From Newsday
Nassau lawsuit targets Queens strip club billboard

BY JENNIFER BARRIOS
jennifer.barrios@newsday.com
7:59 PM EST, February 3, 2009
Reaching across the county border, Nassau County has filed suit against a strip club in Queens, arguing that the club’s risque billboards featuring a nearly naked woman are a public nuisance and should be removed.
The suit, filed Monday in State Supreme [...]