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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]