Tag Archives: Queens

The president visited NYC today and toured the hurricane damaged areas of Queens, where he vowed more federal assistance in the recovery efforts. Obama toured central New Jersey with Gov. Chris Christie before the election, but today was his first time in New York since the storm.

Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz has requested additional National Guard troops as looting spreads through the blacked-out areas of Coney Island, south Brooklyn, and Queens. “Governor Cuomo also acted quickly by activating the National Guard prior to the storm, and I urge him to allocate as many troops as possible to Brooklyn—troops from New York or any other states that …

Last night at least 80 homes in the Queens neighborhood of Breezy Point were destroyed in a six-alarm blaze. Firefighters faced chest-deep flood waters and rescued dozens of residents by boat.  Breezy Point and all of the Rockaways are in Zone A and those rescued had defied the mandatory evacuation order.  Over 200 firefighters responded and there were no fatalities.

Well-known NYC gay activist Lou Rispoli has died from the injuries suffered during a brutal attack on the streets of Queens.  Yesterday the city of New York released the above public call for information that may lead police to Rispoli’s killers. (Tipped by JMG reader Mark)

Well-known NYC activist Lou Rispoli is reportedly not expected to survive after a brutal attack on the streets of Queens last week.  Andy Humm reports at Gay City News: Lou Rispoli, described by friends as the heart and soul of the gay community in Sunnyside, Queens, where he has lived for more than 30 years, was attacked by two men …

The Queens County District Attorney has filed hate crimes charges against a man accused of using a Taser against another man after shouting anti-gay slurs.  Joseph Desmond, 23, of the 0-99 block of Eldert Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday on an indictment charging him with second-degree assault as a hate crime, and three other felony …

A Queens woman and her boyfriend have been arrested after a bizarre Christian healing ritual cost the woman’s brother his leg. The pair were allegedly trying to cure the victim of his mental illness and drug addiction. Myung Chung, 27, admitted to cops that on the night of Oct. 4, she and her fiancé stuffed a sock in her brother’s …

As New Yorkers well know, it’s illegal for cab drivers to refuse fares to the outer boroughs. But we also know that it happens all the time. One such refusal has just lost a longtime driver his hack license after surveillance video showed him physically ejecting his Queens-bound passenger onto the street. Somehow the driver hasn’t been charged with assault.

An evangelical pastor and his wife in Queens are keeping their terminally-ill daughter, a former Manhattan banker, hooked up to a ventilator against her will because they believe that her stated wish to die naturally constitutes suicide in the eyes of God. And that’s a mortal sin that will send her to hell. Lee’s court-appointed lawyer complained her devout parents …

The Council for Community and Economic Research has produced its quarterly ranking of the 300 most and least expensive major American cities in which an average cost is given a score of 100. The Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in …

Gothamist has details: “According to The National Weather Service, the tornado has touched down on the Flatbush Avenue area of the Belt Parkway (and is moving eastward). Queens and Brooklyn have been put on tornado alert until 11:30 a.m. They recommend that residents immediately go indoors and/or to the lowest floor of your building for shelter, and to stay away …

New York Assembly candidate Ben Akselrod says “negrohood” was just an “unfortunate typo” in the campaign flyer sent to voters in his Queens district. He must have a different keyboard than the rest of the us. His campaign manager has resigned.

It never ends for New York’s insanely corrupt Senate Democrats. Sen. Shirley Huntley (Queens) has been hauled away in handcuffs. State Sen. Shirley Huntley was arrested this morning and pleaded not guilty to charges that she allegedly funneled taxpayer money through her Queens non-profit program. Huntley and several other defendants did not speak during their initial appearance in a Mineola …

Confounding its many critics, New York City’s lone gambling palace, the Aqueduct “racino” in Queens, is blowing away national records. The Aqueduct opened last fall after being championed by Gov. Cuomo, who has vowed to bring full-on casinos to town. The Resorts World racino at Aqueduct is now tops in the nation in slot machine revenue, generating $57.5 million during …

Queens fifth grader Kameron Slade was prohibited from giving a speech supporting same-sex marriage when he competed in a school-wide competition. His mother, who doesn’t want to be identified, said the principal told her the topic is inappropriate. “For him to be denied the right to voice his opinion really upsets me,” she said. “I was really looking forward to …

Lambda Legal reports a positive resolution in the case of a Queens restaurant patron who was attacked by the manager in an anti-gay assault. Via press release: “I was attacked and threatened by people yelling terrible anti-LGBT slurs, throwing things at me and threatening to sexually assault me,” said Lambda Legal client Liza Friedlander.”On that day, I felt helpless, humiliated …

The New York Times gets to the heart of what some are calling the real reason behind yesterday’s sold-out protest of the internet by Ultra Orthodox Jews. The rally in Citi Field on Sunday was sponsored by a rabbinical group, Ichud Hakehillos Letohar Hamachane, that is linked to a software company that sells Internet filtering software to Orthodox Jews. Those …

Remember when I told you that Ultra Orthodox Jews had rented Citi Field for a massive anti-internet protest? Well, it’s so sold out, they’ve had to also rent the nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium, home of the U.S. Open, as a satellite protest venue. The New York Times has more: Speakers at the rally in Queens will not seek to ban …

Submitted by Dr. Jeff.