Proposed revival of the Rockaway Beach LIRR Line has gotten some federal backing. Congressmembers Hakeem Jeffries and Gregory Meeks are all-aboard for restoring the 50-year-defunct line in a new form, which would effectively link Rego Park to Ozone Park via mass transit. Together with Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder, they have sent a letter to U.S. Transportation [...]
It’s been five months since 77-year-old Arquilla Heard has been able to make a phone call. Since Sandy, the Far Rockaway resident — and many of her neighbors in the Ocean Bay Houses — have had no cell phone service from Verizon. Heard has received monthly phone bills since the storm, some reaching nearly $200. [...]
By day 143, Rockaway residents had had enough. Scores traveled to the steps of City Hall on Saturday, March 23 to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city to help residents rebuild after Sandy. Shoulder to shoulder with elected officials and candidates for mayor and borough president, resident after resident told personal stories of [...]
Police officer Russell Graziano was honored as the 106th Precinct Community Council cop of the month for a Saturday, February 16 arrest of five people. Graziano, a plainclothes officer, noticed four suspects in a car on Rockaway Boulevard. Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale said Graziano then approached the car and investigated. Inside the car were two women and three men who had [...]
The NYPD is looking for a man wanted in connection to the burglary of a Verizon Wireless store in Ozone Park. According to police, on Thursday, March 7, around 5:30 p.m., three suspects entered the business, located at 107-12 Cross Bay Boulevard, through a rear window and removed numerous cell phones, laptops and an undetermined [...]
Some Howard Beach residents want to make sure a local park is cleaned up before future development comes in. Frank M. Charles Memorial Park, part of Gateway National Recreation Area and heavily damaged by Sandy, was listed as a site for potential concession stands, kayak launch bays or bike terminals in a request for proposal [...]
On his first day back on the job since returning from Afghanistan, firefighter James Denniston became part of a rescue team that saved four lives from a burning building. In the early morning hours of Saturday, March 16, members of Engine Co. 285 were called to a fire in a three-story building at 110-10 Rockaway [...]
Nicholas Caligiuri for the most part is your average sixth grader. He likes playing football, watching TV and banters with his mom, Erin Phillips, as he sits at the kitchen table of their Howard Beach home munching on Goldfish crackers. When Nicholas, now 11, was five years old, he was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease [...]
BY MELISSA STUMPF In the midst of a storm, he kept his head up high. Most importantly, he turned the bad into something good for everyone and gave them a reason to smile. Musician Walker Hornung—who has been writing and performing over the years with The Brotherhood of the Grape, Xtatik, Q-South and other bands—came [...]
A Brooklyn man was arrested in connection to the two bodies found in a brush fire in the Spring Park Preserve last week, authorities have announced. Rogelio Rodriguez, 34, was charged on Tuesday, March 12 with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. According to the Queens District [...]
