Patrick Murray, the former FDNY firefighter (and gang member) who grew more than 100 marijuana plants in a Queens basement of another firefighter, was found guilty last August and yesterday was sentenced to five years in prison, the mandatory minimum. Don't pour one out for Murray just yet, though. At the sentencing the judge pointed out some bad paperwork that could help the appeal that his lawyers were already planning on filing. more ›

The Finance Department recently announced that property values went up in the city... which also means property taxes will go up. A Queens resident complained on Mayor Bloomberg's WOR show that Bayside property values zoomed up 50-100%, "It's making the taxes absolutely unaffordable. Nowhere in the city were the assessed values doubled. They targeted this area." Bloomberg didn't think Bayside was targeted, but added that "in some areas they haven't assessed for a long time." Example: Bloomberg's East 79th Street townhouse went up in value from $11 million to $16 million (luckily he has billions to pay his property taxes!). more ›

A Queens mother is in critical condition after being run down by a car after dropping her son off at school. Security cameras show the woman lifting her arms to shield herself from the impact of the oncoming car, and a witness said, "The crossing guard was screaming, 'Stop! Stop! Stop!' but the vehicle just flew by and struck her." The guard had already signaled for traffic to stop at the intersection of 202nd Street and 53rd Avenue. more ›

A Queens assemblywoman who, according to mortgage documents, doesn’t actually live in Queens says she won’t seek a eighth term. Ann-Margaret Carrozza wrote Friday that it was "a profound honor to have represented the people of the 26th Assembly District for the past 14 years," but that a reelection bid wasn’t in the cards, reports the News. On top of an ongoing residency investigation by the attorney general, it’s possible that she’s just lost interest. According Albany watchdogs, she’s often failed to show up at legislative sessions “for days on end.” more ›

Last week, Councilman-elect Dan Halloran (R-Bayside) narrowly defeated a Democratic candidate in one of the nation's most liberal cities. Now comes the hard part: explaining his religious beliefs to the press. For the past two decades, the cop-turned-lawyer has been a devout believer in Theodism, a pre-Christian faith rooted in Celtic and Germanic tribal religions. "Understanding my theology is a little difficult for mainstreamers," admits Halloran, who serves as the "First Atheling," or king, of a local tribe of 120 followers called New Normandy. more ›

A school bus ride for the nine young summer campers at the Magic Carpet Day Camp turned tragic when their driver dropped dead of a heart attack and collapsed out of the bus while driving yesterday in Queens. Ramon Fernandez, 47, died after losing consciousness while stopped at a red light behind the wheel of a camp school bus in Elmhurst. Fernandez then collapsed out of the door he was keeping open while stopped in order to get additional ventilation into the un-air conditioned bus. When Fernandez fell out, 16-year-old camp counselor Rachel Guzy leaped forward and reached for the emergency brake as the bus slowly rolled into another vehicle in the intersection. The bus matron had minor injuries, but all of the Bayside campers were unharmed. An 11-year-old on board told the Post, "He was driving with the door open because it was really hot, and he felt really hot. It's not normal...Me and my friend, we were in the front near the counselor. She was crying, very nervous after it happened....[Rachel] saved our lives because she pulled the brake." more ›

An elderly man who was the owner of a Queens pub died yesterday when he suffocated in sludge after slipping and falling while cleaning his sewer drain. 83-year-old Luigi Cerrone was discovered at 4:45 yesterday afternoon after he had fell into the sewage drain he had been cleaning. The News lists his business as Cafe People; the Post as Prince II. Both establishments appear to be listed at the same address on Northern Boulevard in Flushing. Cerrone had been married for sixty years and was a great-grandfather. Relatives at his Bayside home who talked to the local papers told them that "Everybody loved him," and simply that "people are crying over here." more ›

The owner of what many consider an historic house in Bayside, Queens is sparring with some locals over a landmark status for the home. The Daily News reports that the 19th-century villa was built by farmer Robert Bell in the 1870s for his daughter and son-in-law. Members of the Bayside Historical Society and ther advocates are urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to save the structure on 213th Street, but owner Robert Bell says it too "inelegant" to get such a status (which would make it difficult for him to make any major changes). Reportedly he declared, "We're not saving something that doesn't need saving!" at a commission hearing earlier this week. His opponents say that the Bell family can be credited with establishing the local water system as well as creating area streets, and their Second Empire style home with a mansard roof deserves to be saved. Of course, one nearby landmark in Fort Totten is currently suffering demolition through neglect. more ›

Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau wants to hold a Queens tax preparer accountable for allegedly threatening to kill a prosecutor who's handling a grand larceny case against him. 54-year-old Jack Chang (not pictured) did a year in prison in the mid-'90s for funneling nearly $1 million from his clients to his own account; in April he was arrested on similar charges in a case that's being conducted by the same prosecutor who put him away the first time: Gilda Mariani, head of the money laundering and tax crimes unit. more ›

A day after a fatal Chinatown building fire, at least two people died in a Queens apartment building fire on 223rd Place in Bayside. WCBS 2 reports that the fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. and that the FDNY had it under control under an hour later. Two bodies were found inside the building. WABC 7 adds, "Heavy flames and smoke tore through the two-story structure, sending debris flying. Initial reports were that an explosion ripped through the second floor apartment." And 1010 WINS had this report: Officials believe the fire was suspicious and that a can of gasoline was found at the scene. more ›

A group of about 40 young adults in Queens celebrating a girl's eighteenth birthday had their reveling come to an abrupt end when one of them was intentionally run over by a car filled with three others who had already gotten the boot from the party. The group had rented a bus to transport themselves back and forth from Bayside High School to a Long Island parking lot where they drank and smoked cigars. On the bus ride back around 1 a.m., three of the party goers who had been invited through a friend on Facebook were thrown off the bus after a fight broke out and the driver caught them smoking. From there, they quickly hopped into a Honda Civic and chased the bus down. Eventually they tracked down and targeted 19-year-old Dimitri Arvanitogiannis and rammed into him with the car. Arvanitogiannis is in critical condition but expected to survive. The driver and his two passengers later turned themselves into police and are still in custody being questioned. more ›