A 16-year-old Long Island girl's driving lesson went horribly wrong when she jumped a curb and hit a nine-year-old boy biking on the sidewalk. According to Newsday, Nassau County Police Det. Sgt. Richard Callahan explained that the teen, who was in a Nissan Xterra SUV with her mom, "became alarmed Thursday when she saw an oncoming car in her rearview mirror and poorly negotiated a turn... When she noticed a car bearing down on her, Callahan said, she accelerated but made too wide a turn. Her SUV went up on the curb and hit Andrew Burrous of Floral Park, his mother and a parked Honda." The teen received her learner's permit two weeks ago. more ›

Yesterday morning, three people were killed in a car crash on the Meadowbrook State Parkway. Floral Park residents Michael Mulhall, 22, Paige Malone, 19, and her sister Jamie Malone, 22, died; they and the two survivors, driver Justine Mulhall, 20, Michael Mulhall's sister, and Kelly Murphy, 20, were headed to Camp Anchor in Lideo Beach, where they work as counselors to disabled adults and children. The Malones' father Jim wept, "We lost three great kids from this town today, two from my family. Wonderful kids. Never in any trouble. It's terrible. We're just devastated." more ›

A home on 260th Street in the Floral Park section of Queens exploded this afternoon. Currently, it is a third alarm situation with over 100 firefighters responding to the fire, which has spread to other homes. WCBS 2 reports, "Officials believe the explosion may have been caused by a gas leak. CBS 2 has learned that Con Edison officials had been called to the area earlier Friday after reports of gas fumes coming out of the sewers." So far, reports say two people were injured and that the house was destroyed. more ›

A real estate agent who was handling the sale of a foreclosed houes in Jamaica, Queens discovered 100 marijuana plants inside. The subprime meltdown really is hitting all corners of the city. more ›

Another pot farm bites the dust: A small fire in Queens led the Fire Department to over 200 marijuana plants growing inside a home. more ›

October 22-28: Lance Armstrong Week at Hill Country more ›

Some police officers' routine patrolling became a big pot bust yesterday. Cops from the 105th Precinct smelled a pungent odor coming from a home on 269th Street in Floral Park and, once they got a search warrant, found a bumper crop of marijuana. There were more than 300 marijuana plants, growing lights, and 10 lawn bags of marijuana in the process of being dried. Three men, ages 23 to 48, were arrested and face drug possession charges. more ›

The Brooklyn Paper has a sad tale of some Prospect Heights kittens. The ferals wandered into the back yard of the Pond family, who immediately fell in love, had them spayed/neutered, called them their own and named them Inky, Blinky, Mookie and Clyde.

The Ponds grew so attached to their backyard kitties that they began treating them as if they were their own. They had the cats spayed and neutered. They fed them daily. When the Ponds vacationed, they had a cat-sitter watch over their frisky charges.

“When I saw five stray cats living in my backyard … I did extensive research to figure out how I could bring them to be sterilized,” said the neighbor. "All anyone could offer was to come and sterilize the cats. But I would have to first trap the cats and provide a space for them to recover from the surgery. I was not willing to do that. It was too laborious. I personally don’t think cats should be allowed outside to be exposed to cat AIDS, or to get maimed by other cats,” she said. “If I wanted a cat, I would have a cat and I would keep it in my house. “I didn’t destroy it,” she said. “I didn’t hurt it. I just wanted to lower the population of cats. I thought I was doing a service to the neighborhood.”

Wednesday power woes weren't just for parts of the Bronx and Manhattan: Over 4,000 (or 8,000, depending on what you read) Queens residents were without power when last night's storm made its presence known. In fact, two hours after the MTA said LIRR service was a-okay after the Bronx-Manhattan power outage, the rain screwed up Long Island Rail Road track signals, causing hours of delays after service was suspended. In this instance, we feel bad for the MTA: You can't count on Con Ed or Mother Nature. more ›

Did you ever hear the one about the vineyard in Queens, just minutes away from the Little Neck Parkway Q46 bus stop? Even if you haven’t, it’s true. First reported three years ago, the borough is finally set to prove it has terroir in spades with the imminent production of its namesake wine. The epicenter for this oenophile revolution is the Queens County Farm Museum, described on its website as “New York City's largest remaining tract of undisturbed farmland,” and “the only working historical farm in the City.” It’s also one of the oldest farms in the entire state of New York, celebrating its 310th birthday this year. It’s about time for Queens to have its own wine. Gothamist visited the farm yesterday, and got the full story from vintner Gary Mitchell. more ›