The parents of a 5-year-old girl are outraged over their daughter's homework assignment, which included spelling exercises for the words as "GUN" and "ROB." NY1 reports that the Flushing family is "demanding answers" after seeing their daughter's lesson when she came home from school today. "She showed me her homework, I look at it and I see the word gun on it. The first thing I thought was oh no no no, I don't want you reading it, I don't want you spelling it. I don't even want you looking at the picture. Trying to keep her away from from violence and she is being drawn to it in her homework, and that's not something I want her to learn," Lawrence Gillman told NY1. more ›

Police say a man impersonating a police officer sexually assaulted and then robbed a Queens woman last month. According to NBC New York, "The woman, 52, was posting flyers at about 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 20 along 41st Avenue in Flushing when she was approached by a burgundy van or SUV with four people inside. The suspect displayed a business card with a police logo and told her it was illegal to post flyers, asking for her identification, police said." more ›

Manhattan's Chinatown might want to think of a new name, because it's not actually home to the most Chinese people anymore, according to new city data. If you want to get in with the Chinese crowd these days, Sunset Park and Flushing are where it's at. more ›

Minutes before 9 a.m. yesterday, a "black Hispanic" man wearing a Yankees cap, a blue plaid shirt, large black sunglasses and a single glove, robbed a Chase Bank in Flushing, Queens at gunpoint. The FBI believes it is the third bank the "One Glove Bandit" has robbed, in addition to the Signature Bank at 84 Broadway in Brooklyn, which he allegedly robbed on May 6 and July 1. There's no word on the whether Bubbles was an accomplice, or if the hearts he has stolen with the single "You Are Not Alone" will ever be returned. more ›

Police believe that a nurse who was fatally shot in Flushing, Queens on Saturday night was killed because the shooters were out for revenge—but they got very mixed up. Christina Coleman, 39, was killed by gunmen who, the NY Post reports, were "aiming for her teenage son -- and he wasn't even the right target either. In the fatal case of mistaken identity, the armed thugs thought they were shooting at the mom's other son, Mark Coleman, 22, who is suspected of being involved in gunplay earlier in the day, the sources said." more ›

Look at that old church, getting hip to the know! After forgiving John Lennon a few years back, organized religion today made another attempt to be cool, this time at the hands of a 37-year-old self-described "hipster" reverend who founded something called the Hipster Church, which is a story we are absolutely not making up. more ›

Yesterday, a mother confronted the man who admitted to grabbing her 23-year-old daughter off a Queens street and beating and raping her with a metal pipe, then leaving her for dead in an alley. Guihua Yu, who traveled from China, shouted and sobbed, "You beast! Give me back my daughter! .... Yao was our sun, our hope, our dreams, our future and our strength... You have destroyed our lives. I wish a life of hell for you." more ›

A man who apparently shot himself with a shotgun inside a car in Flushing was found this morning after police unearthed the car from several feet of snow. Police believe the victim, 36-year-old Kevin Ronan, could have been buried in the car since last Wednesday! more ›

Chinese food is as beloved as Christmas Day in New York, so we're feeling a bit snubbed that we only have two restaurants in this top ten list of America's best Chinese restaurants. And while we could maybe be content losing the #1 spot to somewhere in San Francisco, we have to play fourth-fiddle to Yang Ming Restaurant in Bryn Mawr, PA. Foodie Ed Schoenfeld complained to the Post, "We have some wonderful restaurants in New York that were left off. It's simply wrong—not that there can't be great Chinese restaurants in Tennessee or Alabama but come on..." more ›

A Queens man had to be strapped to a stretcher and taken to a hospital for evaluation after allegedly slamming his young son into a car so hard it dented the hood. Witnesses say the "emotionally distraught" man was carrying his 5- or 6-year-old son through Flushing, trying to hit passing cars. He allegedly yelled, "F- - -ing 9/11! I can't watch the Jets game! We're going down to Ground Zero to pay our respects," before slamming the boy on top of a car. The child has been released into his mother's custody, and wasn't badly injured. No word on whether the dad was able to catch the last of the awesome game. more ›

What's worse than a bad neighbor? A bad neighbor that could give you rabies. "Do you know who our neighbors are? Raccoons!" cries 75-year-old Florence Levine, explaining the reason why one Flushing block has become paralyzed with fear of ever leaving their houses. An abandoned building on 32nd Avenue has reportedly become overrun with the possibly rabid creatures, and is making some residents mad with hyperbole. Lee Lack told the Daily News, "I've seen raccoons come out of that house, some so big you can put a saddle on them!" (Guess they learned something from the brownstone-loving raccoons in Park Slope.) more ›

The 53-year-old woman who allegedly threw a 2-year-old boy off a seventh floor balcony, killing him, underwent psychological evaluation yesterday, delaying her arraignment. According to the Wall Street Journal, doctors are determining whether Xiao Cai is fit to stand trial. In the meantime, little Jerry Zhou's mother is apparently so devastated by her son's death that she can't bear to return to the Flushing apartment where the tragedy occurred. more ›

Last night, a two-year-old child was thrown from a seventh floor balcony in Flushing, Queens, landing on the cement sidewalk. Jerry Zhou, who would have turned three in a few weeks, was pronounced dead at New York Hospital Queens, and a 53-year-old woman who was living with his family and was described by authorities as depressed was taken into custody. more ›

We're going to go ahead and assume that quite a few criminals get their ideas about pulling crimes from movies. But what was the last movie you saw where kidnapping a rich kid for ransom works? Their parents are always in with the FBI, or some other secret gang, and the bad guys are never quietly sent the money like they are asked. But apparently, one gang in Queens hadn't caught up on Rush Hour. more ›

Firefighters were called to a building on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens yesterday afternoon to battle a fire that started on the third floor in a private immigration office. But once the fire was put out, police found a man in his 40s with his throat slashed, leading them to suspect arson and possibly a botched murder-suicide. Police pulled a second man from the building, and suspected him of killing the first. more ›

Pastor Ted Chase of Flushing's George's Episcopal Church is claiming divine intervention during Thursday's tornado in Queens. The twister ripped the steeple of the church from the bell tower and sent it flying across the street. Luckily, nobody was harmed. He told the Daily News, "We believe it was a miracle." more ›

"Fornino Park Slope is a throwback, the sort of restaurant that will appeal mostly to those who still think of Manhattan as 'the city,' and who rarely cross a river to get to work," says Sam Sifton in his one star review of chef Michael Ayoub's return to Park Slope. Despite its expansive menu, most critics have focused (unfavorably) on Fornino's grilled pizza. Sifton doesn't dissent, loving pretty much everything until he comes to that controversial item, which "may be the restaurant’s weakest suit. The pies at Fornino Park Slope have thin crusts, in some cases almost shatteringly so, and they can lack the purity of flavor that characterizes the wood-oven versions at the Williamsburg location. Sometimes they don’t work at all. A plain margherita pie, for instance, sits flat and crackly on its plate, devoid of yeasty flavor; it felt in the mouth a little like a pizza made with saltines." more ›

If you were wondering why the Empire State Building was lit up red and green last night, it's in honor of the 20th Annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival taking place at Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. Yesterday's opening ceremonies kicked off the event, which runs through the end of the day today. There are musical events, arts and crafts tents and Kung Fu demonstrations, but the part most people come to see are the dragon boats themselves. more ›

Many longtime, non-Asian residents of Flushing, Queens are feeling slighted with food choices ever since the Key Foods in the area shut down. The closure left Asian markets as the only local source for groceries, and locals are demanding that they start carrying normal, boring, Western stuff like bologna and bagels. Local Rosa Febles told the WSJ (paywall), "Most of the supermarkets in the area are Asian markets and all they have is just one single aisle of food for us. We feel a little left out." And don't ask them to go to the Met Food on Browne Street; apparently it caters to a "nearby Latino population." When will the white people catch a break? more ›

After he and an accomplice were busted for robbing the same Chinese restaurant three times in four days, police have arrested two clearly brilliant men for the murder of Queens gas station attendant Nadeem Khan. Christopher Roberts, 21, was charged with second degree murder while his accomplice, Maurice Echols, 21, was charged with robbery. However, Roberts says Echols was the one who pulled the trigger. more ›

The winner of today's crazy horrible tabloid story has to be this account of a murder-suicide in Flushing, Queens, courtesy of the Daily News. Claudia Montoya, the 31-year-old mother of a 1-year-old baby girl, was brutally stabbed to death in her home yesterday by her long-suffering jealous admirer, who then committed suicide by lying down on the 7 train tracks at the Hunters Point station. Montoya was found around 7:50 a.m. after neighbors became alarmed by a powerful odor of gas emanating from the apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend, the baby's father. Her two Yorkshire terriers were also found dead inside, presumably from the gas. more ›

Yesterday, a funeral was held for Yu Yao, a 23-year-old who immigrated to Queens from China just a few months ago in hopes of studying law. Yao died from her injuries after being brutally raped and beaten in an alley in Flushing last month. NY1 reports, "You didn't have to understand the mostly Mandarin ceremony to understand [Yao's mother] Guihua Yu's sorrow." more ›

Yesterday, the mother of a young woman who died after being raped and beaten in a Queens alley attended a hearing for the suspect. Guihua Yu, who arrived in NYC from China last week to learn her daughter died from her injuries, reportedly yelled in Mandarin, "I want to kill that man! I want my daughter back!" more ›

About 80 students at PS 20 in Flushing were became ill after allegedly drinking out of the school's water fountains. A few children began complaining of stomach aches around 1:30 p.m. today, and students told NY1 that those who drank out of the water fountains began "throwing up and falling down." Now the DOE says the fountains appeared to be contaminated with air conditioning chemicals. more ›

The mother of the Chinese immigrant who died after being brutally beaten and raped in a Queens alley arrived yesterday. The Daily News reports, "Sobbing inconsolably as she stepped off a plane at Newark Airport, the mother was too distraught to speak of her daughter, Yu Yao, 23, who was raped and fatally beaten in Queens by a pipe-wielding madman. Escorted through the airport terminal by relatives, the heartbroken mother collapsed into a chair and laid her head in a cousin's lap." more ›

On Sunday night, a 23-year-old woman walking home with her groceries on the 133 block of 41st Road in Flushing when she was struck on the head with a metal pipe, dragged into an alley and raped with the pipe. Luckily, someone saw the attack and called police, who were able to arrest the suspected attacker, who was walking away. And police knew Carlos Salazar Cruz was the suspect, because his shirt was covered in blood. The woman is now on life support (some reports say she is brain dead) and Cruz was arraigned on numerous charges, including attempted murder, assault, and sexual assault. more ›

Could Queens become the next professional hockey destination? Newsday spoke with Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, who confirmed that he has spoken to Islanders owner Charles Wang about moving the franchise to Queens: "I've had conversations with Charles and we've talked about Queens. We'd like to be helpful and I think Queens is an option. We built Citi Field well under budget and on time. I have all my guys ready." more ›

Flushing Assemblywoman Grace Meng is putting together an advisory board to encourage local business owners to display signs in English, not Chinese or Korean, as is common in the neighborhood. Meng says that the foreign signs often scare away potential customers, hurting business for the area. She told the Daily News, "I represent many constituents...who are not comfortable with not being able to fully understand signage outside of stores and inside stores." more ›

In Chinatown “If you have something to say you write it up and you just post it up,” according to councilwoman Margaret Chin. Not on Craigslist or Yelp, on ad walls peeling with little white leaflets, or on any sign post or street lamp. Written out in Mandarin and Cantonese characters, the fliers' subjects range from rooms for rent (price negotiable) to complaints about particular lawyers, the Times reports in a profile of the vibrant communication spaces. Lincoln Cushing, co-author of “Chinese Revolutionary Posters,” says the posting practice dates back to after the 1949 revolution, when walls like the ones on Forsyth Street Manhattan and inside A & N Food Market in Flushing were rural towns’ conversation hubs, with posts constantly being read and responded to. more ›