Police say Barbara Sheehan confessed to killing her retired cop husband in their Howard Beach home, saying, "I shot him. I shot him. I think he's dead." Sheehan, charged with second-degree murder, pleaded not guilty and was held without bail. Sheehan allegedly shot her husband Raymond, who retired as a sergeant in the NYPD in 2002 and had been working at UBS in security, Monday morning using two of his guns, a Glock and .38-caliber......

A UPS delivery man saw the body of a retired police sergeant, shot in the torso, on the floor of a Howard Beach home and called 911. The police arrested the sergeant's wife and charged her with murder. It appears Raymond Sheehan, who retired from the NYPD in 2002 and worked for UBS security, was shot around 1PM. Police say his wife Barbara Sheehan, a secretary at a Brooklyn public school, used one of his......

The Queens DA's office is allegedly split over how to handle a Halloween night fight in Howard Beach. A fight erupted on the Cross Bay Boulevard between a group of white youths and a group of black and Hispanic youths. The white youths, after feeling intimidated by a black or Hispanic youth, threw eggs at him, and then a melee broke out when 30-40 others, some with sticks, fought the white youths. Five black and......

Howard Beach residents are probably shaking their heads over reports of yet another allegedly racially motivated attack in their neighborhood. The police say that a group of white teenagers claims they were attacked by a group, who were made up of Hispanics and blacks. At Cross Bay Boulevard, a the group of white teens noticed the group of black and Hispanic teens; according to the Post, "The apparent leader of the black group walked up......

We briefly mentioned the wild melee between some Staten Island residents and the cops on July 4th, after the police investigated a call about illegal fireworks. Nineteen people had been arrested, while 10 others received summons, and residents are now complaining that the police were too aggressive. Cops, many of whom were injured, say they were doing their job. The police do admit "an all-out brawl" occurred around 11PM, after a neighbor called to complain......

The Daily News and Post both use the alleged JFK Airport terror plot - that would have involved blowing up the airport's fuel oil pipeline - to move papers: The cover of the Daily News teases an interview with a waitress who served an "alleged mastermind" (cover headline: "Evil Ate at Table Eight") while the Post wonders about the whereabouts of one of the alleged plotters (headline: "Invisible Man"). The story doesn't crack the......

While the State Assembly may be the face of dysfunction, we have to say their passage of a bill allowing New York City to increase the "failure to scoop dog doo" fine is something we can get behind. The bill, which would open the gate for fines to be increased from $100 to $250, still needs the State Senate's and Governor Spitzer's approval, but Assemblyman Audrey Pheffer of Howard Beach tells amNewYork he's sure......

City Councilman Leroy Comrie wants the city to ban the n-word. Comrie said he hoped that a dialogue would be sparked by his resolution and that society can move "toward a place where the n-word is simply unacceptable to be used in any context." And hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, who joined Comrie at the press conference, said, "We need to stop looking at ourselves like we are niggas or niggers, so that we can......

Three Queens brothers were tied up when robbers entered their house on Wednesday. The robbers bound the boys and put pillowcases over the two youngest boys' heads; the 16 year old was blind-folded. The men then took Christmas gifts - a Playstation 2, cellphones, saxophone, and some designer purses- as well as some cash from the boys! What's more, a surveillance camera caught the men on tape entering the Howard Beach apartment building: They arrive......

When you borrow $100,000 from mobsters and stop repaying, you'd have to expect some retribution. So after Howard Beach resident Yvonne Rossetti was threatened to be stuffed into a trunk by two "reputed Bonanno soldiers," the mobsters were jailed for Christmas. Rossetti claimed the men could make a killing on a real estate deal, and when they figured out it was a scam, they threatened her. So her husband wore a wire and turned them......

Of all the things you say to a police officer of another color, is using a racial epithet really the best idea? Remember the story of a Halloween Broad Channel scuffle, between some youths and cops: The police got upset that an unmarked cruiser was egged and questioned people; some youths reacted badly (one jumped on the back of a police officer), so the police started to use their batons and the residents basically rioted;......

Last week, the body of a missing Queens man was found in his Howard Beach home, and now the police have arrested two 17 year olds for his murder. Billy Ray Staton and Alex Brown allegedly confessed to beating John Canora beyond recognition with a bat and fire extinguisher and leaving him in his basement's drainage ditch. The two say that Canora hired them to do odd jobs around the house. One evening, the three......

A man was found beaten to death in his basement Saturday. Fifty-seven year old John Canora had been missing for the past few weeks, and on Saturday, a friend or relative went to his 96th Street Howard Beach home to check on him. A side door was unlocked, and the police were called when blood was found on the walls. When they looked at the basement, Canora's body was found in a drainage ditch. A......

The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating why 28 year old black man ran into the Belt Highway, where he was hit by a car. Eyewitnesses say that two white men "struggled with" and "forced" Michael Sandy into traffic on Sunday night. Given that Sandy's race and the fact he was in Plumb Beach, a gay cruising area off the highway, the police have been investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The......

One of the many things I love about this town is that there are a thousand places where you might find yourself saying, “It doesn’t even feel like I’m in New York City anymore.” I started driving a yellow cab, in large part, to try to find as many of those places as I could. I’ve discovered quite a few. The first time I drove down those steep streets in upper Manhattan I imagined I......

An ugly tale from this weekend unfolded from the Queens District Attorney's office. Two white men were charged with beating two Chinese-Americans in Douglaston, and then tried to get away from police later on by crashing into the police cruiser and hurting the officers. From the DA's press release:District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, four Asian males – Reynold Liang, 19, John Lu, 19, David Wu, 19, and Wing Chung Poon......

Oh, Fred the cat - and detective - everyone misses you! After news of your death, all the major papers are giving you your due. with the Daily News calling you a "claws celebre" and Newsday reliving your brave bust of a fake vet in Brooklyn. The NY Times' Michael Brick, who wrote about Fred the Cat back in February in a staccato, noirish tone eulogizes Fred in a similar way and also explains how......

Tonight, Gothamist will definitely be watching Tabloid Wars, the reality show that follows the innerworkings of the Daily News. While the reviews have noted it's perhaps more mild than we'd want it, we're excited to see the city beat reporters in action. New York magazine's John Leonard wrote in his review, "By the end of the second hour, you will probably decide, as I did, that the tireless Kerry Burke is our hero, not only......

Nick Minucci, who was on trial for beating a black man in Howard Beach, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Queens DA had charged Minucci with a hate crime when he repeatedly hit Glenn Moore with a baseball bat in June 2005, given Minucci's use of the "n-word," which sparked a discussion of what's in a word when jurors were selected. Minucci continued to deny racism motivated his actions, telling the court after......

- An excellent look at the proposed West 96th Subway renovations at Starts and Fits - A boat capsized off Breezy Point and the Coast Guard is looking for the passenger - Fun NY Times article about the awesome olfactory nerves dogs have and how they are helping humans by sniffing out bedbugs, detecting cancer, and more! - Kate's Paperie goes the home decor route - Was The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway......

The events of an ugly June night last year were recounted by Glenn Moore, who was beaten by a group of men in Howard Beach. Moore testified during the trial of Nicholas Minucci; Queens prosecutors are trying Minucci on hate crimes, as well as robbery charges. Moore said, "I hear him hit my head like a baseball. Ding! Right above my right ear, back on the side of my head. I just see black and......

Since I’ve dubbed myself The Hungry Cabbie, I thought my first post as Gothamist’s outer borough food correspondent should be about a classic eating institution that absolutely every cabbie should know: New Park Pizzeria. It lies directly beneath the flight path into JFK Airport in the proud, old Italian neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens. Unfortunately, the neighborhood is not known for being a particularly inviting place to outsiders thanks to a white mob that lynched......

A jury was selected for the trial of Nicholas Minucci, who was charged with a bias attack after beating a black man in Howard Beach last June. The jury includes four whites, four blacks, three Hispanics, and one Asian, but more interesting is how the jury was selected and how the defense seems to be approaching the trial. Prosecutors charged Minucci with a hate crime because he said, "What up n-----" during his attack on......

Police are looking for fifth suspect in connection to the death of NYU junior Broderick Hehman. Police have already arrested four teenagers who allegedly chased Hehman, who then ran into a car at Park Avenue and 125th Street and later died of his injuries. And the teenagers are only 13 and 15 years old. Though the police are not charging the four with a hate crime - they reportedly said, "Get whitey" while chasing him......

Yesterday, there were two separate hate crimes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A black man was beaten and robbed by a group of white men in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn, while a man was attacked by men yelling anti-gay slurs as he and another man were on their way to a Chelsea Bar. Alex Moore was beaten by the a group, which had a baseball bat and an iron pipe. The Brooklyn incident was......

The city is still reeling from the racial attack on three black men, which resulted in a serious head injury for one, in Howard Beach. It was revealed that 19 year-old Nicholas Minucci, the first man arrested, had previously been arrested for beating a Sikh man after September 11, allegedly saying, "F---ing Arab! Why don't you blow this up!" Another man, Anthony Ench, was arrested, while the third member of the group, Frankie Agostini, turned......

Early yesterday morning, three black men who were walking in the predominantly white neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens, were attacked by white men. Two of the men managed to flee, but one, Glenn Moore, had tripped on a curb was beaten badly by the attacked; he now has a fractured skull. The police are calling this a hate crime, as the attackers allegedly used racial epithets. The three black men, Moore, Richard Pope and Richard......

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What is the best way to get to JFK? We could devote a whole epic on how to get to the other airports, but let's face it; Newark and LaGuardia are steps away by comparison. (You can get to Newark via train from Penn Station, for example, and those of us in upper Manhattan know the blessing that is the M60 bus.) JFK, even in the era of the AirTrain, still seems elusive. Here are......