The police are looking for a man suspected in four separate groping incidents in the Jacksons Heights neighborhood of Queens. more ›

Oh yeah, wait a minute Mr. Postman—are you even really a postman? The FBI says that a bank robber disguised as a UPS worker hit up a Queens bank yesterday. And this bank robber made sure not to mistakenly hand his gun to the cashier. more ›

At the beginning of December two rookie cops patrolling Jackson Heights were shot at by a suspicious-looking man in a black trench coat wearing a fake beard, hat and dark glasses (neither were hurt). The shooter got away, but over the weekend police identified him as 53-year-old Antonio Olmeda—a man with a checkered history that includes being arrested for drugs, soliciting a cop for sex, and carrying weapons like flame-throwers—and this morning police arrested him. With two guns on him, natch. more ›

At the start of December, two uniformed rookie officers patrolling Jackson Heights were shot at by a suspicious-looking man wearing a black trench coat with a fake beard, hat and dark glasses. Police have now identified that man as 53-year-old Antonio Olmeda—and they have a better idea why itchy-fingered Olmeda was walking around in disguise. According to the News, Olmeda is a career criminal who has been arrested for drugs, soliciting a cop for sex, and carrying around a weapons arsenals, including flame-throwers and bomb material. more ›

Police are searching for an oddly-dressed man who shot at cops in Queens yesterday afternoon. Two uniformed rookie officers were patrolling in the vicinity of 76th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights around 4 p.m. when they came in contact with the suspect, who they say was acting suspiciously and wearing a black trench coat with a fake beard, a hat and dark glasses. They approached him and asked for identification: “They kept asking him to take his hands out of his pocket, and after a struggle, he pulled [a revolver] out and just opened fire point-blank,” a source told the Post. more ›

Oh, it's ON! As promised, Mayor Bloomberg has officially issued a challenge to the U.S. Census Bureau, and, after smacking his gloves in the face of his arch-nemesis at the Census, Dr. Robert Groves, the two will face off with pistols at dawn. (Don't worry about Bloomberg, Groves will probably miscount the bullets when he loads his gun.) At stake is some $7 billion in federal funding over the next decade, which would be cut back if the city fails to prove that the Census Bureau grossly miscounted in Brooklyn and Queens. In Jackson Heights, for instance, the Census found that the population decreased by nearly 5,200 people, or by about five percent, between the years 2000 and 2010. more ›

Welcome back to another installment of Ethnic Eating Adventures, in which we travel far and wide to discover the hidden culinary delights of New York City. Today, we're heading to Jackson Heights for some hearty Mexican fare at Taqueria Coatzingo. more ›

Welcome back to another installment of Ethnic Eating Adventures, in which we travel far and wide to discover the hidden culinary delights of New York City. Today, we're heading to Jackson Heights for some Tibetan delights at Himalayan Yak. more ›

Jackson Heights, the birthplace of Scrabble, is finally getting the recognition it deserves—for the second time—with the triumphant return of a beloved Scrabble-themed street sign. more ›

It's dangerous enough for deliverymen today with all those teens out there mindlessly driving and texting and hitting them. But pizza deliveryman Victor Mejia de los Santos faced an even scarier experience yesterday, when he was almost beaten to death after being set up and jumped by would-be pizza purchasers. more ›

The Daily News reported that, according to police, a "male pedestrian in his 40s was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Queens Sunday night," after "walking at the intersection of 37th Ave. and 91st St. in Jackson Heights when he was struck about 8:50 p.m." He was later pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital, and now the police think he was beaten by a gang—WABC 7 says, "The man's injuries were so severe that it was initially believed he was hit by a car." more ›

On Tuesday night, disgraced State Senator Hiram Monserrate conceded defeat to Assemblyman Jose Peralta, after Peralta thoroughly Heisman'd Monserrate in his quixotic attempt to reclaim his old Senate seat. During Peralta's celebration, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) crowed, "This is the final nail in Hiram Monserrate's coffin, and we are burying him!" Well, he may have slept in yesterday, but look who's back from the dead—and lumbering toward the Assembly seat now vacated by Peralta! more ›

A Jackson Heights woman has been ordered to pay $3 million in penalties and restitution for convincing illegal immigrants to give her money in exchange for helping them become citizens, then doing nothing on their behalf. The State Supreme Court ruling comes after Attorney General, and still undeclared gubernatorial candidate, Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against Miriam Mercedes Hernandez for swindling undocumented immigrants out of up to $15,000 each in Green Card and citizenship scams. more ›

With fires breaking out right and left—including one that originated in a furniture shop and wiped out a row of beloved mom-and-pop stores this weekend—Queens lawmakers are now saying there may not be time to make massive cuts to the FDNY. Mayor Bloomberg had previously proposed getting rid of 20 fire companies around the city, as well as those quaint street fire alarm boxes. According to NY1, Councilman Daniel Dromm and Assemblyman Jose Peralta say the Queens fire "proves the city needs to find a way to keep all of its firehouses open." Demolition crews are clearing out what's left of the eight businesses that were destroyed in Jackson Heights. Meanwhile, the city's other recent fire victims, especially those of a Brooklyn fire that killed five, continue to mourn and recoup from their losses. more ›

Mom-and-pop stores are the main casualty of a huge blaze that overtook a block in Queens Saturday morning. It took 168 firemen to calm the four-alarm fire, which was under control by 1:30 pm. Meanwhile 54 apartments were evacuated in a nearby building. The fire got going at Acme Furniture in Jackson Heights around 10 am, reports NY1; people as far away as Long Island City could see the billowing smoke. It quickly spread down a row of shops on 37th Street to a dry cleaner, a shore repair shop, a liquor store, an art supply store, a packaging store and a purveyor of beauty supplies. "You have a lot of that wood furniture, finishings on the furniture. As it extended to the other stores, other materials got involved and let the fire escalate quickly," said New York Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief Robert Maynes. more ›

A retired corrections officer working the security detail at a Woodside bowling alley shot two rowdy patrons early this morning, sending them to the hospital. Gerard Hourigan and Justin Donaghy, both 29 years old, were having cigarettes in the vestibule, flouting city non-smoking regulations when the guard, Michale Iavecchio, gave them the boot. But when he escorted them outside the friends attacked him, he says. Iavechhio—who because of this past employer had a license to carry a concealed weapon—reached for his .380 Ruger and fired two rounds, hitting one man in the stomach and the other in the chest. more ›

Tarlach MacNiallais is a gay activist from Belfast who helps run the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, which fights for homosexual inclusion in NYC's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, he says two security guards at the Jackson Heights nightclub/restaurant Guadalajara De Noche assaulted him because he was dancing with a man. A police source tells the Post, "[The bouncer] said, 'You can't do that here, this is not a gay bar.' " MacNiallais replied, "I have just as much right as anyone else." Then they allegedly wrestled him to the ground and dragged him away from the other dancers, before punching him, kicking him, and smashing a chair over his head. more ›

On Monday, the Allegheny County District Attorney dropped all charges against two Jackson Heights-based anarchists accused of listening to police scanners and sharing riot cops' movements with demonstrators on Twitter during the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Elliot Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger were arrested on September 24th in a Pittsburgh hotel room, where they were found sitting in front of personal computers listening to both police and EMS scanners. On Monday, lawyers for the men were poised to argue for the unsealing of a secret 18-page affidavit authorizing the raid, but then the prosecution unexpectedly withdrew all charges. A spokesman for the district attorney offered this explanation:

After an extensive review of the facts and circumstances underlying those two arrests... there appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest that certain acts that occurred during the G-20 summit were not isolated incidents confined to Allegheny County but instead may have been related to more expansive activities that went beyond the Pittsburgh G-20 in both time and substance. That being the case, a determination was made that until further investigative activities by law enforcement agencies can be completed, it would be more prudent to have the current charges withdrawn rather than prosecuted at this time.

That's right, a Twitter crackdown. A lawyer for Jackson Heights social worker Elliot Madison, 41, says that the feds searched his client's house for 16 hours on Thursday after Madison was arrested on September 24th at a Pittsburgh hotel room with another man. What were they up to? Sitting at laptops sending Twitter messages advising G20 demonstrators about riot police activity in the streets. And yet real Twitter threats like Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love remain at large. more ›

James (pictured), in Prospect Heights, specializes in farm-fresh French-American cuisine. It's said that chef James Calvert once catered a nightmarish photo shoot for the demanding Britney Spears, who dismissed his buffet and demanded BLTs. She then sent those back, insisting upon BLTs sans mayo. Irrevocably scarred, Calvert went on to open what Frank Bruni at the Times describes as "the kind of modest, warm refuge produced by a chef who wants to simplify things, to personalize things, to work on a scale that doesn’t require or invite the meddling of too many outsiders...It’s also an example of how quietly sophisticated the food at restaurants fashioned as affordable neighborhood bistros has become. No bigger, brasher restaurant around town served me an heirloom tomato salad this summer that I enjoyed any more than one at James." more ›

All NYPD precincts do not ticket equally; and a graphic in the Daily News displays where drivers are most and least likely to receive a parking ticket in New York City. It's not indicated why, but the total number of tickets issued by parking agents, 672,149, is down 13% from last year. The City hopes to remedy this with the recent addition of 200 more parking agents. more ›

Someone went on a rampage just before noon yesterday, shooting five people standing at a bus stop in a fusillade of gunfire in Jackson Heights, Queens. It wasn't as much a rampage, exactly, as a reckless attempt to kill a single person by firing into a crowd. The alleged target was a 21-year-old man, who was shot in the side before staggering into a restaurant and collapsing. Police are searching not just for a single shooter, but a group of men he was with that ran off in different directions. more ›

Tandoori chicken, marinated in yogurt and spices, is notably tender and arrives on a bed of sizzling onions with a wedge of lemon at its side. The murg korma – a cashew nut curry with broiled chicken – was creamy with hints of sweetness and spice. All entrees come with a side of dal, a refreshing side of cucumber and yogurt raita, and basmati rice garnished with fresh peas. more ›

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. more ›

While many folks were busy guzzling green beer, two food-obsessed Queens residents checked out a new restaurant in Jackson Heights for lunch yesterday. Since the joint is called Green Plantains, token points for St. Patrick’s day spirit should be awarded, even if there was no corned beef and cabbage to be had. more ›

A 6-7 month old baby girl, strapped in a car seat, was left in the backseat of a livery cab this morning. Tel-A-Car driver Klever Sailema picked up a man and the baby around 9:45AM this morning at 106th Street and Northern Boulevard in Queens. When the cab got to 83rd and Northern, the man said he needed to make a call and left the car. Only he crossed "the street to a pay phone and fled." more ›

Tonight is the last chance until December 2010 to witness a total lunar eclipse. This is the third such eclipse in the past year. With any luck the weather will cooperate. It looks like there will be breaks in the clouds over the city, which should make for dramatic views. Break out the tripods and cameras! more ›

Yet another culinary transfer point has been added to the many ethnic eateries radiating outwards from the 74 Street/Broadway subway stop in Jackson Heights: Shangrila Express. Yesterday when Gothamist learned that the city's first and only Tibetan food cart had opened near the renowned Sammy’s Halal we couldn’t wait to try it. We approached the cart next to Sammy’s and ordered some momos only to be told they only serve chicken over rice. Upon... more ›

Gastronauts seeking Indian fare have rocketed along the 7 line to 74 St./Roosevelt Ave. for a decade or more. Sadly many Jackson Heights stars, including the Jackson Diner, have long faded. Even when one finds tasty grub it still seems like eating from a vast steam table. Nevertheless, we hold out hope and were glad to happen upon Malgudi. more ›

If you're applying for a mortgage, you're willing to give up your personal details. Unfortunately, for some first-time applicants, their mortgage manager stole their identities - and $1 million. more ›