A Queens woman is in critical condition after getting run over by a school bus that careened off the road after colliding with another vehicle yesterday afternoon in Jamaica. NBC New York reports that the unidentified woman was walking on the sidewalk when the bus driver "lost control and crashed into a sedan," and swerved up onto the curb, smashed through a small brick fence, and slammed into a house. The pedestrian was pinned under the bus, and officials say she suffered severe leg trauma with a partial amputation of her limbs. more ›

A Queens man has been arrested in connection to a string of arson attacks in Jamaica, Queens and on Long Island Sunday night. Police say Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, has "made incriminating statements" about throwing Molotov cocktails fashioned out of Starbucks Frappuccino bottles at private residences, a deli, and an Islamic center. "The individual is implicating himself in each of the five firebombing cases, citing personal grievances with each location," police spokesman Paul Browne told reporters last night. See, it's never too late to get swept up in the Festivus spirit! more ›

Police are investigating a series of firebombings in Queens late last night as possible bias crimes. Between 8 p.m. and 10:15, four locations within two miles of each other in Jamaica, Queens were hit by Molotov cocktails. One of the locations was a private residence on 107th Avenue that caught fire after the burning bottles struck it, and it took more than 60 firefighters to bring it under control, the Times reports. Another target was an Islamic center on the Van Wyck Expressway. more ›

One of the unintended consequences of kicking people out of their homes that they bought with subprime mortgages is that it makes the community less safe. There are so many empty homes that the federal government is considering renting them out. This couldn't happen soon enough in Jamaica Queens, where many vacant homes are rife with drugs, prostitution, and gang members. "They're becoming a magnet for criminal activity," the commanding officer of the 113th Precinct tells the Times. "They hang out in these abandoned homes that may be foreclosed, or the owners walked away. Every day we respond to something of that effect." more ›

Starbucks is in hot coffee today for two reasons: an allegation that a manager at a Long Island Starbucks berated a gay worker for his sexual orientation, and news that the chain's milk distributor plans to drop Jamaica, Queens-based Elmhurst Dairy and go with a non-union dairy conglomerate in Texas. The bias allegation stems from an incident witnessed by a customer at a Starbucks in Centereach, Long Island overheard a female manager allegedly forcing an employee, Jeffrey Warren, to resign because he is gay. In a blog post that has since gone viral and attracted widespread media attention, the witness writes: more ›

Three workers at a private recycling facility in Jamaica, Queens died while trapped in a sewage hole earlier this afternoon. According to NY1, "The men were subcontractors pumping three to four feet of water out of the hole, which was about 18-feet deep. One worker fell into the hole and the two others fell in while trying to help him." And CityRoom reports that two of the workers were a father and a son. The hole was full of hydrogen sulfide and fire officials said there was twice the lethal amount of the colorless gas, which the CDC says "can also result from bacterial breakdown of organic matter. It is also produced by human and animal wastes." Queens Borough Commander John Sudnik said, "It's toxic. At 50 parts per million, it's lethal in 10 minutes." Initially, the FDNY had called Con Ed to bring vacuum trucks, which helps suck debris from manholes, to Regal Recycling Co. but then cancelled the request because the victims were dead. more ›

A student was shot in the neck near the Queens Career Development School in Jamaica. The 18-year-old had been at a bus stop nearby. There are conflicting reports about whether the school is under lockdown or just heavy police presence. more ›