Looking for a late-night pizza burger, Greek salad, or milkshake in Little Neck, Queens? For the past 50-odd years the go-to spot was the Scobee Diner. Not any more, though: the 24-hour hangout, best known for its massive menu, great breakfasts and unapologetic greasy-spoon fare, closed its doors for good yesterday after a tearful farewell. In a million years you'll never guess why they closed! more ›

Who doesn't love a good heroic dog story? Word is that a concerned canine named Max saved an 89-year-old woman in Little Neck last Friday. The pup, who is a neighbor's dog, made a ruckus after finding Tina DiLuca face-first in her garden on a 90-degree-day. His barking caused Maria DiLuca, her daughter, to rush outside. She said, “We live next door to Max and we’re used to hearing him bark. But he didn’t sound right. I looked out the window and I saw my mother laying there. She’s lucky she fell in the dirt and not the concrete.” Currently the 89-year-old woman is recovering from four fractured ribs and a few abrasions in the hospital, and is expected to stay there for a few weeks. Hopefully Max is getting some extra treats and belly scratches at home. more ›

Yesterday, the body of a man who had been stabbed to death was discovered on a handball court in the Little Neck section of Queens. The murder is the first in the neighborhood since 1994. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a power outage on Beach Channel Dr. in Queens, a shooting on Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn, and a car in the water at Rockaway and Brookville Blvds. in Queens.
• If you think you're buying a super-cheap iPod at a Mom and Pop electronics store, you're probably buying a fake.
• Some Queens residents will be relieved to know that LIRR trains will no longer blast their horns for 15 to 20 seconds as they approach the crossing at the Little Neck Parkway. About 80 trains pass there every day.

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

The other day, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new way the city will be able to monitor streets and make sure they are in good repair: The Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT). SCOUT inspectors will "drive every City street once per month and report conditions that negatively impact quality of life to 311." The inspectors will use their Blackberrys to report things like graffiti, clogged sewers, potholes, damaged bus shelters, and more. 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 ›

City trash inspectors have been checking out neighborhoods all around town and say that the South Shore of Staten Island has the cleanest streets. The dirtiest? Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, where residents tell the Daily News that drivers litter the streets. A church administrator said, "It seems every time we sweep, more trash comes." more ›

Real Estate site The Real Deal has detailed the priciest streets or micro-neighborhoods to live on in each of the five boroughs of NYC. Ironically, except for Manhattan, the most expensive streets in New York's four other boroughs lean heavily towards suburban idyll rather than luxurious urbanism. But we suppose that has always been an appeal of the outer boroughs: the ability to escape Manhattan's teeming population density. If you recently came into a large sum of money, here's where you should be house-hunting, in alphabetical order. more ›

Queens County Farm. Begun in 1697, this is the only working historical farm in the city. All kinds of vegetables are grown on site, and animals like these piglets are raised here. Today there will also be a haunted house ($4 admission, from 1-7pm) as well as a children’s fall festival with hayrides, a petting zoo, and games like the original “trinkets-in-the-haystack.” Available at the shop are farm-produced honey and apples. (Did you know the Newtown Pippin, the “prince of apples” preferred by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, was first grown in Queens in the 1700s? It’s in season now, so seek it out.) more ›

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 – were in a white Lexus at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2006, when the defendants [19 year old Kevin] Brown and [20 year old Paul] Heavey pulled up alongside of them in a 1998 Toyota and began cursing and shouting racial slurs. At one point, the defendants allegedly drove behind Liang’s Lexus and intentionally rammed it. Fearful, Liang drove away in an attempt to escape from the two defendants. Believing he had eluded the defendants, he pulled over at the intersection of 44th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway, where victim Lu got out of the car to inspect the damage to the rear of the Lexus. As he did so, the defendants reappeared. Exiting their vehicle and approaching Lu, the defendants allegedly punched him about the head and body, causing him to suffer lacerations requiring multiple stitches and substantial pain, including several loose teeth. During the attack the defendants are alleged to have uttered more racial slurs. In coming to his friend’s aid, victim Liang was also allegedly punched and kicked about the head and body by the defendants. Crawling back to his car, Liang picked up “The Club” which was then allegedly grabbed from him by the defendants who used it to hit him numerous times about the head and body, causing him to sustain a possible fractured skull and substantial pain to his chest. more ›

In all my years as a yellow cabbie, not once have I taken a fare to City Island in The Bronx. But I can’t say I’m surprised by this fact. Exactly 4,634 people live on that tiny island in Pelham Bay, so in a city of eight million it would be statistically unlikely to find one of these “clamdiggers” as they call themselves. Consequently, I had no idea which of the wall-to-wall seafood restaurants along City Island Avenue were tourist traps and which were frequented by the natives. more ›

Nothing you order at Randazzo’s Clam Bar will be the best thing you ever ate. But you can’t say you know Sheepshead Bay unless you know Randazzo’s. It is the indisputable heart and soul of the neighborhood, a hold-out from the days when working class clam bars lined that storied waterfront. more ›

We're so glad you asked this question, because we are getting ready to kick it into gear for Autumn of Fun 05, which involves getting large-ish groups of people together for autumnal excursions such as apple picking. We found a few orchards that offer apple picking and directions by mass transit: more ›