Jocelyne Voltaire of Queens Village is the face of the housing crisis in America: she's facing foreclosure—again—on the home she has owned for over 20 years. A victim of predatory lending, Voltaire, 50, made headlines in 2008 when it was first reported that she might lose her home. A grassroots effort initiated by Code PINK and the generosity of strangers staved off foreclosure then, but just three years later Voltaire finds herself with even higher monthly payments. more ›

A 38-year-old man was shot in the head and killed in his Queens Village residence this morning in what police believe was a home invasion robbery. A gunman murdered Leslie Huggins, a father of three, just after 11:30 am in his house on Francis Lewis Boulevard. "The wife came here and said that her husband was laying on the ground bleeding from his head," said Dave Brown, the owner a nearby barbershop. more ›

A Queens Village mother and grandmother have been charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child after permanently scarring a six-year-old girl in a Voodoo ritual where they engulfed her in flames. 29-year-old Marie Lauradin and 70-year-old Sylvenie Thessier are accused of pouring rum both onto the head of young Frantzcia Saintil and in a circle around her and then lighting both on fire. After performing the "Loa" ritual, the pair doused the girl in ice cold water and put her to bed. Lauradin, a recent Haitian immigrant, and her mother were allegedly helped by a friend named "Sketch," who has not been charged. The Daily News reports, "Lauradin initially claimed she was boiling rice in a pot when the girl 'startled' her, causing her to spill the scalding water on her." She could face up to 25 years if convicted. more ›

Last weekend, a young woman was celebrating her 19th birthday when two men crashed her party and later raped her. The police arrested one of the suspects yesterday and are still looking for the second. more ›

The police charged a Queens man with raping a woman he met on the Internet. A 21-year-old woman traveled from Indianapolis to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Tuesday, where David Graham picked her up. more ›

The police continued to look for the robbers who shot a Queens bodega owner in the face on Monday night. Bolivar Cruz, a Dominican immigrant, is still on life support; the Post reports that two of his seven daughters were working in store at the time and that Cruz tried to protect them. According to Police Commissioner Kelly, Cruz did take out a gun (unlicensed) but did not get a chance to fire it. It's unclear whether the robbers saw Cruz's gun. Cruz is not expected to survive. more ›

The Department of Environmental Protection says that Thursday afternoon tests of tap water in southeastern Queens found little or no traces of tetrochloroethylene, aka perc. The chemical, used in dry cleaning and in auto repair, can cause cancer if exposure is high, but the DEP says that the higher-than-normal levels found last week were "minute" and "were not expected" to lead to health risks. Here's the DEP's press release:

After conducting extensive inspections of water/sewer connections at businesses in portions of the Queens neighborhoods of Queens Village, St. Albans, Cambria Heights and Hollis, DEP has identified a potential source of the PERC contamination discovered during routine water testing earlier this week by DEP scientists. PERC is a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning and auto-body repair. more ›

Thank goodness for routine drinking water testing? The NYC's Department of Environmental Protection found higher-than-usual (and higher than what's safe) amounts of tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as PERC, in the drinking water of southeastern Queens. DEP investigators believe that the chemical might have seeped in from an auto-body repair shop or dry cleaners, because it's commonly used as a degreaser and cleaning agent. The agency is looking for the source. more ›

Ah, the benefits of having many pockets and many cell phones. more ›

Yesterday evening, a 60 year old woman was hit by a white Chrysler Sebring at Springfield Boulevard and 93rd Avenue. The car did not stop and continued on 93rd Avenue. The woman was seriously injured and was in critical condition at Long Island Jewish Hospital. more ›

Two cops were shot yesterday as they were trying to stop a man who had shot off the head of a church statue in Queens. Kevin Davy allegedly yelled, "I'm a hustler! I'm a warrior!" as he was attacking the statue with a 12 gauge shotgun when Officers Dominick Romano and David Harris approached; then Davy shot at them multiple times, with Romano once in the head with his bulletproof vest stopping eight bullets and Harris's femur was shattered with five shots in the right leg. Davy, who had also chopped off the statue's arms with a sword, is described as being mentally ill; Davy and his brother had produced what the Daily News calls an "anti-police and anti-government" DVD. Monsignor Malagreca spent his services at the mostly Haitian Saints Joachim and Anne Church in Queens Village explaining what had happened, with parishioners shocked over the attacks, but one told the NY Times, "The head is missing, but the spirit is still there." more ›