[UPDATE BELOW] An unidentified man was fatally struck by an E train as it entered the Roosevelt Avenue station at approximately 9:10 a.m. this morning. The FDNY tells us the victim was pronounced DOA, and the MTA restored power about an hour later, once the body was removed. As a result, one tipster says it took two hours to get from Forest Hills to midtown this morning, and an MTA spokesman says E and F trains were running local between 71 Ave and Queens Plaza and bypassing Roosevelt Avenue in both directions for about an hour. more ›

While street vendors have had a rough go of things lately in Manhattan, over in Queens they're doing just fine, as evidenced by the throngs of carts and trucks lining Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona. There are hundreds of carts, serving up everything from tacos to ceviche to paan. Don't know where to start? That's where "Queens Qustodian" Jeff Orlick comes in. more ›

"Chica Chica" cards, which are like baseball cards of prostitutes, have been handed out all around Queens for years, but an increase in their circulation lately has caused some politicians to call for action to be taken. "Is this going to eliminate prostitution? It's not. It's the first step toward improving the quality of life on Roosevelt Ave," said Queens Democratic Sen. Jose Peralta, who wants to make it illegal to sell them. more ›

According to NYPD statistics, Corona wins as drunkest neighborhood in New York, with 257 drunk driving arrests in the 115th Precinct so far this year. Elmhurst's 110th Precinct came in second place, with 167 arrests. Both neighborhoods are seriously under served by mass transit and yellow cabs, making DWIs all the more likely. more ›

As the MTA considers ways to save money as it faces billion-dollar deficits, the Daily News suggests the "Sick Customer Response Program" could be on the chopping block. Apparently the MTA would be able to save $250,000 if the program, which has EMTs stationed at seven busy stations, were eliminated in 2009, but we think it would be a mistake to end it. more ›

Roosevelt Avenue in the high 50s is better known for its Irish bars, particularly Donovan's Pub and its legendary cheeseburger, than it is for Filipino fare. That's not to say that Woodside doesn't have any Filipino restaurants, it's just that most of them are confined to Little Manila, a strip of Roosevelt between 69th and 71st streets. Now all that's changed thanks to Engeline's Restaurant & Bakeshop, which opened just down the block from Donovan's this spring. more ›

- As an alternate route, customers are advised to take the Q43 bus to the Sutphin Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue bus stop and take the j train at the Supthin Boulevard Station. more ›

• Cabbies are worried about their safety after robberies on the Lower East Side
• The city's problem-laden high schools for pregnant girls are closing; check out this article about how one student was facing the difficulties of her school, which included teachers not showing up and student fights
• Culturegrrl speaks with William Griswold, the future head of the Morgan Library, who actually left the Morgan a few years ago, with stings at the Getty and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village has become a symbol of the high cost of living in NYC and the place for people to join hands in protest
• Green thumbs in Red Hook and plans are not yet approved for Whole Foods in Gowanus
• The end is nigh: Donald Trump agrees with Rosie O'Donnell regarding Lizzy Hasselback
• A baby was found wandering around Staten Island; an elderly couple took care of the baby until the police arrived, and the baby has since been identified
• After their hostess kicked them out of her apartment, two people beat her up in Central Park
• When it smells like vomit but it's really just the crap rotting in a vacated apartment

Yesterday, Transportation Alternatives held a rally at City Hall to draw attention to the recently increasing numbers of pedestrian fatalities on city streets. Last year, 163 pedestrians died, a 4% increase over 2005, and just this past weekend, four pedestrians were killed by vehicles. Relatives and friends of victims joined TA to demand that the city to make streets safer for pedestrians and "strengthen laws against motorists who kill or injure pedestrians" (Metro). Watch the video and hear them speak. more ›

In 2006, over 10,000 pedestrians were hit by cars and trucks in New York City. One hundred sixty-six were killed. The City's pedestrian safety efforts are inadequate. Where is Mayor Bloomberg? He has spoken out about transfats, gun violence and smoking. If killing a pedestrian with a car was considered assault it would be the second leading type of homicide behind only gun violence. Where is his leadership on this issue? more ›

Just steps from the interminable reconstruction of the BQE’s Roosevelt Avenue exit, and under the round-the-clock clatter of subway tracks, is Zabb Queens, an Isaan Thai restaurant. Isaan cuisine is soul food from the northeastern region of Thailand, and while the clichéd “hot-sour-salty-sweet” plate-view applies, it would be something bordering criminal to talk about Zabb Queens as such. more ›

If you drive into the city from Queens or Long Island, it might be worth your while to stop by Shea Stadium today between 10AM and 2PM. Why? Because the NYC Department of Transportation is trying to relieve holiday gridlock by giving 350 $4 Metrocards to commuters who park at Shea and will use mass transit today, next Wednesday (December 27) and January 3. This is supposed to be part of the DOT's holiday traffic mitigation plan, but the one flaw we see is that commuters would probably be at their Midtown work while the Metrocards are being given away. And why not offer some promotion with other mass transit systems, like the LIRR or NJ Transit? But who is anyone to complain, as the cards were donated by the International Gemological Institute. more ›

Earlier this week, the police were looking for a former guest who attacked a mother and son in Queens. David Higgins and his parents let Emmanuel Polanco live with them, until they realized Polanco was stealing from them. Two weeks after kicking him out, Higgins found Polanco back in the home, stealing other items. Polanco stabbed Higgins and beat his mother with a baseball bat. Before dying of his injuries, Higgins was able to tell the police Polanco was the attacker. more ›

You know you've been waiting for it -- the finalists for the Second Annual Vendy Awards have been announced! These four finalists will attend the gala event on Sunday, October 22nd from 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. where a panel of judges (including at least one who might be familiar to Gothamist readers) will select their favorite. The event is a fundraiser for the Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit a... more ›

...[NYC Transit] has EMTs posted at 6 busy stations across the system during rush hour - Grand Central-42nd St, 125th St-Lexington Ave, Bowling Green, 5th Ave-53rd St, Queens Plaza, and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue...It has MTA spokesman Paul Fleuranges narrating, along with actual radio transmissions of conductors diverting trains for sick customers and interviews with EMTs and nurses. Pretty informative stuff. more ›

New York Magazine decides to look at the city in the year 2016 in terms of architecture and real estate development - and how that'll impact New Yorkers. It's a great look at how drastically the city could change in ten years, which is all overwhelming, exciting, and kind of scary, because for every rendering of glassy buildings, what does that mean for the neighborhoods? Are they plans for more affordable housing to meet up with the luxury condos and pleasure palaces? At any rate, it's all interesting to see how the post-September 11 and Bloomberg administration have suddenly encouraged all this planning buzz. more ›

" And while some people try not to touch anything in the subway or subway station, holding the handrails is always a good idea, especially when fighting rush hour crowds in the opposite direction. more ›

Gothamist hit the transportation trifecta while stepping onto the platform from the 7 Train at the 61st Street –Woodside stop. While the subway left the station, a train passed below and a plane passed above. Given that the Subway platform is smack under a LaGuardia arrival flight path, and high above the LIRR tracks, this timing dependant sensation is rivaled only by the horizontal superfecta in Elizabeth New Jersey where the seaport, train tracks, I-95 Interstate and Newark runways run parallel. Actually the low flying planes were a recurring theme as we wound our way around the area north of the 7 line. Around each corner was a new angle and perspective, as planes landed every minute or so with the backdrop changing from residential blocks to light industrial and manufacturing. more ›

A fight between a pair of friends turned deadly when Richie Molina pushed Eddie Guzman in front of a 7 train at the 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue stop in Woodside, Queens yesterday morning. Guzman, 21 years old, had been drinking with his friend earlier, and just before 5AM he and 19 year old Molina had were fighting under the train tracks after the pair . While it's unclear what caused the argument, Guzman's fall into the subway tracks was so sudden that the conductor wasn't able to pull the emergency brake in time. A transit worker on the scene said, ""The guy was torn in half. It was pretty gruesome." Even more gruesome: Guzman's body parts fell from the tracks to the street below. Subway service on the northbound line was temporarily suspended for a few hours. more ›

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Crime might have gone down in 2003, but this past week has been a doozy. First there was the horrific case of Nathalie Guzman being hit and run by three different cars - with none of the drivers bothering to stop and see if she needed help. Queens Councilman Eric Gioia felt that the three hit and runs had a level of "human callousness and depravity not seen since" 1964's Kitty Genovese murder (38 people did nothing as they heard and even witnessed Genovese's cries for help). The NYPD just found the one of the cars and drivers, apparently the third car to hit Guzman when she crossed Roosevelt Avenue. more ›