One person was killed, and four others were injured after a two-alarm fire ripped through a house in Queens early this morning. It took 106 firefighter approximately two hours to stifle the blaze at 61st St. in Woodside. "There was heavy, heavy fire and we had to climb some fences two yards over to get to the back of the building," said firefighter Ronnie Daly of Rescue 4. Once he smashed his way inside, he found an unresponsive 63-year-old man: "He was about 12 feet into the rear bedroom, on the ground, unconscious. It looked like he was trying to get out." more ›

A former butcher and Queens resident was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the choking death and dismemberment of his wife. Edwin Fuentes, 44, pleaded guilty last month to choking Reina De Los Santos to death in June 2007, and then chopping her up, putting her body parts into bags, and burying them in a wooded area of Forest Park near their Woodhaven home. “I’m hoping that, maybe, they cut you up like you did my sister...Your mother must be turning over knowing she carried a demon like you in her womb. If it was up to me, you would go to hell,” said the victim's sister, Marisol De Los Santos, before the plea-bargained sentencing. more ›

Successful Jeopardy contestant Brian Levinson and his circus clown friend Eric Broomfield were rescued from their burning Queens apartment by the FDNY early Saturday morning. 33-year-old Levinson, who won $73K in prize money from Jeopardy in 2008 and has appeared on the game show Cash Cab, retained burns to 12% of his body, including his face, head, and arms. Firefighters helped Levinson out of the building, while Broomfield had to be carried out. "I found him in the bathroom," Ladder 163 Captain Jim Hay tells the Daily News, "It was heavy smoke condition. He couldn't get past the fire." more ›

Last week, a man attacked a 96-year-old man in a Queens apartment building in order to steal the senior citizen's money. Now the victim is speaking out: Alfonso Scannapieco told the Daily News, "If I run into him, he's got to fight me. I'm still going to lose, but he's got to fight me." more ›

At Monday's press conference the mayor announced that the world had "not come to an end." After all there were "lots of tourists here enjoying themselves" and some folks even "went to the theater!" Though less folks went than this time last year, it could have been worse. Because of the blizzard all those theatergoers almost missed out on a crucial aspect of the Broadway experience: the Playbill. more ›

The Jamaica Avenue J is about to get a makeover that will hopefully make residents of Woodhaven and Richmond Hill, Queens slightly less bummed out when they're walking to the subway. MTA officials told City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley this week that that part of the span will be repaired and painted forest green next year, according to the Daily News. Currently the underside of the tracks are covered in chipped paint, dirt and grease—decades worth of it, at that. more ›

In today's playground news: no spaceships, prisons, or burning orbs are mentioned, but residents of Woodside, Queens want a certain group banned from their local play area. According to the Daily News, the Hart Playground—and more specifically its bathrooms—has been taken over by day laborers. One community Board 2 member told them, "People are afraid to use the park. [Men] come and they stay all day and they're urinating, drinking and washing clothes and taking baths in the fountain. It's not even an area where they should be without a child." more ›

An off-duty cop is facing DWI charges after he crashed his vehicle into a parked car last night in Woodside, Queens. Officer Matthew Woods—who is assigned to the narcotics bureau—was under the influence when he lost control of his car on 65th Place between Woodside Avenue and Queens Boulevard, a police spokesman told the Daily News. There were no injuries in the crash, and if history is any indication, he'll likely be able to plead down to lesser charges. more ›

A fire claimed the lives of three men and critically injured four others when it ripped through an illegal basement apartment this morning in Woodside, Queens. The blaze broke out in the two-story home's improperly partitioned basement at around 2:45 am, according to the Daily News. When firefighters arrived at the "chaotic scene," they discovered "badly-burned victims" on the "front sidewalk, just inside the front door and beneath a basement window." The surviving victims were taken to the New York Hospital-Cornell Burn Center. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. more ›

We recently interviewed chef Saul Bolton, whose eponymous restaurant in Boerum Hill just celebrated ten years in business. Today Pete Wells at the Times bestows two stars on the place, where the elegantly understated atmosphere provides a modest frame for Bolton's culinary ambition: "One of the first restaurants to bring a contemporary sensibility to Brooklyn when it appeared on Smith Street in 1999, it has neither faded, nor stood still, nor sought a personality transplant. Instead Saul Bolton, the chef and the owner with his wife, Lisa, has upgraded just about everything in their modest storefront. Saul is the same restaurant, but better." more ›

On Friday night some two dozen cyclists gathered in Queens for what has become a sadly familiar ritual in NYC: The installation of an all-white ghost bike commemorating the traffic death of a cyclist. The notoriously dangerous Queen Boulevard has claimed the lives of two cyclists in the past 19 months; the most recent victim, 38-year-old James Langergaard, was killed by a car as he crossed the boulevard at 69th Street on the evening of August 14th. (In February 2008, Asif Rahman, 22, was killed when he was hit by a truck at an intersection in Elmhurst.) more ›

A Queens judge ruled that a 45-year-old man can be evicted from the Woodside, Queens co-op his dad has let him live in for 18 years. According to the Daily News, even though Richard Carnivale was allowed to live in the apartment and paid $250,000 in maintenance fees over the two decades—his dad welcomed him to the new pad with a kiss and said, "Here are the keys to your new home"—he never had actual ownership. The judge wrote, "The son's claim of ownership is essentially predicated on the handing over of keys to the co-op apartment. No writing exists to evidence an intention by the father of making the son the owner of the property." Plus, the father and son had a falling out, and Carnivale stopped paying maintenance in 2007. A lawyer for Carnivale's father said his client has health problems, "The father didn't want to do this, but he needs the money. It's a shame that it had to come to this. We're not looking to take the apartment and throw him out in the street." Carnivale may appeal the ruling. more ›

When fast food chain Jollibee opened its first East Coast location earlier this year in Queens, lines quickly formed out the door and essentially wrapped around Woodside. Filipino ex-pats and food explorers have been keeping the place very busy since, but the missing piece these past few months has been breakfast. Though the Woodside Jollibee opens at 7 a.m., its fried egg and garlic rice based breakfast platters—completed with pinoy favorites like chicken tocino or beef tapa—have been missing from the menu. Until now. Monday night, a manager at the restaurant said that Jollibee Queens will roll out a breakfast menu sometime this month, adding that it might happen as soon as next week. Keep your white-gloved bee fingers crossed! more ›

The "not my baby back" cabbie who made headlines last year for his questionable Good Samartian act has now officially been charged with first-degree attempted rape. Klever Saliema is accused of forcing himself on a female passenger who had passed out during her cab ride home from Astoria to Woodside in Queens. more ›

New York City has a strange relationship with fast food restaurants—our first McDonald’s, for example, opened in 1973, ten full years after the franchise had sold its one-billionth hamburger. McDonald’s initially took off in the Big Apple in part because diners accustomed to the joint’s kitsch and cheeseburgers were eager to share it with others. The opening of a new fast food restaurant within the five boroughs, it so happens, is hardly ever completely new to everyone. more ›

Get this woman a reality TV show! Christina Szele of Woodside, Queens created such a disturbance during a Jet Blue flight from JFK airport to San Francisco that pilots diverted the plane and landed in Denver, where federal authorities took her into custody. According to an affidavit obtained by the Smoking Gun, things started to go sideways after a flight attendant noticed Szele waiting on line for the bathroom with a book of matches and a cigarette, which were promptly seized. more ›

Queens DA Richard Brown announced that a 34-year-old Woodside resident will be charged with second-degree murder, second-degree assault, and child endangerment after killing his wife and stabbing his young daughter on Sunday night. more ›

The blue awning above Tito Rad’s Grill and Restaurant, a homey spot situated next to a strip joint at the juncture of Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue declares “Finest Filipino Cuisine.” Culinary boasts aside Tito Rad’s might just win the prize for Queens' westernmost Filipino eatery. Little Manila lies some 20 blocks east. In any case Tito's menu has a cool logo: a slick dude in a Panama hat sits above the phrase, “Halika, kain tayo.” Below is the English translation “Cmon’ let’s eat!” more ›

An 80-year-old woman was rescued Thursday by a former neighbor whose concerns were aroused when she spotted newspapers piling up outside the Woodside, Queens woman's front door. Kim Russo used to live next door to Rose Schwing and was stopping by her old neighborhood to visit her mother. When the 47-year-old Russo saw the papers and mail accumulating in front of Schwing's house, she peaked inside one of Schwing's windows and heard her cries for help. more ›

more ›