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Although the 2007 legislative session ended last week with bitter feelings between Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, several Queens lawmakers' bills were passed before the closing bell rang. Among those measures were bills sponsored by Assemblymember Michael Gianaris and state Senator Frank Padavan. More ... 32 Attorneys General Push For Student Loan Bill Declaring that the shortcomings of the student loan industry "[cry] out for a federal solution," 32 state attorneys general have appealed to the United States Senate to follow the House's approval of a bill tightening oversight of the $85- billion-a-year student loan business. More ... This past Monday, June 25, the 57th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, was celebrated in Queens as "Korean War Veterans' Day" under a resolution introduced by Assemblymember Ellen Young (D- Flushing). More ... Joseph Derosa and Maria Nava, eighthgraders, at I.S. 141, and I.S. 204 respectively, were among the recipients of Scholastic Achievement Awards given to outstanding students of District 30 schools by the Community Education Council last week. More ... We couldn't miss the opportunity of the Gazette's 25th Anniversary to send good wishes to everyone who has helped to make it Queens' Best Paper! It's been around as long as I can remember! More ... Unisphere, Inc. held "Circus In the Park", its fourth annual gala event to benefit Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, on Thursday, June 21 at the Ederle Terrace at Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park. More ... Commerce Bank recently announced the recipients of its annual American Dream Scholarship program, which awards $1,000 to local graduating seniors who both achieve academic excellence and serve the community. Six Queens residents who are graduating from high schools in the borough received Commerce Bank's American Dream Scholarships. More ... The second annual Achilles Mavromatis Memorial Golf Classic will be held Monday, Sept. 10, 2007 at the Douglaston Golf Course, 63-20 Marathon Pkwy., Douglaston. All proceeds will benefit the Greek Children's Fund, a not-for-profit organization to benefit Greek, Cypriot and Greek- American children battling cancer and other lifethreatening illnesses. More ... Noise is the number one complaint in New York City. An estimated 355,000 complaints are made to 311 each year, according to the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). "Noise has changed as a result of 311," Paul Cosgrave commissioner of the city Department of Information Technology and Communication said at the June 19 meeting of the Queens borough cabinet. More ... (L. to r:): Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., Paul Vallone and former Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. stand with Principal Ann Gordon- Chang, and former Principals Lucille DiBiase and Libby Robbins at the rededication of P.S. More ... A couple of months ago, I walked into the Gazette office for the first time, ready for the first day of my internship. I had heard about the Gazette and read many of their newspapers and articles, but I didn't really know what to expect going in to work there. The only other work experience I had was as a hostess at my father's restaurant in Manhattan. More ... As temperatures heat up, escape the heat by cooling down at Starbucks this summer. Under the green umbrellas on Starbucks' front porch, relax and refresh with the tastes of the season. Starbucks' summer beverages have been available since last month. More ... In celebration of New York City's diverse Puerto Rican population, Starbucks Coffee will offer its Puerto Rico single origin coffee, which has previously been available only in Starbucks stores in Puerto Rico, for a limited time in New York City stores. More ... Firefighter Daniel Pujdak was a man of many dreams. The former star pitcher at St. Francis Preparatory School could have accomplished anything he set his mind to, family and fellow firefighters said. "He had a heart as big as the sky. The kid embraced life, he gobbled it up," said firefighters at Ladder 146 in Brooklyn, where Pujdak was assigned for the last 20 months. More ... New York Police Department Community Affairs Chief Douglas Ziegler last week announced the kickoff of a new Police Immersion Program that will put rookie cops on the streets. More ... Five years have gone by since I last reflected on how I came to the Gazette. In the years between 2002 and now, 2007, the paper has grown, the coverage base has expanded and some new people have become welcome additions to the staff. Where we would be without our conscientious and thorough proofreader, Norma Grossman, I do not care to think. More ... Over in the Ditmars shopping area, Joe Scheinfeld, owner of Scheinfeld's Kiddie Shop (22-28 31st St.) finds business this holiday period "erratic". "Business is good, but not steady like it was in the past," he explained. More ... With new sign in place, Apple Bank's first Astoria branch is ready for opening and we hear it will be soon. It's on Broadway between 35th and 36th Sts. More ... 1984- Elections. Early in August 1984, the Gazette's front page held stories about Congressmember Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president of the United States, launching her national campaign with a rally in front of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens. More ... Area residents expressed concern that the demolition would release lead dust into the atmosphere, although KeySpan officials said the process would be closely monitored and that before the demolition most of the paint on the 400-foot-high tanks had been taped over or scraped off. More ... When I went on my job interview for the Queens Gazette, it was nerve-racking. Not only was it my very first job interview, but with no experience, I was applying for a job at a local Queens newspaper. When I first walked in and took a look around it was intimidating. I got a first-hand look at how hectic and busy an office it was. More ... Atonement Lutheran: +Jul. 2. Day camp begins, children ages 4+. +Sunday worship services in English at 10:15 a.m. and Sunday school at 11 a.m.; Sunday worship service in Spanish, noon; Mondays, 2:30-6 p.m.,afterschool program, pre-K (free for 4-yearolds) enroll now for September, 30-61 87th St., Jackson Heights; 718.639.6074. More ... About a decade before the Gazette came into existence, state Senator Frank Padavan (R- C, Bellerose) was elected for the first time. More ... Asardonic remark at a Variety Boys Club dinner five years ago that the club was open to "girls on Monday only" came full circle yesterday when the new Girls' Annex at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens in Astoria was officially opened. More ... Hundreds of people volunteered their time this past weekend to build a playground in a single day, a contribution that will allow the community's children to play and exercise. Volunteers showed up as early as 6:30 a.m. More ... In 1917, near death, Scott Joplin, the most famous and enduring of the early ragtime composers, expressed the wish that his composition, "Maple Leaf Rag", first sheet music to go over a million copies, be played at his funeral. More ... For the third consecutive year, the life and music of ragtime composer Scott Joplin were celebrated at St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst this past Saturday, May 12. More ... Fresh on the heels of the controversy over construction of a six-story building on a low rise residential block, comes news of a planned 12-story luxury condominium on 30th Road near Crescent St. which would be the second highest building in Astoria- Long Island City. More ... The borough of Queens, long associated with quiet residential neighborhoods and pockets of industrial space, is poised for an office boom of major proportions, according to Sanford Zuckerbrot, president of Sholom Zuckerbrot Realty Corp. based in Long Island City. More ... 1981- Steinway Street Clock: Standing 15 feet high and admired by generations of shoppers since it was erected in 1922, the Steinway Street Clock became an official New York City landmark in 1981, just before the Gazette started publishing. Shortly after it received landmark designation, it was reported in the Apr. More ... Eight members of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce and this Gazette reporter traveled to Turkey, thanks to the efforts of Veysel Ucan, executive director of TAMEF, the Turkish- American Multicultural Education Foundation, located on 45th Street near Queens Boulevard. More ... 1982- Astoria Studio: Early in March 1982, after several years of effort, the historic Astoria movie studios, built in 1921 and now badly in need of repair, were transferred from the federal government to New York City. More ... 1983- Housing: The first stirrings of what would eventually authorize the sprawling Queens West development along 70 acres of Long Island City waterfront property cleared of decrepit old buildings appeared in an early March 1983 issue of the More ... When the first issue of the Western Queens Gazette hit the streets of Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights in January 1982, Hugh Carey was almost at the end of his two-term reign as governor of New York State and Mario Cuomo was in More ... In his eight years as governor of New York (1975-1982), Hugh Carey was put to the test before the end of his first year in Albany and he responded magnificently, leading the emotionally charged fight that saved New York City from bankruptcy. More ... Mayor Koch's plane was still hours away from landing at Kennedy Airport but already City Hall was buzzing with speculation that the mayor might be considering a run for the governor's office after all. Councilmember Peter Vallone, (DAstoria), pointed out that Koch has indicated he couldn't take living and working in Albany. More ... Following a series of highly publicized victories in his native borough of Queens in the late 1960s, when local communities were coming alive and challenging City Hall, attorney Mario Cuomo began to get an itch to run for public office as the 1973 race for New York City mayor was getting started. More ... Lieutenant Governor Mario Cuomo kicked off his gubernatorial campaign in his home borough of Queens during a swing through the borough this past week. Mr. More ... An 18-month traffic headache started Monday for thousands of motorists as a $40.8 million rebuilding of the Queens Boulevard Bridge over the Sunnyside Yards in Long Island City got underway. More ... Setting a precedent, the New York State Conservative Party for the first time gave George Pataki, the Republican candidate, its endorsement and support when he ran against and defeated incumbent Mario Cuomo in 1994 to become the state's 53rd governor. More ... In the final hours of the 2003 legislative session, the legislature in Albany passed a bipartisan bill which dumped the future of subway token booths in Governor George Pataki's lap- if he wants it. More ... Twenty-five years is a long time. In 1982, "Dallas" was the top-rated television program, Dave Kingman, playing for the Mets, led the National League with 37 home runs, and Ma Bell was in charge of almost everyone's telephone. More ... In 1988 the Gazette was six years old and the youngsters in this photo, who attended the Queensview Nursery School, weren't much younger when they visited a local firehouse. More ... What can I say about Tony? Some of us just can't get enough of him. This is my second tour of duty, and the second go-round is a lot easier than my first. I didn't know what Tony was like back then. More ... In the war of words being waged by Republican presidential hopefuls for the loyalties of the party's conservative wing, Rudy Giuliani has been endorsed by a pol whose conservative credentials are unchallenged- state Senator Serphin Maltese. More ... Declaring New York City's subsidizing campaigns during a period of severe fiscal shortfalls "obscene," state Senator Serphin Maltese last week called for an immediate halt in taxpayer funding of politicians' campaigns and the suspension or elimination of the city Campaign Finance Law. More ... "Of all the boroughs outside Manhattan, Queens has had the best performance in recent years," state Comptroller H. Carl McCall told the Long Island City Business Development Corporation last Friday. In a breakfast meeting at the Citicorp Building, McCall told an audience of local business owners and operators that unemployment is low, job growth is strong and wages are up. More ... Assemblymember Ivan Lafayette, at 76 years of age and in his 31st year as a lawmaker, appears to be headed into one of the most contentious and most meaningful battles of his legislative career over the issue of who shall control the city's public school system. More ... Seeking to capitalize on the recent designation by the White House of the No. 7 transit line as a National Millennium Trail, Assemblymember Ivan Lafayette has requested that federal funds be provided to maintain what has been described as a "living heritage trail". More ... "Which is better, our [the City Council] referendum proposal or the current law?" City Council Speaker Peter Vallone asked the City Club at its September meeting at Citicorp recently. More ... State Senator George Onorato has been Western Queens' representative for about a quarter of a century (almost as long as the Gazette has been around) and says he's glad to see some long overdue changes in Albany since Governor Eliot Spitzer took office in January. More ... State Senator George Onorato and Assemblymember Denis Butler, who both double as Democratic district leaders in Astoria and Long Island City, respectively, last week came out strongly against the 'N' train extension to La Guardia Airport. In separate statements, both said they were "vehemently" opposed to the project. More ... Legislation sponsored by state Senator George Onorato which would ensure that gift card buyers get their money's worth from these purchases has been approved by the Assembly and senate in Albany, the Astoria lawmaker announced. More ... The late Thomas J. Manton's long years of dedicated service to Woodside and surrounding communities as a lawmaker and Democratic leader were hailed by an array of family, friends and colleagues last week as the Woodside post office was renamed in his honor. More ... A decades-old plan for a high tech, elevated, automated monorail system linking Kennedy and La Guardia Airports with major rail and mass transit facilities to speed passengers to airports may finally be getting off the ground. More ... Thousands of jubilant Astorians and Long Island City residents jammed the streets and sidewalks of a Greek Cathedral- stopping traffic and bringing part of Astoria to a virtual standstill as they strained to see and hear the spiritual leader of more than 250 million Greek Orthodox Christians. More ... They came in wheelchairs and on crutches for the past week, and upwards of 5,000 visited St. Irene Chrysovalantou Greek Orthodox Church in Astoria to see the church's patron saint's tear-stained icon. One of the visitors, Anna Konstantinidis, from North Bergen, New Jersey, related: "I believe in St. Irene. My mother (deceased) has a picture of her on her tomb. More ... In what may have been his last public appearance before retiring at the end of this month, Archbishop Iakovos told thousands of worshippers last Sunday that they and their church would triumph over evil "because we believe in him who is the victory", he said. More ... Although the Greek Orthodox Church in America encompasses 1.5 million members in about 450 parishes, the newly installed Archbishop of America, Archbishop Spyridon, chose the Greek Orthodox Shrine Church of St. Nicholas in Bayside to celebrate his first vesper services after being enthroned as the new leader of the church in America. More ... At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C, a father explained to his son that 58,209 names on the long, black, angular wall stood for the people our country sent to the war in Vietnam and were killed. More ... Aligning its theme with New York City's 100-year centennial celebration of the consolidation of New York, the Queens Astoria Historical Society launched its first meeting of the season with "New York The Way It Was: Queens," a video presentation looking at life in this borough from the 1930s through the 1960s. More ... In the earliest days of the Western Queens Gazette in 1982, the newest kid on the block was doing exactly what it was expected to do- reporting the news, the local news- in Long Island City, Hunters Point, Dutch Kills, Ravenswood; Ditmars, Astoria West, Old Astoria, Steinway and Jackson Heights, according to its masthead. More ... "Is this a park?" the little boy was overheard asking his grandfather. "Yes, Jimmy. It's a sculpture park, and you're allowed to climb on many of the things that you see here," he was told. Sunday in the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City on the afternoon of Sept. More ... Get into a conversation with a long-time Queens resident and you're likely to discover a subscriber of the Long Island Star-Journal, a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. More ... "People are always striving to see something new," former Cosmonaut Viktor Savinykh told a group of students during a recent visit to the College of Aeronautics to explain the nearly universal urge of human beings to explore the cosmos. More ... It took a long time and there were a few delays, but the Queens Borough Public Library branch at 21st Street and 38th Avenue was officially ready on Friday, June 15, and it was time to call politicians, library officials and the general public together for the grand opening ceremony. More ... Riverview Restaurant and Lounge, 2-01 50th Ave., Long Island City, now offers its patrons an expansive outdoor space from which to enjoy spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. More ... On July 16-21, Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC) will hold a Scholastic hospital book fair to benefit the hospital auxiliary. Some 20 percent of the proceeds from the sale of all materials at the fair will be to enhance patient care. More ... A war of words that pitted several 30th Ave. merchants against actor-director Robert De Niro broke out in Astoria this week but it is unlikely that the outcome, if any, will affect the production of the temperamental star's film, "A Bronx Tale". More ... Starbucks employees (partners in Starbucks' lexicon) have been brewing up the hottest music all summer as part of the Avant-Grande Music Competition. On Tuesday, June 19, five finalists faced off in the final round at Starbucks' Astor Place store to battle it out for top two spots. More ... Wine is part of Mediterranean cuisine. Greek wines are known throughout the world for their quality. Katerina Efthymiadou, a 34-year-old mother of three children presented Wonderful Ethnic Company wines at the Hermes Expo Saturday, April 28 to 29 at Trump Marina in Atlantic City, New Jersey. More ... On the second Tuesday of each month The New York Metropolitan Country Music Association holds dances in Queens at 7:30 p.m. Adults only are permitted, dance lessons are held for newcomers with refresher courses for more advanced dancers. More ... The summer jazz program at York College is in its third year, and students from all over the city can study at York for five weeks and earn five college credits in jazz performance and music theory. The program still has space for one or two trumpet players. Interested parties must currently be attending a New York City public high school. More ... A black man 24 years old, as yet unidentified by police, was stabbed several times in the torso at about 3 a.m. in front of 34-50 Steinway St. last Wednesday, June 20. Police said the victim was stabbed during a dispute with an unidentified suspect, who fled the scene. The victim was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. More ... |
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