At the April meeting of the Astoria Civic Association, former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. began by announcing that this was the organization’s annual police night. From the dais in the ballroom at Riccardo’s on 24th Avenue he introduced the man at the head of the police force, whom he described as “probably the best commissioner in the history […]
NYC Ranks 43 Out Of 50 Cities In Graduations
New York City ranked 43rd out of 50 large cities in graduation rates for high school students, according to a national survey conducted by America’s Promise Alliance. One of every three students drops out of high school each year in the U.S., or about 1.3 million annually the Alliance says. The Alliance, formed in 1997, is the brainchild of former […]
Time Warner Cable Brings Caller ID On TV To Queens
Time Warner Cable’s New York City region has introduced Caller ID on TV to customers who subscribe to both Digital Phone and digital cable*. This group of approximately 50,000 customers now has an additional free feature on television- a Caller ID display. A small banner with the caller’s name appears on the top left-hand corner of the television when the […]
Garden School To Hold 10th Walk-A-Thon
The Garden School’s 10th annual Walk-A-Thon, sponsored by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) will take place on Tuesday, May 13. This event is one of the largest and most important fundraisers of the year for the school. All monies raised by the PTA go back to Garden School. The original walk was the idea of a group of parents wanting […]
Community Clean Up, Jobs Rehab Program Gets $564 G Fed Grant
BY JOHN TOSCANO The Doe Fund, which employs formerly homeless persons and parolees to clean up more than 160 miles of New York City streets every day, has received another $564,000 federal grant, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney announced last week. The fund, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to break the cycle of homelessness, addiction and criminal recidivism by providing paid […]
State Senator George Onorato Assesses Budget
State Senator George Onorato (D-Queens) made the following statement on the 2008-2009 New York State Budget approved April 9 by the state senate and Assembly: “This $121.7 billion state budget, which was adopted under the most extraordinary of circumstances, has a great deal to recommend it. While the spending plan came in lower than the $124 billion Executive Budget presented […]
Armenian Commemoration Set For City Hall
The Armenian National Committee of New York will host the 93rd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide at City Hall Chambers on April 25 at 5:30 p.m. The evening will feature Professor Henry Theriault of Worcester State College as the main speaker and Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, who will address the community and give the invocation. Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, […]
Triumph Of Freedom
Triumph Of Freedom Passover, the Festival of Freedom, is by far the most popular Jewish holiday and is probably observed more scrupulously than the Holy Days. This year, the first two nights of the Passover holiday are Apr. 20 and 21 and the last two nights are Apr. 26 and 27, both in the Hebrew year 5769. One of the […]
Parks Fleet Gets Greener With Nine New Electric Cars
City Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe celebrated the addition of nine new electric cars to the Astoria Park fleet with Borough President Helen Marshall, City Councilmembers John Liu and Peter Vallone Jr., New York Power Authority (NYPA) senior vice president of energy services and technology Angelo Esposito and Clean Air Communities Director Debbi Edelstein at Astoria Park […]
Delis Bids Farewell To 30-Plus Years With Bd. 1
Imagine neighborhoods in Astoria and Long Island City without shady trees to take the swelter out of summer. Try to think of your neighborhood as a place with far fewer streetlights and traffic signals, with overburdened sewers, car-crunching potholes at the mercy of a city administration that turns a deaf ear to problems in the “outer boroughs”. That’s the way […]