“When the Greeks arrived in Sicily in the 8th Century B.C., they saw forests, woods and lakes that formed a paradise,” said Diana Mazza, Arba Sicula society tour guide. “They cut trees to build ships and for the necessities of life. The Romans cut our forests and changed Sicily into the bread basket of Italy.” Sicily has Greek roots and […]
Valentine’s Day Trivia
Did You Know… • That approximately 25 per cent of all greeting cards purchased each year are Valentines? According to the Greeting Card Association, all the Valentines exchanged each year add up to approximately 1 billion love notes. • That in the Middle Ages, people believed the first unmarried person of the opposite sex they met on Valentine’s Day would […]
‘LaGuardia Airport’ Traces Aviation History
LaGuardia Airport By Joshua Stoff ISBN: 0738557994 128 pages; $19.99 Arcadia Publishing Late this past November, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey announced it is authorizing a $40 million study for a new design to replace the 45- year-old central terminal at LaGuardia Airport, which handles some 12 million passengers a year. Construction could take as long […]
Vanderbilt Visits Long Island City In January 1886
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. A banner across the Star-Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper’s name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily […]
Roger Laghezza, Gazette Co-Founder, Dies At Age 78
Roger Laghezza, with Judy Weiner-Jackson and George Stamatiades, a founder of the newspaper that became the Queens Gazette, died Monday morning, February 2. He was 78 years old. Laghezza was a lifelong resident of the Dutch Kills neighborhood. He attended the parochial school operated in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on 29th Street and Long Island City H.S. […]
The Pulpit
Times and dates are subject to change. Please call event sponsors to confirm. All Nations Baptist: •Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m., for three months, free English classes which have already begun, registration required, limited space, 86-76 80th St., Woodhaven; 718.296.2025. **** All Saints’ Episcopal: •Tuesdays, 6 p.m. Join the Sunnyside Drum Corps Marching Band, boys/girls ages 7-17; band information. •Mon-Fri., 10 a.m.-2 […]
Astoria Center Of Israel Gets Local Business Award
The Astoria Center of Israel, Jonathan Pearl, Ph.D, rabbi, and George Lindenblatt, cantor has been selected to receive the 2008 Best of Long Island City Award in the Synagogues category from the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA). Each year, the USLBA’s “Best of Local Businesses” Award Program recognizes outstanding nonprofit institutions and local businesses throughout the country and identifies groups […]
Flushing Grandfather Dies After Knife Attack
The Flushing grandfather who tried to block a 300-pound maniac from stabbing his wife on January 13 died last week of wounds he suffered in the attack. John Purcell, 78, died on January 23 of stab wounds to the chest he suffered when David Williams attacked him and his wife, Joan, 71, as they exited an elevator in the lobby […]
Tuskegee Airmen At Queens Libraries, Feb. 14, 28
On February 14 learn Black history firsthand with the Tuskegee Airmen and talk with former pilot Dr. Roscoe Brown Jr. and the NAACP. Hear about the 332nd Fighter Group (the Tuskegee Airmen) and the famed Redtails, which downed over 100 Luftwaffe planes in World War II from those who lived it. Former U.S. Army Air Force Captain Dr. Brown commanded […]