City fire officials are proposing a new set of rules that would help firefighters locate apartment dwellers trapped in hi-rise blazes.The new rules would mandate landlords to affix stickers to the outside of doors in apartment buildings that have eight or more units on each floor. The vertical stickers would feature stars numbers, letters and triangles that would help firefighters […]

The city Department of Transportation (DOT) quietly dismantled its anti-graffiti crew last year and stopped cleaning tags, scrawls and other “artwork” from traffic signal poles, light poles, stop signs, traffic signs and other DOT property.Aides to Mayor Bill deBlasio say the cuts were necessary because the city doesn’t have enough cash to pay for the cleanups.DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg said […]

An Astoria developer has filed plans to build a five-story apartment building at 30-70 38th Street, between 30th and 31st Avenues.According to the plans, the parcel is split between two zoning districts – each with a different height requirement. So developer George Elliott is taking his case to the City Planning Commission (CPC,) asking the panel to rezone the whole […]

Owners of a building at 36-19 Broadway have filed plans with the Department of Buildings to transform the two-story commercial building into a four-story, mixed use site.Plans call for continued retail use on the ground floor, with two apartments on the second, third and fourth floors.A fast-spreading fire broke out at 2:30 a.m. on October 22, in the basement of […]

A 30-year-old Whitestone man who fled to Virginia after stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and hiding her body in her car, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 30th in Queens Supreme Court, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.   Luis Zambrano pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Angie Escobar, 28, who was last seen with Zambrano on the […]

A 71-year-old man who died in an Elmhurst house fire on March 21 was buried with full military honors, thanks to the efforts of Queens lawmaker.Martin Devereux was one of three men who perished in the blaze at the two-family home on Ithaca Street near Whitney Avenue on March 21, family members said. Devereux, who served in the U.S. Navy […]

A 23-year-old man who went on a killing rampage in Astoria on March 6 was indicted last week on murder and assault charges, authorities said.James Dillon, 23, of Astoria, is facing life in prison in an indictment that charges him with multiple counts including first-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault, arson, criminal possession of a weapon, authorities said.Prosecutors said […]