Woman gets raped twice by two men with her family present in Little Neck home invasion robbery

 QNS


Two men robbed and raped a 34-year-old woman and terrorized her family during a home invasion in Little Neck over the weekend, police reported.


Cops are looking for the duo, as well as a third individual who assisted them, in the violent encounter that took place at about 9:31 p.m. on May 4 in the vicinity of 251st Street and 57th Avenue.

According to law enforcement sources, the 34-year-old woman was leaving the residence when the two men — one of whom brandished a firearm — approached and forced her back into the home.


Security camera footage that the NYPD released on May 6 shows one armed suspect chasing the victim inside the house and two other perpetrators walking in.

 Seven other people were in the residence when the victim re-entered along with the two home invaders, sources familiar with the investigation said. The seven residents were forced to a bedroom, where they were detained as one of the robbers took the victim upstairs and searched for loot.


The victim provided the robber with $1,000 in cash, and then the suspect sexually assaulted her, police said. After the attack, he brought the victim back downstairs and removed another $800 in cash from the woman’s 54-year-old mother.


But that wasn’t enough for the perpetrators, police said, as they demanded more money. Authorities said the victim then went to another bedroom and provided $8,000 in cash from a nightstand. The second robber then sexually assaulted her in that bedroom, police noted.

 #SafestBigCity my ass de Blasio.

Defining the border

"The border between Queens, NYC & Nassau County, Long Island isn't so clear in places. There really isn't a defining body of land or water which determines the border, so maps are required to be referenced. Features such as street sign and fire hydrant styles give some clues on which side of the border you're on."

Illegal hotel busted in Little Neck

From the Queens Chronicle:

A house where Airbnb guests stayed on Beechknoll Avenue in Little Neck has been removed from the rental website by the host and the building was hit last month with a vacate order from the Department of Buildings over its usage as a hotel.

The owner of 249-23 Beechknoll Ave., the cellar of which was being used as a living space, could not be reached for comment before deadline.

The building received three Environmental Control Board violations for occupancy contrary to the certificate of occupancy, work without a permit in the basement and failing to provide ingress and egress. They were issued on June 14 along with the vacate order, according to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement.

“The overwhelming majority of hosts in Queens are responsible home sharers who respect their neighbors and take pride in introducing visitors from around the world to their borough,” Airbnb said in an emailed statement to the Chronicle.

The company did not immediately respond when asked when the listing was removed.

Gov. Cuomo signed legislation last year banning advertisements for short-term rentals in “Class A” multiple dwellings. But it did not ban using Airbnb to rent a single-family homes like the one on Beechknoll Avenue or two-family ones.

Great natural area on the northern shore of Queens

Nathan Kensinger/Curbed

From Curbed:

Running roughly 6,000 feet from its head near Northern Boulevard to its mouth in Udalls Cove, this diminutive stream travels through a bucolic backyard ravine in Little Neck, Queens, which has largely been saved from developers by several generations of local volunteers. Their successful battle to preserve their neighborhood’s waterfront, and to restore it to health, continues to be one of the most impressive community organizing efforts in the city. And yet, like Hook Creek and Bridge Creek, Gabler’s Creek remains a relatively unknown Queens waterway, flowing out of sight at the very edge of the city.

The fact that Gabler’s Creek even exists today is largely due to the work of the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee (UCPC), a small neighborhood organization founded in 1969 by the concerned residents of Douglaston and Little Neck. "A golf course had been planned, filling in the wetlands. That was the pivotal moment," says Walter Mugdan, who has been the president of the group since 2002. Their initial efforts helped to create the 30-acre Udalls Park Preserve, a protected area now jointly managed by the NYC Parks Department and the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation.

In recent years, the UCPC has continued to protect the preserve from overdevelopment, invasive species, erosion, flooding, and a host of other challenges. "Altogether, our organization has spent between $225,000 and $250,000 over the last 12 years on various large projects," says Mugdan. "For a tiny organization like ours, that’s pretty good."

Funded by grants and donations, these projects include planting over 1,000 new trees, removing more than a million pounds of concrete rubble, building and maintaining numerous new trail systems and foot bridges, and helping the city to identify and purchase the final few properties that would make Gabler’s Creek into a single, continuous public space. "This is a last little remnant of the natural world here," explains Mugdan, reflecting on the importance of the preserve. "It is hardly a pristine wilderness, but you make the best of what you’ve got."

Some great Alley Creek photography

There's a great photo essay about Alley Creek over at Curbed today.

Flushing, Bayside and Little Neck in 1984

"I took it in September 1984 when I lived in Little Neck and went on a visit to my parents house in Flushing.

The video starts on Northern Blvd. and Marathon Parkway in Little Neck, and goes through Bayside and into Flushing. We turned left on Murray Street, then left on 41st Avenue where my folks lived.

The video isn't high-definition, because it was recorded on VHS tape and then it took about 20 years before it got transferred to digital. But you'll see lots of stores and buildings that don't exist anymore - a lot of things change over 30 years! I hope it brings back some good memories for you. Enjoy!"


"I took this video in September 1984 when I lived in Little Neck and went on a visit to my parents house in Flushing. Afterwards, we turned left from 41st Avenue onto 154th Street, then right onto Northern Blvd. The video ends at Springfield Blvd. and Northern Blvd." - Robert Ristelhueber

Kids destroy Udall's Cove osprey nest

From CBS 2:

Little Neck residents are outraged after an osprey nest was deliberately set on fire.

CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported that state investigators are trying to find who started the blaze along the Nassau-Queens border by the Long Island Sound.

Chris DeGeorge witnessed last Sunday someone setting fire to the osprey nest in Udalls Cove as neighbors said it was set by two boys and a girl.

Udalls Cove is a designated bird sanctuary and ospreys are protected under both federal and state law.

Joseph DeGeorge said it appears the ospreys are trying to build a new nest, but it may be too late in the season for any hatchling to survive.

The reward leading to an arrest has grown to more than $4,000.

Cornell Farm may be in trouble

Forgotten-NY

From the Queens Chronicle:

Cornell Farm, a space hidden from view behind approximately 150-year-old trees, on the Nassau-Queens border in Little Neck, has been sold to a church, and historical preservationists are lamenting the sale.

The approximately 1 1/2 acre farm, which is located at 54-47 Little Neck Pkwy., was bought by The Harvest Church of New York, and the sale was filed in January 2014, according to records from the Department of Finance’s website.

The church was also approved as of May 5, 2015 for a permit to construct a new house of worship, according to a Department of Buildings spokesperson.

Jim Trent, who founded the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park, said he worked to obtain capital money for the space to be used by the farm museum to purchase the property, raising $1 million from Borough Hall, but fell short of the asking price.

The previous owners, the Patriy family, who purchased the plot from William Cornell’s daughter, had been asking $5.8 million, but the property sold for about $2 million to The Harvest Church.

The area is about 55 percent in Queens and 45 percent in Nassau, Trent said.

On the property are a number of buildings, the oldest being a farmhouse built in 1826. There’s also an 1880 barn nearby, a newer house with an adjacent carriage house — and there used to be a 1905 greenhouse.

Although there are no demolition permits on the property’s history, according to the DOB spokesperson, the curved-glass greenhouse no longer stands.

A spokesperson for The Harvest Church said the greenhouse had been taken down before the church bought the land.

Questions remain as to whether other buildings on the site will be taken down to accommodate the new worship hall.

West Nile spraying this week

From NBC:

To reduce mosquito populations and the risk of West Nile virus, the New York City Health Department plans to spray pesticide from trucks on Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of Queens.

The spraying is scheduled between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, application will begin Wednesday.

No human cases of West Nile virus have been reported this season.

The neighborhoods to be sprayed include parts of Auburndale, Corona, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens Hills, Murray Hill, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia, Bellaire, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Floral Park Center, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hill, Little Neck, and Oakland Gardens.

Northeast Queens experiencing raccoon invasion

From WPIX:

This summer many Northern Queens residents are living with raccoons in their community that appear to feel comfortable roaming the streets in broad daylight.

Matt Ringler said 11 raccoons recently showed up at his parents’ backdoor in Bayside.

Little Neck Resident Joe Heslin described the raccoon population, “to say that there are 1,000 in this neighborhood would be underestimating it.”

Heslin told PIX11, “I’ve looked out the window and the mother’s been looking out the driveway and 3 or 4 little pups would be chewing my garbage and she’d look at me, I’d look at her, and the kids would keep chowing down, so they’re not afraid.”

“They’re not like other animals that see humans and run the other way, they can be very vicious,” said State Senator Tony Avella.

Goodbye Pathmark & Waldbaum's, hello Stop & Shop

Queens Courier

From the Queens Courier:

Stop & Shop is looking to grab six Queens supermarkets off the clearance rack.

The company announced Monday it is acquiring local Pathmark and Waldbaum’s supermarkets from the struggling Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which filed for bankruptcy. In all, Stop & Shop is purchasing 25 Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and A&P locations in the tri-state area from the grocery giant for $146 million. The deal is subject to court approval, but is expected to be finalized before the end of this calendar year.

Stop & Shop currently has five locations in Queens, including on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale; on Union Turnpike on the Glendale/Forest Hills border; on Northern Boulevard in Little Neck; and on 48th Street in Long Island City.

The chain will more than double its presence in the “World’s Borough” with the addition of three Waldbaum’s stores on 26th Avenue in Bayside, Beach Channel Drive in Belle Harbor and Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach, as well as three Pathmark locations on Farrington Street in Flushing, Atlantic Avenue in Ozone Park and Springfield Boulevard in Springfield Gardens.

Don't eat the shellfish!

From the Times Ledger:

Officers of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation were deployed to Little Neck Bay on the evening of May 30. Their investigation led to one arrest for harvesting shellfish in uncertified waters.

The Economic Conservation Officers seized harvesting tools, buckets and bags, as well as six bushels containing about 1,100 oysters that were eventually returned to the bay, the DEC said.

Officers charged one male suspect with misdemeanor illegal commercialization and placing rakes in uncertified waters, as well as harvesting shellfish in uncertified waters, according to the department’s office of media relations. The office would not release the offender’s name.

Massage parlors proliferating everywhere

From WPIX:

On a rainy Monday approaching midnight, PIX11 Investigates took a drive along Northern Boulevard in Little Neck, Queens, heading east toward the Great Neck border. We noticed blinking, neon lights in two storefronts standing side by side. One of them was called “Relax Station,” and the blue and white sign indicated it was open. The next store had a red awning; the sign advertising $19.99 rubs for 30 minutes.

These are the spas of Little Neck and Douglaston in eastern Queens, and in the last couple of years, the name FOOT SPA has appeared increasingly on the signs.

PIX11 took note of the trend in our travels and decided to look into the phenomenon.

Avella gets somewhere with DOT

From the Queens Chronicle:

Score two for state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) for getting the city Department of Transportation to take action on two problematic locations in Flushing and Little Neck.

The worst of the two is the area around the Flushing Commons construction project at the former municipal parking lot in Downtown Flushing. Avella and others, including the developer, have complained that lack of signage has backed up traffic on 37th and 39th avenues from Union to Main streets and on Union from Roosevelt Avenue to Northern Boulevard.

In addition, there is no pedestrian walkway on part of Union Street, making it dangerous for people who must walk in the street.

Avella has held two press conferences at the site and met with Queens DOT Commissioner Dalila Hall there seeking solutions to the problems.

On Friday, Avella announced that Hall had agreed to amend a stipulation with the developers to require them to provide traffic control agents for the duration of the construction, which is scheduled through 2021.

Hall has also agreed to install a temporary pedestrian walkway on Union Street.

In Little Neck, Hall has OK’d partial resurfacing and repair of Depew Avenue. It is scheduled to be completed in January.

Tall walls don't always make good neighbors

From Crains:

What has angered many residents is the watchmaker's plan to expand the 160,000-square-foot plant by 50%. To do that, the company built a two-story extension that resulted in a 35-foot blank wall running along the back of the seven-acre lot. The howls of outrage came even though the privately held, 58-year-old watchmaker last year had voluntarily met with Queens officials to share its plans. At the time, the company, with its 350 skilled employees, seemed like an ideal fit for the area.

Surprised by the reaction, perhaps, but eager to please its new neighbors, E. Gluck quickly moved to make amends. In August, it spent more than $1 million to chop 14 feet off the offending 35-foot wall and set back the second story from the street by 40 feet.

"Our concern was to be a good neighbor," said Murray Stimler, senior vice president of the company, which imports parts from China and then crafts them into more than a half-dozen brand-name timepieces for Armitron, Nine West, Vince Camuto and Anne Klein, as well as private-label offerings.

He also noted that the company has put its security kiosk 50 feet back from the curb to spare locals from trucks idling in the street, and has splashed out $100,000 on mature trees and landscaping around the back of the plant. The hoops that E. Gluck has had to jump through in Little Neck come after 33 years as a pillar of the community in its current home, on the other side of Queens in Long Island City. There, ironically, E. Gluck is being forced out not by developers keen to convert its 800,000-square-foot, nine-story building into luxury condos, but by the City University of New York, which wants the property for its own use.

On the other hand, when it signed its 20-year lease in 2013, the city sweetened the deal by giving E. Gluck $15 million in tax incentives over 25 years. Now, after having spent a hunk of that savings to better fit into its new home, the company will move into it in December.

Today's sprayings

Skeeter spraying at sites across borough tomorrow

For more info, click here.

A less tall wall in Little Neck

From the Times Ledger:

Northeast Queens lawmakers announced Monday that the E. Gluck Corporation has agreed to modify a 36-foot gray wall that has become the source of dozens of complaints from Little Neck residents.

The wall was erected in April after construction began on the property, at 60-15 Little Neck Parkway, as the watchmaking company prepared to relocate from Long Island City to the new warehouse in northeast Queens. After several weeks of pressure from state and local representatives, E. Gluck has agreed to lower the wall, which faces 262nd Street, by 14 feet and will also add nearly 100 trees and plants to soften the look of the warehouse’s exterior.

Little Neck residents want wall to come down

From the Queens Chronicle:

The wall is up, the people are angry, and, according to state Sen. Tony Avella, “a stop work [order] is going into effect.”

At the center of the controversy is the construction of a new 35-foot-high building, which would sit atop a hill that is already approximately 10 feet above curb level, in the middle of a tree-lined residential neighborhood in Little Neck.

Nearly 100 area residents, along with Avella, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) and Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) and representatives of Community Board 11, gathered at the corner of 262nd Street and 60th Road on Tuesday morning to protest the construction.

“The moment I saw this, looking at the wall, I felt I was back in the concentration camp,” said a woman who identified herself only as Margret, a Holocaust survivor who lives on the corner across the street from the site. “It is very depressing. I sit at my table and I have to look at this wall.”

The wall, from most accounts, seemed to have been erected overnight.

Restaurant expansion to replace current eyesore

From the Queens Courier:

Mizumi restaurant is pumping funds into a planned expansion that will clean up the eyesore next door, a defunct gas station, The Courier has learned.

Owners of the sushi restaurant and buffet bought the former Getty gas station on 231-06 Northern Blvd., which has been tagged with graffiti for more than a year, and plan to replace it with an extension of the eatery.

Besides cleaning off the vandalism, the Chiang family, which owns Mizumi, hired Advanced Cleanup Technologies to remediate any environmental concerns caused by the gas station or expansion as it sits directly in front of Alley Pond Park.