Neir's Tavern burglarized

A GoFundMe has been set up by a fan of the bar to recover some of what was lost.

NY Post 

The historic Queens bar that was used to films scenes for “Goodfellas” was burglarized just three months after it opened for outdoor dining following a pandemic shutdown.

The Woodhaven watering hole was looted of the cash register, POS system, about $300 in cash and four bottles of booze from behind the bar by a pair of thieves, police sources said.

“I am just tired to be honest with you,” owner Loycent Gordon told The Post. “It’s another straw on top of everything. The weight is getting too heavy to carry.”

According to police sources, two men entered the premise through the basement door at 3 am on Friday morning, removed the cash register valued at $200, the $300 inside and four bottles of Jack Daniels valued at $160. They fled westbound on 88th Avenue. There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

After the robbery, a group called Neirs200, which is dedicated to ensuring the bar sees its bicentennial, set up a GoFundMe to support the bar.

Speaking to the thieves, an emotional Gordon said:

“I understand maybe you have to eat and feed your family, but we also have a family to feed. It’s a shame you have to burglarize someone to feed yours.”

He added that while he is disheartened and demoralized from the latest setback, he vowed to keep going.

“We are trying to be Rocky and keep fighting.”

No more cash at the QMT

From DNA Info:

Drivers heading from Manhattan to Queens or vice versa through the Queens Midtown Tunnel won't be able to pay cash for the toll in early 2017, according to a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

All toll plazas of the tunnel will go cashless in January, a change that the MTA says will result in a smoother tunnel experience for all, according to Joyce Mulvaney, the agency’s director of community affairs.

The new policy will not affect drivers who already use E-ZPass.

But those who don't will have their license plate photographed by cameras installed at the toll plazas and get a bill in the mail within 30 days.

The MTA has agreements with out-of-state DMVs to send the bill to non-New York drivers, according to MTA spokesman Christopher McKniff.

The toll for E-ZPass drivers is $5.54. For everyone else, it's $8. Vehicles are tolled in both directions.

Drivers who fail to pay the toll on time will receive a $100 violation. Ongoing failure to pay will mean having the bill referred to a collections agency, with the possibility of civil lawsuits, McKniff said.

That's a lot of pot!

From Eyewitness News:

Six men have been arrested for possessing more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana.

Members of the DEA's New York Drug Enforcement Task Force discovered them transferring cardboard cartons containing the drug from a tractor trailer parked in Elmhurst, Queens, to two smaller vehicles early Monday morning.

In addition, it is alleged that the suspects possessed between $200,000 and $300,000 in United States currency.

Weiyang Yao, 47, of Cucamonga, California, Yuejiang Zeng, 53, of San Gabriel, California, Shan Wu Zhang, 30, of British Columbia, Canada, and Duanzhao Zhang, 38, Tong Shun Zhang, 29, and Tong Zhew Zhang, 24, all of Brooklyn will appear in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday

They will each be charged with first-degree criminal possession of marijuana. If convicted, the defendants each face up to five and a half years in prison.

Thief robs casino patron

From the Daily News:

One gambler's luck vanished when a crook snatched a wad of cash from his hand and disappeared at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, police said on Tuesday.

The 54-year-old victim was sitting at an electronic table game when the suspect slinked up behind him, grabbed about $2,000 in cash and took off running from the casino floor on July 2 around 11:30 p.m., authorities said.

Security cameras caught the thief hurdling down staircases as he made his getaway.

Police described the suspect as a light skinned man, 20- to 25-years-old with a thin build.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Love the quality of the image captured by the casino's security cameras!

What are the chances?

From Eyewitness News:

A woman accidentally threw away thousands of dollars meant to pay for her daughter's college tuition.

The Queens mom has her money back, thanks to some New York City sanitation workers.

Harried working mother of two Melissa Gallagher was rushing from home to her double parked car when she stopped at the garbage can on her corner to throw out a water bottle.

"And it must've just slipped off my wrist," Gallagher said.

Her little Coach wristlet pocketbook, had slipped off into the trash, but this one carried treasure!

"$4,000," Gallagher said.

She was carrying the cash to make a bank deposit to cover her daughter Clarissa's tuition, a basketball player and Junior at SUNY Old Westbury.

The corner can had been emptied along with all the others on Myrtle Avenue, so she frantically called the Department of Sanitation.

The city collects roughly 10,500 tons of refuse a day, rolling 2,230 collection trucks continuously, but DSNY welcomed her to go through the garbage of that truck on her route the next day.

A supervisor had the haul laid out at the Waste Management facility in Maspeth, and the determined mom started digging.

Several helpful sanitation workers assisted in the search, but it was Melissa herself, who spotted the designer pouch.

Can Johnny's cash contributions be trusted?

From the Daily News:

Cash is king for Controller John Liu’s mayoral campaign.

While most campaign contributors write checks to their chosen candidates, records show that Liu has received 895 donations in cash — far more than other candidates.
The donations, totaling $65,000, are worth $121,240 with the city’s generous matching funds program — and the haul is raising red flags for watchdogs.

“With the campaign’s funny money issues, it’s unfathomable that so many contributions are in cash,” said Dick Dadey, of Citizens Union, a government watchdog group. “Cash is not traceable or verifiable.”

Liu is under scrutiny in the wake of the convictions Thursday of two campaign aides charged with funneling illegal contributions through straw donors.

Liu has not been charged in the case but law enforcement sources said Friday that the investigation into Liu’s campaign is continuing.

Suspects sought in burglary and robbery sprees

From the Village Voice:

The NYPD is asking for the public's help identifying a man wanted in a string of Queens burglaries that occurred in June and July. The suspect generally breaks a window of his target location (they've included Carvel, Patron Mexican, and Hi 5 Bar and Grill), steals cash, and flees. No injuries have been reported. He's a black male aged 26-32. If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

From the Village Voice:

The NYPD is asking for the public's help locating a man wanted in connection with 10 robberies in Queens in the last month. The suspect, pictured, enters commercial locations, jumps behind the counters, pulls out a gun, demands cash, and flees on foot with his take. He's aged 25-30, 5'7"-6'0", with a medium build, and was seen wearing a blue New York baseball cap and white T-shirt. The last reported robbery occurred on Saturday, July 24. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).

Red, white, blue and green

From NBC:

We live in a democracy. The word democracy comes from the ancient Greek words demos kratia, rule of the people. It means, according to the dictionary, "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them…"

The ancient democrats would be aghast if they could see some of the things that pass for democracy today. Especially the influence of money from powerful, rich people to virtually buy elective office. And, sadly, we in the press regard the money-raising ability of candidates as of paramount importance. A candidate’s qualifications to serve in high office don’t seem to matter as much.

Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg of his ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. He didn’t mean government of the fat cats and by the fat cats. With all due respect to the feline family -- and I happen to love cats -- Lincoln was an apostle of democracy in a purer sense.

The machinations of millionaires and billionaires are foreign to what he believed. The lack of strict laws governing campaign expenditures continues to be a disgrace to our country.

Hitchhikers' guide to jail

Hitchhikers attempt bribe
By Victor Mimoni, Queens Courier

An anti-crime cop in the 111th Precinct observed three hitchhikers near the corner of Springfield and Northern Boulevards in Bayside - who were "obstructing pedestrian and vehicular traffic."

When Police Officer Spyros Karellas stopped and confronted the trio at about 5:30pm on Tuesday, November 17, he said he "smelled the pungent aroma of marijuana coming from a backpack," allegedly belonging to Christopher Evans, 22, of Tipp City, Ohio. Evans was traveling with San Francisco resident James Kessler, 23 and Seth Ulrich, 17, of Spanaway, Washington.

Karellas detained them and found a bag containing "about 25 grams" of the controlled substance in Evans' backpack, and $18,510 in cash in his jacket pocket.

Cops said that a search of Ulrich's backpack yielded another bag with approximately 25 grams of pot and $15,000 in cash. Kessler's backpack allegedly yielded $13,960 in cash.

According to police, "Evans offered all the money [$47,470 in total] and the marijuana in exchange for not being arrested. The other two, hearing the bribe offer, did not object."

The trio was charged with two counts of bribery, both felonies, and misdemeanor possession.

The hitchhiking trio was jailed and arraigned before Judge Lenora Gerald on Thursday, November 19, who released them in their own recognizance. If convicted of the most serious bribery charge, they could go to state prison for seven years. They are due back in court December 3.