Queens is burning: Car meetup in Malba gets ultraviolent as participants torch a security car and beat down a resident in front of his house

Last night in Malba, a large group of individuals from outside my district conducted an illegal 'takeover' of a quiet residential street at approximately 12:30am. This is not the first time it's happened.

A private security guard attempted to calm the situation -- he was… pic.twitter.com/sSL7aWuufC

— Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) November 23, 2025

 

From the way @NYCCouncil member Paladino explains this and what this community experienced, it seems @ZohranKMamdani Department of Community Safety already exists and the NYPD treated this as a "social worker" response situation instead of the crimes being committed at the time… https://t.co/XI5fgnGzik

— JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) November 24, 2025

 NY Post

A rowdy mob beat a Queens couple and set a car ablaze when the residents and other locals tried to stop a wild car meet-up in their neighborhood early Sunday, according to the victims and video.

The disturbing attack occurred when a bunch of out-of-control drivers descended on South Drive and 141st Street in Malba, doing donuts and speeding over lawns around 12:30 a.m. 

“When I came out, I said, ‘Bro, you gotta get the f–k off my property,’ and that’s when it all started,” victim Blake Ferrer told The Post.

 

Video shows a group of about a dozen ruffians kicking, punching and stomping Ferrer, who was left with a broken nose and ribs. His wife was also hit.

Ferrer was “lucky he wasn’t killed,” said disgusted City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, who represents the neighborhood.

Larry Rusch, 59, a local whose car was set on fire, said it “was a complete melee.”

 

Cease and desist list now in effect

From the Times Ledger:

A cease-and-desist list targeting unwanted real estate solicitations went into effect with the new year, allowing residents of northeast Queens to opt out of receiving fliers and door-to-door visits.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who fought to have at least part of an expired cease-and-desist zone restored, reminded residents of Auburndale, Bayside, College Point, Malba, Murray Hill, North Flushing, and Whitestone to add their addresses to the list on the Department of State website.

“There may be 1,033 houses already on the list, but there is always room for more,” Avella said. “The Department of State will continue to accept new submissions and will update the list monthly.”

The cease-and-desist list established by the Department of State emulates a zone covering all of Queens County that was established in 1989 and expired in 2014. At three public hearings, residents and civic associations blasted the real estate industry for tactics they considered aggressive and complained of fliers littering their communities.

According to the Department of State, “no licensed real estate broker or salesperson shall solicit the sale, lease or the listing for sale or lease of residential property from an owner of residential property located in a designated cease-and-desist zone if such owner has filed a cease-and-desist notice with the Department of State indicating that such owner or owners do not desire to sell, lease or list their residential property and do not desire to be solicited to sell, lease or list their residential property.”

The new list will expire in 2022, but the IDC senator is hoping to get a law passed in the state to ban real estate solicitations in Queens indefinitely.

That's a lot of house...

From Curbed:

It should come as no surprise that the most expensive home for sale in Queens right now—according to StreetEasy, at least—is in the tony enclave of Malba, situated at the foot of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge on the East River waterfront. (One ambitious broker once described’ the neighborhood as “the Hamptons of Queens,” which, sure.)

It should also come as no surprise that the house—listed with Ryan Serhant, and asking a whopping $8.795 million—is an enormous single-family property (with McMansiony qualities) built in the 1990s, as is typical of homes in this price range in this particular part of town.

The 12,000-square-foot space—16,000, if you take its full lot into account—comes with seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a seven-car driveway (and a three-car garage), two family rooms, a temperature-controlled wine cellar, a wood-fired oven in its second kitchen, an outdoor kitchen, and a 40-foot in-ground pool, and really, that’s just scratching the surface.

Skeeter spraying tonight in northeastern Queens

From the Queens Courier:

On Wednesday, July 30, there will be West Nile spraying in parts of Queens to help reduce the mosquito population and the risk of the disease.

The spraying will take place between the hours of 8:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. the next morning. In case of bad weather, the application will be delayed until Thursday, July 31 during the same hours.

The following neighborhoods are being treated due to rising West Nile virus activity with high mosquito populations, according to the city’s Health Department:

Parts of College Point, Flushing, Linden Hill, Malba and Whitestone (Bordered by the East River, Powell’s Cove, 138th Street and 11th Avenue to the north; Flushing Bay and Flushing River to the west; Northern Boulevard to the south; and 149th Street, 20th Avenue and Whitestone Expressway to the east)

CB1 member forms LLCs for 2 Malba properties

I received a request from a reader to look into the property records of the 2 houses pictured here. The addresses are 13-35 143rd Street and 13-39 143rd Street in Whitestone/Malba.

The owner of both properties is Pauline Jannelli, who purchased both homes between 2003 & 2004. Ms. Jannelli is a board member of CB1 in Astoria.

In 2011, Jannelli formed 2 LLCs - one for each house - and transferred the deed over to them.

The current R1-2 zoning allows for one enormous McMansion here, should the lots be combined (minimum lot width is 60ft & current lot widths are 40ft) and the owner desires to build. Of course, there's always the possibility that the landlord wanted to form LLCs to collect rent...10 years after purchasing the homes that happen to be next to each other.

Only time will tell, but perhaps the writing's on the wall here.

Those in historic districts think restrictions are worth it

From the Times Ledger:

Manhattan and Brooklyn, with their dense housing stock, have about 30 and 50 historic districts, respectively. But Queens was a harder sell, according to Wolfe, and has 10 historic districts, the second-fewest of the five boroughs.

In the late 1980s, Douglaston Manor residents began arguing their case before the city Landmarks Preservation Committee, a body in charge of conferring historical status.

A decade later, the historical society finally won them over. Regulations ensured that new development conformed with the historical aesthetics of the landmarked buildings. Meanwhile, in other century-old neighborhoods, urban development continued unfettered.

“If we didn’t have designation 15 years ago, this neighborhood would look like Malba,” [Architect Kevin] Wolfe said, referring to an area near College Point that is home to expensive waterfront property and historic homes of its own, but is also known for its “McMansions,” a derogatory term for palatial houses built as cheaply as possible to the limit of zoning regulations, often in a Mediterranean style replete with turrets and open-air balconies.

“It’s not about taste. It’s about greed,” he said.

Wolfe prefers to see architecture as a physical reminder of history.

“It’s what makes life rich. It’s a connection to your past that continues to change and grow,” Wolfe contended. “Historic districts are not places that are frozen in amber.”

The homes can be modernized in an organic way that allows them to age into the 21st century.

“You can do that in a graceful way or you can do it like a barbarian,” he said.

Truck causes Haz Mat situation in Malba

All of the pictures I sent you were taken tonight March 6th, 8PM, as another Tractor Trailer attempted to turn onto our small residential street. This driver struck the hydrant, and ruptured his gas tank as his cab completely jumped the sidewalk spilling Diesel fuel all over the street. According to witnesses he then attempted to back out of the block. What if the hydrant was a person? or worse, a Child? HE ATTEMPTED TO BACK UP? IN ESSENCE RUNNING THE BODY OVER AGAIN?

Now tragedy was averted this time as it was only a hydrant. It did however become a HAZ MAT CONDITION which the Fire Department handled quickly (Albeit a Haz Mat condition of this magnitude should not be occurring on a 24 ft wide residential street, especially when we forewarned them over and over). Our organization has been trying to get our dangerous street converted into a one way westbound in order to avoid such happenings.

Today a Hydrant, tomorrow ? Yet if you ask Maura McCarthy of Queens DOT the traffic on 5 th avenue is not a safety issue, it is just a mere inconvenience. You look at these pictures and tell me, is it an inconvenience or a tragedy waiting to happen? Gene Kelty Community Board 7 chairman claims that his other group, Boosters Beach is against the change as it would be an inconvenience.

This is not the first time a Tractor Trailer has turned on our residential street, along with the scores of box trucks, on top of the 107 cars per hour all day every day (As per DOT traffic survey). For FIFTEEN YEARS the Malba Gardens Civic Association has been fighting to make this street safe for the residents, especially the 18 children under the age of 16 living on the first block of 5th avenue alone.

The Hydrant was destroyed today, LET US NOT ALLOW A FAMILY TO BE DESTROYED TOMORROW.

MAKE 5TH AVENUE A ONE WAY WESTBOUND TOWARD THE BRIDGE BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.


Some of our members, while reading the Whitestone Times, almost fell off their chairs.

The following is a direct quote in the paper about the one way story in the paper about 11th and 12th avenues.

“I don’t like one-way streets, but my feeling is if it provides safety for the people, makes plenty of room for the cars to travel and maximizes parking, then I am in support of it,” Kelty said.

I guess that goes for everyplace other than 5th avenue in Whitestone. Converting 5th avenue into a One Way Westbound (which is what the residents want) would not provide for safety of the people, make plenty of room for the cars to travel, maximize parking, (Heck they could even put in bike lanes)? This is exactly what we have been saying! For the past 15 years its residents have been requesting this change, demanding this change.

What is going on here?

MALBA GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION

CB7 has some nerve! (part 1)

Letter to the Editor (Times Ledger):

With regards to Chuck Apelian’s comments that Feinstein Iron Works take out a full-page ad in two local newspapers apologizing to him and Community Board 7 for his honest comments (“CB 7, Feinstein make amends after Willets clashes,” Jan. 20), it is amazing he would have the audacity to make such demands. After all, he is a public official in his roles as vice chairman of CB 7 and the CB 7 land use chairman.

Our organization has had the misfortune of dealing with CB 7 with regards to a public safety matter, which it quickly turned into an inconvenient matter. Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of CB 7, was responsible for writing a survey that was to be sent out to our community regarding the dangerous situation. The manner in which she wrote the survey was biased and stressed the “inconvenience” of driving an extra two blocks.

We immediately sent out a letter requesting to have more time to review the survey in order to come to a more non-biased wording and, objecting to the wording as shown to Alfredo Centola, we received no response and the survey went out anyway. We then requested to see the surveys under the Freedom of Information law; they illegally refused us. We obtained a decision from Robert Freeman from the state Committee on Open Government; they still refused.

A couple of months later, we received an e-mail from an MTABT official quoting Bitterman and her ill feelings to the president of our civic association. This e-mail quotes Bitterman as saying “she would step over his prone body and refuse to call for help.” Our organization immediately sent Apelian a letter calling on him to act, as the CB 7 vice chairman, to address Bitterman’s unprofessional and biased comments. He replied, “It will be reviewed,” but then never responded.

Several months ago, some members of our organization received a call from a man claiming to be on the board in regards to conducting an investigation. CB 7 investigating itself? To date we have heard nothing about the results, if any, to the investigation. City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) has refused to get involved, saying he is not responsible for oversight of CB 7, but we only asked he inquire about the outcome of the investigation as our elected official.

We do not know what Apelian is looking for. If he has such a thin skin, maybe he should exclude himself from the vice chairmanship. For the most part, he has a much calmer and respectful tone than his counterpart Eugene Kelty. But to ask for an apology and take out a full-page ad in two local papers? Maybe CB 7 should take out ads in two or three papers to apologize for violating the FOIA law, refusing to acknowledge the Committee on Open Government’s decision and especially for Bitterman’s comments to an MTABT official showing her disregard for Centola’s life.

After all, what is right for CB 7 should be right for the community it represents.

Alfredo Centola
Dan Barton
Laurie Occhipinti
Malba Gardens Civic Association

They just keep on truckin'

"Another day another (several) trucks. Still nothing being done, not by PD,not by CB7, not by DOT.

WE WAIT AND WAIT going on 15 YEARS."

- Malba Gardens Civic Association

Cars torched in Whitestone

From CBS 2:

Some residents on a quiet Queens street woke up to find their cars in flames.

Police said someone set fire to four vehicles on 9th Avenue in Whitestone early Tuesday.

Some were in the street, some were in driveways and at least one of the fires spread to an owner’s home.

Another dozen cars were keyed in a vandalism spree across a four block area.

Investigators dusted for prints and located a security camera that may have caught the culprits on video, CBS 2′s John Slattery reports.

Detectives have been canvassing the area. No arrests were made.

A call to arms for CB7 constituents

"Dear Queens Crap,

After speaking to several representatives from various Civics that fall under the rule of Community Board seven, we have decided to form a coalition of Civics in the area and work toward getting some seriously needed changes enacted. This farce known as community board seven has done enough damage to our community and we need to do something.

The leadership at cb7 continues to lie, distort the truth, and treat citizens as annoying bugs that should be crushed. The politicians elected to represent us run and hide when the mighty CB7 speaks. They are allowed to break laws with no repercussions (FOIL Violations) and attempt to defame the character of civic leaders who dare take a stand and ask for what is right.

Your help in posting this letter as sort of a call to arms to all Civics in the confines of Community Board 7 that have had enough and are ready to demand a change would be greatly appreciated.

They can email us at Malbagardenscivic@hotmail.com or visit our blog at Malbagardens.blogspot.com

We are planning to schedule a meeting the beginning of July."

- Malba Gardens Civic Association

Malba's traffic problem

From the Times Ledger:

When Robert Moses built the Cross Island Parkway in the 1930s, cars taking what is now called the Third Avenue exit were able to enter the quiet neighborhood by 7th Avenue, a 70-foot-wide road Moses built to handle the anticipated traffic in the area.

That changed as the years passed. First, 7th Avenue was blocked from exiting traffic and in 1997 a divider was extended to keep highway traffic off Sixth Avenue.

As such, many residents say 3rd, 4th and 5th avenues have turned into speedways, with parents afraid to let their children play in their yards along the tree-lined streets.

So the Malba Gardens Civic, a group with dozens of members in the immediate area, sent out a poll asking area residents what should be done to address the situation, after which they proposed the city convert 4th and 5th avenues between Whitestone Expressway and 147th Street to one-way.

Maura McCarthy, the city Department of Transportation’s Queens borough commissioner, attended the meeting to respond to the civic’s proposal. She said since an October 2009 meeting when she first heard the concerns, the DOT has done several studies.

The department found that 107 cars passed down 5th Avenue between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. at an average of 27.9 miles per hour, with 31 percent of drivers speeding. But 3rd Avenue was more affected by traffic problems, the study showed, as 152 vehicles drove on the street between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of the study, while only 13 drove on 4th Avenue in the same period. Between 2004 and 2008, six car crashes occurred on 3rd, zero on 4th and two on 5th.

McCarthy said the city would not automatically make changes to the streets based on those statistics and that proposals to install stop signs or traffic lights are untenable as the volumes do not reach required thresholds.

DOT: Good at wasting time with studies. Bad at improving traffic.

Gene - nice bag. Prada or Gucci?

DOB giving concrete testing company a hard time

From The Real Deal:

The city's Department of Buildings is facing litigation from concrete testing company Big Apple Testing, a Queens-based firm whose license renewal was denied last September amid a citywide crackdown on concrete testing standards.

Big Apple Testing filed a so-called Article 78 suit against the buildings department Monday, asking the court for an injunction that would reinstate its concrete testing license or compel the agency to hold a hearing on the case.

Stuart Klein, attorney for Big Apple Testing, said no legitimate reason was given for the license denial, and speculated that the buildings department is looking to secretly weed out certain firms to cover for a widening scandal about construction defects.

"They're being cute," Klein said. "They look for guys that are coming up for renewal and say, 'we won't renew your license.' There appears to be no presentation of evidence and you're effectively boxing against shadows."

Court filings show that Big Apple had been licensed to test concrete for more than 18 years, involving thousands of sites per year. The firm has annual revenue of more than $900,000. Klein did not have specific details about previous projects the firm worked on.

A formal hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.

But they look so professional...

Maps of Malba

Here are some old maps of Malba to use as you will.
The 1880 map shows 20th Avenue (stores) under water as well as what is now 11th Avenue in Malba. With the railroad running up what is now the high ridge along 14th Avenue.
The 1898 map was 8 years before Malba was first laid out and that map never came to fruition.
Plate 2 shows only a few homes in Malba, probably around 1910.
I've included a rendering of my favorite French Normandy waterfront home in Malba. It has recently been sold will probably meet the wrecking ball soon, given that it was sold to people who have no love for grass.

Keep up the good work.
- anonymous

Map crap

Attached is a 1901 planning map of southern Queens, which shows an endless grid covering the entire borough.

In my opinion, this is where the crappification of our borough may have begun, when our city began to look at Queens as an endless suburb, rather than a collection of towns with their own unique grids and routes. On this map, wetlands and creeks are erased, there are no large parks, or diagonal roads.

The area is Idlewild, which remained largely undeveloped until 1948, then an airport covered almost everything south of the Belt Parkway between Howard Beach and the County Line. Had the airport not been built, this area would probably have resembled the rest of South Ozone Park, with long rectangular blocks and tract housing.

A second attached map shows a master plan for the future of Flushing in the early 1930s. Kissena Creek is wiped from the map, and the only exceptions to the endless grid are the Parental Home (future Queens College), cemeteries, and a number of golf clubs. I wonder why the mapmakers expected the farmers to sell their lands to the grid, but the golf clubs to remain. Flushing Meadows is labeled as the "World's Fair Site."

The third attachment shows northern Forest Hills, where Cord Meyer created an alphabetic grid from Atom to Zuni. Notice how the proposed grid marches over the meandering Flushing River. Thankfully, Robert Moses was able to save the river as part of the 1939 World's Fair plan.

The lesson here is clear, grids are ugly. Neigborhoods without grids, such as Waldheim, Jamaica Estates, Bayside Gables, Forest Hills Gardens, and Malba have a certain charm and sense of history, while places like Utopia and HIllcrest have the monotony of the numbered grid. I apologize in advance for offending your Hillcrest readers. Grid-defying such as Apex Place, Hawtree Creek Road, and Jackson Mill Road deserve to be preserved. Often, these streets are their neighborhoods' last link to a time before the ugly grid was imposed on our borough.

Also note that while a strict rectangular grid can be ugly, its polar opposite- a Levittown street maze can also be a problem.

-Mazeartist

More skeeter spraying for College Point

Health Dept to Spray Queens for Mosquitoes

NEW YORK (AP) -- Queens [is] going to be sprayed with pesticide to combat mosquitoes and cut the risk of West Nile virus.

The city health department says the spraying will take place Monday in Queens... between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning.

The mosquito-borne virus generally causes flu-like symptoms. It has been detected in several boroughs this year. But no human cases have been identified.

The areas to be sprayed in Queens are College Point, Malba, Whitestone, Linden Hill, Flushing and Murray Hill...

Skeeter spraying in College Point

To reduce mosquito activity and the risk of West Nile virus, the Health Department will spray pesticide from trucks in parts of Queens from Wednesday August 8, 2007 at 8:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. the following morning, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, spraying will be delayed until Thursday, August 9 or the next possible night. No human cases of West Nile virus have been identified to date.

The areas to be sprayed in Queens follow:
College Point, Malba, Whitestone, Linden Hill, Flushing, Murray Hill

Bordered by Lax Avenue, Powells Cove, 138th Place, 138th Street, 14th Avenue and Cross Island Pkwy to the North; 149th Street, 25th Avenue, 150th Street, Bayside Avenue, 149th Street to the East; Sanford Avenue to the South; and College Point Boulevard, 123rd Street, and Lax Avenue to the West

Zip codes: 11357, 11355, 11354, 11356

Malba spa found operating illegal valet

Srinivasan said the BSA conducted its own site visit and "witnessed the facility's valet parking drop-off in the front of the building, which as you point out, is contrary to the board's resolution for this grant."

Malba spa cited by city for illegal valet parking

Subsequently, the BSA has advised InSpa World's attorneys to bring the site into compliance and asked the city Department of Buildings to investigate the facility's compliance with the board's conditions.

Avella not backing down

He's fighting both Tommy Huang:

Avella wants Huang homes in Bayside razed

and Steve Chon:
Avella asks city to open case against Malba spa

Times Ledger vs. Avella

Steve Chon, owner and developer of the 3 1/2-story building, said patrons won’t be entering from 131st Street, but at a side entrance from a short dead end street that leads to spa property. However, that was not the case on Thursday.

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), a longtime critic of the project, believes the spa is in violation because it is allowing patrons to be dropped off in front of the building, backing up traffic on 131st Street. He will ask the appeals board to reopen the spa’s application to investigate.

Contested Spa Opens; Neighbors Still Say No

From the Times Ledger:

Malba spa opens with party and protest

Avella sued the city's Board of Standards and Appeals for allowing the spa to be built in a manufacturing zone - directly across the street from a gated Malba community. The suit was dismissed in April on the grounds that Avella had no standing to sue on behalf of residents, but the councilman vowed to appeal.

The Times Ledger's editorial:

Avella should not be pandering to fear

As a longtime community activist, we would have hoped that Mr. Avella would have tried to create better communications and understanding between the owners of the spa and their neighbors. Clearly, that's what the owners of the spa want. But that is not the path that the councilman has taken.

Hmmm...Let's go back to the Chronicle for a minute:

Although Chon said he has hired people from the neighborhood to work at the spa, and his lawyer, Eric Palatnik, said the spa was reaching out for business “not just to Koreans,” the opening day program was written entirely in Korean.

Question for the Ledger: If the owners are being exclusionary, then why is the community expected to welcome them with open arms?

Photo from Times Ledger